The night air bites at my cheeks as I make my way across the yard, my heels crunching on the frozen grass. The stable door is cracked open, warm light spilling out into the darkness.
“Rowan?” I call, pushing the door wider.
I stop dead in my tracks. The stable has been transformed. Dozens of string lights hang from the rafters, casting a soft golden glow over everything. Rose petals form a path down the center aisle, and Echo stands in her stall, adorned with a wreath of winter flowers around her neck.
And there, at the end of the rose petal path, stands Rowan.
My heart stops.
“Rowan, what is all this?” I whisper, taking a tentative step forward.
He offers that crooked smile that still makes my stomach flip after all this time. “Come here,” he says softly.
I walk toward him, rose petals brushing against my heels as I make my way toward him.
“I know I said it earlier, but I’ll say it again. You look beautiful,” he says when I reach him, his eyes taking in the blue silk dress that Whitley was so insistent I buy. “Absolutely stunning.”
“You planned this with Whitley, didn’t you?” I say, suddenly understanding her strange behavior all day.
He chuckles. “Guilty.”
“And Beau, too, I’m guessing?” I ask, my heart racing as I take in the transformed stable.
“Mmhmm.” He reaches for my hands, his fingers are warm despite the winter chill, and I notice they’re trembling. “Even your dad.”
“My dad?” I laugh in disbelief. “Now I know you’re lying.”
“I swear. Ask him yourself.” His eyes are so intense, so full of emotion that my breath catches. “I asked for his blessing weeks ago.”
Oh my god. This is happening. This is really happening.
“Violet,” he says, his voice a little unsteady as he reaches into his pocket. “I had this whole speech planned. I was going to tell you about how you’re the center of my universe. How any road I could have taken would always lead back to you.”
He drops to one knee, and I press my hand to my mouth, emotion welling in my eyes.
“But now that you’re standing here, looking like something out of a dream, I can’t remember a damn word of it.”
A laugh bubbles up as I take in the man kneeling before me. The one who’s seen me at my worst and somehow still looks at me like I’m made of starlight.
“You know what?” Rowan says, fumbling with a small velvet box. “Screw the speech. I love you, Violet Larkin. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I loved you during those years we wereapart, and I’ll love you until I take my last breath. Will you marry me?”
He opens the box, revealing a vintage ring with a delicate emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds. My grandmother’s. The one I used to try on when I visited her as a child.
“Is that—” I can barely get the words out.
“Yep,” he confirms, his blue eyes shining. “Your dad gave it to me. Said she would have wanted you to have it.”
Echo chooses this moment to let out a loud whinny, startling us both. I burst into laughter, and Rowan grins up at me.
“Even the horse is getting impatient for your answer,” he says.
“Yes,” I gasp, laughing and crying all at once. “Yes, of course, yes!”
Rowan stands and pulls me into a hug that makes my knees go weak. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear that,” he whispers against my hair.
He slides the ring onto my finger, then kisses me as if he’s making up for every lost second, every missed sunrise, every moment we weren’t together.
Whitley whoops from behind me, making me jump as her voice echoes through the stable.
