Page 129 of Pick Me This Time

Either way, I was deliriously happy with my life at the moment and Sterling seemed to feel the same way. Eric had even asked him to help coach football this year too, finally giving him back that one final piece of himself that I knew he’d missed so much.

He now had his family, his friends, his farm, and the game he’d always loved in his life, and it had turned him into the most joyful person around. I couldn’t get enough of him.

“Can we go for a walk?” he asked suddenly.

“Sure.” I slid my hand into his, only too happy to get away with him for a few minutes alone.

All night until the fireworks display, we’d been rushing around trying to make sure everything was on track. People kept coming up and pulling us aside, and I knew we were about to get swarmed again now that the show was over.

Since I’d hardly had any time with him on our first New Year’s Eve as a couple, I would have taken any excuse, but a walk really did sound good. I was always up for one of those, but even more so when I was going for a walk with him.

The last few months had been the best of my life, even if it had taken me this long to accept that he might just really be staying. It was finally starting to feel like he was, though. He was putting down roots, agreeing to coach the team with Eric and starting all sorts of new ventures on the farm.

I’d been afraid to believe that it could be true, still constantly wondering what was going to happen next, but I was slowly coming to accept that he was not only back, but that he was ecstatic about being here. In our small, simple town. As a farm manager on his family’s property.

It boggled my mind, but there was no denying that the bitter, closed-off, big-city prick who’d landed in Allisburg a few months ago was gone. The guy he was now was undoubtedly happy, whereas that guy had radiated misery.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said as he led me out onto the property.

My eyebrows shot up. “You do?”

He squeezed my hand. “I do. I wanted to do something special for you.”

“Really?” I asked, beyond confused. “Why? The party is plenty special enough.”

“Nah.” He wound his arm around my shoulders once more, keeping me close. We ventured into a copse of trees behind the barn farthest from the house. “I wanted to do something a little more special than that. That’s for the town. This is for you.”

“Okay, but why?”

“Why? Because I love you, that’s why,” he murmured, sure footed despite the fact that we were moving into the pitch dark. “I also love seeing how you’ve put your whole heart into turning Northfield Farms into something beautiful and prosperous, and it made me realize something.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” I looked around, knowing I was safe with him, but it was getting real dark and real cold, real fast. “Where are we going?”

He lifted a hand to point at something a little to our left. In the distance, I saw the fairy lights first. Then I saw what appeared to be a makeshift tent, soft white sides surrounding something glowing on the inside.

My eyebrows jumped as I looked back at him. “What’s this?”

“It’s your surprise.” He led me into the clearing that had been made to look like something out of a fairy tale.

What I’d thought was a makeshift tent turned out to be a real tent, a beautifully decorated, utterly romantic, bohemian-style glamping setup with rugs and blankets covering the floor. Heaters inside emitted that glowing light I’d seen before, and a picnic basket sat in the center of the space. The top of a bottle of champagne peeked out from under a checkered red and white napkin.

“Sterling…” I trailed off when I turned to look at him again, but he wasn’t standing beside me anymore.

He was down on one knee.

My heart catapulted itself into my throat, banging like a drum. I sucked in a sharp breath, my hand flying to my mouth. He smiled as my gaze hooked on his.

“It made me realize that you should be a North,” he started as he reached for my free hand—my left hand. “You’re loving, and dedicated, and kind, and compassionate. I’m crazy about you and I want to spend the rest of my life watching you work your magic and doing everything in my power to help.”

He inhaled through his nostrils. “When we were kids, I thought that loving you was wrong. I never even let myself consider asking you out, but I was always drawn to you. I always knew that you were incredible. That you were different.”

He stared into my eyes like I was the only person on the entire planet. “You were always the girl who stole my eye, even when I knew I absolutely should not be looking at you, but I couldn’t help it. Now I finally know why. Somehow, I think my soul has known all along that you are its one true mate. I just wasn’t ready to accept it back then. I know that this is sudden and I know that we could wait, but I don’t want to and I’m really hoping you don’t either.”

He reached into his back pocket and came out with only a ring. There was no box, only a gorgeous golden ring, light refracting from the many diamonds laid into the band. It looked vaguely familiar as he pinched it between his fingers and offered it to me.

“This was my mother’s,” he said, his voice a little breathy now. “Years ago, my dad gave it to me and told me that one day, he hoped I would give it to the woman who would be my everything. My very own North Star, as it were.”

An unexpected giggle tore out of me when he smirked, but I didn’t interrupt any further than that. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, my fingers clinging to his. He tightened his grip on me before positioning the ring at the bottom of my finger.