“This is by far the cutest hiking trail in existence,” she gushes.
“I thought you’d like it,” I murmur, sidling up to her to wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her temple. She melts into me, huffing a disbelieving laugh.
“I love it,” she says, nuzzling into my chest.
“Here, let’s keep going. There’s more to see,” I say, pulling away to take her hand and keep moving on the trail. Her head is on a constant swivel, trying to drink ineverything all at once. The flush of her cheeks makes her look so luminous in the low lighting of the cloudy day. We’re not walking for long before we make it to exactly where I want us to be. This part of the trail overlooks the Rahway river and the Hemlock falls, and it’s breathtaking. She’s staring at the cascading falls in awe.
“This is absolutely incredible. I had no idea there was a place like this right in our state,” she says with a shake of her head.
When she looks back at me, I pull the box out of my pocket, drop to one knee, and hold it up. Her face goes slack with surprise.
“Mi vida, we started out this whole crazy marriage of convenience scheme as two friends who were simply trying to reach our goals. I was so scared of love before I met you that I refused to see the truth. From the moment we met, I’ve never been the same. I started to wish and hope you’d come to the bar after work so I could see you. When my dad said I had to get married to get the bar, you were my first thought.”
Her hand is over her mouth, tears running down her cheeks. My own voice feels throttled, my eyes stinging at seeing her emotion. It takes me a few hard swallows to gather myself, but I press on.
“Once you moved into our house, it was like finding the missing puzzle piece to finally complete the picture of what I want every single day for the rest of my existence to look like. I can honestly say that I love every last freckle, every glance over our coffee cups, every sassy comeback, every reassuring touch that you’ve brought into my life. Calling you mi vida is fitting, because my life is infinitely better with you in it. I love you so much, Celeste.”
She’s dissolved into hiccuping sobs now, and my tearsare falling pretty damn freely, too. I inhale deeply, waiting anxiously for her response, trying to let the soothing sounds of the waterfalls and the woodsy smells of the trail ground me.
“I love you too, Gage. So much. You’ve become the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I’ve lived in so many different houses, but the one we live in is the first that feels like a true home, because of you and the birds. I’ve been a little anxious about what is going to happen with us since we both got what we wanted from the marriage. Things have been so good between us that I’ve been too scared to ask,” she croaks in that throaty voice of hers.
My breath hitches, my heart going into a gallop.
“That’s on me. I should have talked about it with you sooner, but I wanted to surprise you with this to ask you. I’ve been preparing it for weeks to give you the fairy tale you deserve,” I say sheepishly.
“It’s perfect,” she whispers brokenly.
I open the box, and show her what’s inside. Her loud gasp melts into the surrounding sound of the water when she sees the ring.
“I never want to live another day without you in it, Celeste. Please stay. Stay and be my wife and make me the happiest man on earth,” I rasp through the lump in my throat.
“Yes! So much yes!” she cries.
I slip the ring on her finger with shaking hands. Hers are shaking, too.
It’s an antique looking beauty, with gold scrollwork on each side that has a little diamond nestled within the scrolls, all of it housing an oval center diamond. When I saw it, I knew it was the perfect fairy tale ring for her. It matches thedelicate band she has on so well, I made sure to take a picture of it before I went shopping.
“I wish I had proposed properly and given you an engagement ring from the start,” I say thickly, loving how it glints as she moves her hand to look at it from every angle.
“This is so beautiful, Gage,” she whispers, grasping my hand again and pulling me to my feet. Then she launches herself into my arms. Her legs wrap around my waist, her hands clasping my face as I take her mouth in a searing kiss. We’re laughing as our tears mingle together, euphoria surrounding us like the mist from the nearby waterfalls.
I don’t know how long we kiss, but eventually we break apart when we hear other people on the trail. It’s not too crowded today, since it’s earlier on a weekday and the clouds are starting to look ominous. We walk back to the car hand in hand, Celeste looking at her new ring every few minutes, as if she’s afraid it will disappear.
We’re quiet on the drive home, but keep looking at each other with the goofiest smiles on our faces. At least mine must look goofy, Celeste is absolutely glowing with happiness to the point where my chest pinches. When we walk in the door, we check on the birds as usual, and then take our sweet time going to my bedroom.
Our clothes come off like we have all of the time in the world, because now we do. We have forever with each other. Once we’re naked and in bed, the touching and kissing is languid and achingly sweet. She strokes me gently, holding my gaze. I get her onto her back and slowly crawl my way down her body, leaving a wake of kisses and nips until I reach her hips.
“These are my favorite freckles of yours,” I murmur, kissing the little constellation she has on her left hip. Right above it is an adorable tattoo of a bumblebee that I’ve beenwanting to ask her about. I’m idly tracing the bee when she clocks my interest.
“You don’t have to be afraid to ask about it, I know it’s been on your mind since you saw it. Tania and I got tattoos together when she turned eighteen, and aged out of the foster care system. She has stars for Celeste, and I have a bumblebee for Nia Bia,” she explains with a small chuckle.
“If it was about something painful, I didn’t want to bring it up. I figured you’d tell me on your own time. I love it.” I tell her before kissing the bee.
“You can ask me anything. Hard things aren’t so painful for me to talk about anymore, especially with you,” she murmurs as she strokes my hair.
“Good. Same for me. I think Dr. Kirkfield is going to help a lot.”
She makes a sound of agreement as she continues stroking my hair. That’s it for words as we start kissing again, this time with more heat.
