Page 351 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

She laughs even harder.

He grins. "Your dad told me if I ever made you cry, he’d remind me that he knows where I live."

Now she's laughing and crying.

"So, what did my mom say?"

Jamie's smile softens. "She said she'd been praying someone would love you exactly the way she always hoped you would be loved."

Now she laughs and cries at the same time.

***

I lower myself onto one knee and the world seems to become completely still.

I take another slow breath, not because I'm uncertain, but because I want her to hear every word.

"Annette..."

"When we met, I thought you were going to help me heal my shoulder. I never imagined you were about to heal my entire life."

My voice catches for only a moment before continuing.

"You taught me that strength isn't pretending I have all the answers. You taught me that love isn't something you earn by carrying everyone else's burdens. You taught me that home isn't a place..."

I smile.

"...it's the person waiting beside you when the day is over."

I hold the ring a little higher.

"I've spent my whole life trying to become a man worthy of wearing the captain's 'C.' on my jersey."

A tear slips down my own cheek. "But the greatest honor I could ever imagine...would be spending the rest of my life as your husband."

I smile through tears that refuse to stay hidden.

"I love you more than I ever thought was possible to love another person. I want to grow old beside you and to choose you every single morning for the rest of my life."

My heart has never felt so full.

"Annette Whittier..."

"Will you marry me?"

***

For just a second, she says nothing else. She lets the moment breathe. Then the smile I've loved since the day we met spreads across her face.

"Jamie Walker..." She slips my father's silver coin into my free hand before extending her left toward me.

"I would love nothing more than to spend every ordinary Tuesday choosing you."

A tear rolls down my cheek before I even realize it's there.

"And in case I wasn't clear enough..." Her eyes sparkle. "Yes."

The single word echoes through every part of me. "Yes."