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“Anna.” Her name softly reverberated through the room.
Surprise jerked through her, and Anna’s gaze shot over to the door. She’d been so engrossed in the card and gift that she hadn’t heard anyone come up the stairs.
Cailyn came breezing inside from behind Nicholas. “Look what I found lurking around outside. Good thing I forgot my purse and to come back.”
Yes, it was a very good thing. Wasn’t it? Confused, Anna tilted her head. “Nicholas,” she whispered his name softly for fear that if she said his name out loud, he would disappear.
The two of them stared at each other, he at the door, she on the love seat, neither moving.
“Well.” Cailyn’s merry voice broke the enchanting moment.
Although her gaze never wanted to leave Nicholas, Anna looked over at her friend.
There was no way Cailyn’s smile could get any bigger even if she tried. “I’ll just be going now and leave you two love birds alone.” With those words, she breezed out of the apartment as fast as she had breezed in, only without Nicholas.
Unable to move even an inch, Anna sat there as if her backside were glued firmly to the seat. She wanted to pinch herself, to rub her eyes and open them again to make sure he was really here and it wasn’t just her mind playing tricks on her.
Without saying a single word, Nicholas strode over to her.
She swallowed as she watched him. If her mind was playing tricks on her, it was doing a very good job of it.
“Anna.”
No. No. This was real. Very, very real. Nicholas was here. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Coming to her senses, Anna shifted her feet onto the floor and patted the seat beside her. “What—what are you doing here?” Her voice quivered.
Sitting next to her, Nicholas clasped both of her hands. “I couldn’t go. Not without you. I got there, to the airport, and I just couldn’t get on that plane.”
Her heart fell. Of course he would want her to go with him. And oh how she wanted to do just that, more than she wanted her next breath, but she couldn’t. Too much was at stake here for her to go.
“Listen,” he said as if he’d read her mind. “I know you can’t leave here. I’ve been praying and wracking my brains trying to come up with how this could work. I think… Well, I think maybe I’ve finally come up with something. Would you have any objections to me keeping my practice in New York and starting one here? I would have to fly back every so often, but—“
Hope lifted Anna’s heart and set it to soaring. In fact, she didn’t even let him finish. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, tears streaming down her face as she did.
Then, without warning, the realization of what he would be giving up slammed into her. She yanked back and flopped against the back of the couch. “I can’t let you do that, Nicholas. You love New York as much as I love Colorado. But I want you to know that my love for Colorado isn’t the only reason for not going with you.”
“Anna...”
She ignored him and continued because she wanted him to know the real reason, her main reason for why she couldn’t move. It was important to her for him to know her reasons why. “The girls need me. Donald and his friends need me. I don’t know what would happen to them if I left.”
“Anna...”
“Most of my girls lived on the streets before they came to work for me, Nicholas. They had no one. If I sold Sweet Treasures, there’s no guarantee the new owner would keep them on, and I can’t risk that no matter how much I love you.”
“Anna.” A pause during which he went from frustrated to concerned confusion. “Wait? Did you just say you love me?” Surprise rippled through his voice, dancing on the hint of a smile.
Horrified at her own audaciousness in saying that, Anna’s eyes widened and she clamped her mouth shut. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, but she had and now she had to face him.
His face and eyes softened as he grasped her hands again and tugged on them until she was sitting up again. “It’s okay. I love you, too, Anna.”
At that, Anna’s mouth fell open and a thousand sugar plum fairies danced in her stomach.
“I’ve prayed long and hard about us. And…” He slid onto one knee in front of her, and just like the Cinderella statue in the snowglobe, Anna’s hands went to her mouth and her eyes widened with the surprise.
Their gazes locked. “Anna Cindy Moretti.” Nicholas smiled and so did she—in love, in disbelief, in joy. “I know we have only known each other a short time, but when your heart and the Heavenly Father are leading you in the same direction, you listen. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
