I search each offshoot as I run. There are usually more people around at this time of day. The sun is going down, so it’s not as hot. Did they go home early, or did something happen to them?
I complete a grid square. And another. After the third empty square, I head toward the main exit.
My legs lock up, and I nearly fall on my face. There at the end of the cave is the love of my life… on one knee. And floating in the open field beyond him in the setting sun are hundreds of lanterns.
“Soren?” My legs have turned to jelly, but somehow, they still carry me to the man I love as my eyes fill with tears. My heart thumps against my ribcage, like it’s beating out the love song of us.
“I hope you’ll forgive me. I couldn’t find a lake. So this proposal is a little drier than the last one,” he says.
I fight a laugh and a sob.
He grabs my hand and holds me there. “I promise to make you laugh and smile, to help you chase your dreams and encourage you in every way. I want to fight with you, then kiss and make up.” He kisses the back of my hand, and my heart connects to that point. To him. “I want to travel the world with you, just to watch you play in the dirt.”
“That’s my job.” I chuckle.
“And you look dead sexy doing it. I love the woman you were, and I love the woman you’ve become. I will love you forever, through all of life’s changes.” He pulls a blue box out of his pocket. “Maya ‘Penny’ Perry, will you marry me?”
Tears cloud my vision, but I still see him.
He flips open the box, and I gasp at the ring. It’s the same one. But it’s no longer a simple solitaire. There’s a weaving pattern engraved around the band, giving it a vintage look, and an extra halo around the diamond with sapphire stones.
“I wil—”
There’s a rush of movement, and I’m knocked off-balance. I hit the dirt hard, rocks digging into my hands and knees. I look up at Soren, who is ringless and staring in the direction of a masked man running away.
I leap to my feet, running after the thief as if I’ve been possessed. “There really was a looter?” I yell at Soren, who is right behind me.
“How was I supposed to know?”
“That’s your job!”
“Apparently, some things slipped through the cracks.”
I run with a speed I didn’t know I could achieve. My legs are a blur beneath me.
The thief makes it out of the dig site, but there’s a rough patch of dirt in the direction he’s heading. I speed up, banking on him not realizing what he’s heading for, and not two seconds later he tumbles to the earth. I take five more steps and leap.
I full-on body slam the man. Knees and elbows fly both directions, bruising my chest and hip, but I’ve got him pinned face down in the dirt with my knee between his shoulder blades.
“That’s mine!” I rip the ring from his greedy fingers.
The looter curses me in a language I don’t understand, but all I hear are wedding bells.
“Dang, that was an NFL-level tackle.” Soren whistles as he drops to the ground and zip-ties the robber’s wrists.
“I wasn’t letting him take what’s mine.” I stand and open the box, slipping my ring on my finger where it belongs. It fits perfectly, and I almost cry. It’s been too long.
“I did it again!”
“What?” Soren asks with a chuckle, leaving the thief zip-tied on the ground to wrap me in his arms.
“I caught another thief.”
His lips curl. “I assume the first one was me?”
“The first… and the most irritating.” I smirk.
“I didn’t stand a chance against you.” He nuzzles my neck, and I shiver. “But I hope you don’t plan on keeping this one as well.”
