Page 112 of Will to Run

Though it’s still mostly dark, the first purple-gray starts to dust the scene. Over the last year, Jax and I have seen a lot of sunrises, and that remains one of my favorite moments: first light, because you know what’s coming.

I sit on a chair on the porch, and we all watch the sky turn all sorts of different colors. By my estimation, we have about seven minutes until it peeks through.

“Shit, Del. I forgot something at home. We have to go get it,” Jaxon turns to me, panicked. I extended my lease on Millstone for another three months after my initial one was up. Thankfully, they let me do it that way, but when it was over, I officially moved into Jaxon’s house on the Wills compound.

“What is it? What’d you forget?” I ask.

“It was something for the sunrise. I have to get it. Damnit. Come with me. I don’t want the sun to rise without you in my arms. Last year I had to keep my hands off, and that’s never happening again.”

I look at the cliffs and back at him, smiling at the sweetness of his wanting to experience it together.

“Can’t this wait?” I ask.

“No, I need it. Please. Come on. We’ll be quick, and we can get back here before it happens,” he assures me.

I sigh, but follow him because I know he’d do the same for me in a heartbeat.

He speeds to our house in the golf cart, and we get there as the sky lights up with fire. There’s no way we’re making it back to the group before the sun spills over, and don’t want to miss that special moment.

He pulls me out and stands close, with his hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll just have to watch it here. I’m sorry, baby.”

Oh well. He’s the most important anyway.

He hugs me from behind before releasing me. What happened to all that watching in his arms speech? I pivot around to give him a hard time, baffled he let go in the first place, but my breath catches when I see him on one knee holding a ring box out and open. My mouth immediately drops in disbelief.

What is he doing?

“I love you, Della, and have for longer than I’ll ever admit to,” he winks at me. “Every beautiful thing this past year is tied to you and the color you’ve brought to my existence. I had no idea how wonderful life could be.” Jaxon chokes up a little at his words, and I melt, still unable to take my hand away from my mouth.

“Marry me, Della Tatroe, and chase sunrises with me forever. And with every new day we witness, I’ll thank my lucky stars that somehow, I ended up with you by my side for another one.”

Dropping to my knees to kiss him, I nod my head and whisper back, as if talking loudly is going to ruin the moment. “Yes. I want to chase a million more sunrises with you. For the rest of my life, Jaxon Wills. I love you so much.”

He kisses me back while my hands go into his hair, and I flex those strands between my fingers.

He tastes like forever, and I lose myself in our moment as the punch of the sun falls on my face.

When he pulls back, he slides the most beautiful ring over my finger, and looks at me with the warm, intense eyes I’ve been drawn to since I met him.

“Della, one day I’ll be old and gray, and this is where I’ll go in my dreams. To this moment. Because I’m memorizing the way you’re looking at me right now. The way the golden sun lights up your hair, the blue of your eyes that always get bluer when you cry,” he puts his forehead to mine. “And that smile with your lip tucked into your teeth that makes your dimple pop out. God, I just know we’re going to have the best fucking life. You are my sunrise, Del. I love you,” he says as he strokes my cheek with his thumb, trailing right into the dimple he just spoke about.

Wrapping my arms around him, I bury into his shoulder.

I’m engaged.

To the person I love more than anything on this earth.

And I can’t get over how exactly a year ago, I was in such a different place.

If I only knew…

“You saved me, Jaxon,” I choke out.

“Nah. I gave you a cabin to stay in for seventy-two hours. Everything else you did yourself.”

It’s far from the truth, but my mind races with how all the people here contributed to making my life exponentially better than it was on the path to be.