Page 113 of Holden’s Resurrection

Nope. I was still at a loss for words.

“I what, Leigh-Leigh?”

“Just bought a house.” I told him something he very well knew but I felt it bore repeating.

“Actually, we just put a bid in. It remains to be seen if our offer is accepted.”

“Oh, no, you just bought a house like a crazy person. You need to go see—”

“You gonna marry me?”

The room fell silent and someone sucked in a momentous lungful of air, or maybe it was me who’d removed all the oxygen from the room. And did someone light a fire, because suddenly I was sweating, as in profusely.

“What?”

“Are you gonna marry me?” he repeated but offered no further explanation.

Was he serious? Throwing out a theoretical question as it pertained to the future? Did he mean right this second? And again, was he seriously asking me that in a room full of our friends?

Then I got pissed, because I wanted to marry him. I had wanted that ten years ago the moment I laid eyes on him. I had obsessively wanted to marry him the years we were together, and in the years we’d been apart I’d mourned the death of my dream. Now he was just tossing it out there willy-nilly like it wasn’t the most important question he’d ever ask me, without giving me the opportunity to express how much it meant to me he wanted to spend his life with me.

That was why my eyes narrowed, my hands went to my hips, and my attitude flared.

“I don’t know, Holden Clarence Stanford. Are you gonna ask me properly or is it a leading question before you enlighten me on how we bought a house, when really you bought it because I certainly don’t have the money to—”

I didn’t get to finish my rant. Holden’s hands went to my face and he tipped my head back so he was looking in my eyes.

“Take a breath, Leigh-Leigh.”

My eyes got squintier and Holden smiled.

Jerk.

Then I lost his hands and his eyes. I tucked my chin and looked down. Once again, my breath caught, but this time I was positive I was the one who extracted the air from the room.

“Leigh-Leigh, baby, I knew the moment I saw you we were going to spend our lives together. It was your beauty that caught my attention but it was your spirit that captured me. And since that day, there hasn’t been a single one that has passed that I haven’t thought about you. Marry me, Charleigh, and let me—”

“Yes,” I interrupted the rest of the proposal I thought I wanted when really all I wanted was the man. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

Instead of standing, he reached into his pocket, then grabbed my left hand and slid an enormous diamond on my finger. But I knew he wasn’t done when he looked up at me and said, “This one is us. Uncut, a diamond is rough, but when it’s polished it’s beautiful and strong. When you’re not by my side, I’m jagged and raw. But when we’re together,” Holden tapped the ring, “nothing but beauty.”

He slid a second ring on my finger, brought my hand to his mouth, and kissed the rings he’d slipped on. “Faith. It’s said that an amethyst is the bridge between the concrete and the divine. The antidote for clumsiness and foolery. It’s fitting that it’s our girl’s birthstone. She certainly has brought my life into brilliant clarity.”

I didn’t look down at the new ring, I was sure it was pretty, but Holden’s glassy, brown eyes held me hostage.

“Beautiful,” I muttered.

“Stunning,” he returned and winked.

Holden rose to his feet and brushed his mouth against mine while he told me how much he loved me. Before I could return the sentiment, I felt arms wrap around my thighs and looked down.

“So we’re moving into the house?”

I nodded.

“And we’re for sure getting a puppy?”

God help me, one of the best moments of my life was being interrupted for confirmation a puppy was forthcoming.