Page 62 of Fall Over You

“Well, that charge is pending and the deposits came out right away so I’m really close to going into the negative and—” I breathe out through tight lips, “we probably need to hurry up with the marriage thing. I know you’re busy this morning and I hate to bother you, but we should at least go see if they’re going to give us a loan or if this is all some ridiculous fantasy.”

Tyler hangs his head, poking his tongue into his cheek. He sits taller and puts his hands on his thighs. “Stay here.”

My stomach drops as he leaves the room. He jogs downstairs and I hear his voice and Mr. Davis’s. Then his feet thump on the stairs again. He has a small Tiffany blue box in his hand that makes my heart pound.

He sits in the chair and leans forward, letting the box roll from hand to hand. I note his long fingers, the veins on his hands, the grease around his nails that is part of every work day for him.

“Let’s go see if we can get some money. We’ll do this part now,” he holds up the box, “and if the guy at the bank says yes, we go out tonight to announce it to everybody. I’ll lend you some money so you don’t hit bottom. Then we can go to the courthouse tomorrow to make it official.”

I worry my bottom lip. “Don’t you have to work?”

Tyler looks at me seriously. “This is important.”

My voice comes out all froggy. “It’s not too soon? You’ve only been at the farm for a few days.”

“It is soon,” he admits. “But I believe in this. What we’re doing. In you.”

“No more Tyler-Rebeccian war?” I joke, though it still sounds feeble.

He snorts. “No more war.”

I bob my head and my hands start to shake. We’re really doing this. “And if we can’t get the money?”

Tyler’s tongue runs over his teeth and his eyes train on the floor between us. “Cross that bridge when we get there.”

He stands and offers his hand to pull me up with him. His hand slots into my waist and I look up at him, finding him looking uncertainly at me.

“Sorry I’m not dressed fancier,” he says.

“I like you like this. I’m not fancy either,” I say and instead of my usual confidence, I feel like I’m a feather in the wind.

His lips curve upward and his eyes crinkle, his voice secretive and gravelly. “I like you like this too.”

We laugh, something that’s just for us, here, alone, on the edge of something terrifying and hopeful and amazing. Tyler’s long fingers fumble over the blue box, sliding the ribbon aside before he takes out the velvet box within. “Hope I’m doing this right.”

I chuckle. “You are as far as I know.”

He pops the lid of the box to reveal a sparkling stone. He mumbles a soft “dammit” and pulls out the wedding ring in the set. “Sorry. That’s for later.”

“It’s okay.” I squeeze his hand and he takes a moment to hold it and look at me.

His brow wrinkles. “You good? Ready?”

I blow out a breath. “Yeah. Just soaking it in. Might be the only proposal I ever get.”

A man is asking me to marry him, and even though this one isn’t for love, it’s from a loving man.

For now, that’s good enough.

This man loves his daughter and puts her first without exception. He’s always been there for me in his quiet way, sometimes in the shadows, sometimes peeking in from the doorway, waiting to be called into action.

He lowers to one knee and takes my hand.

“Rebecca Jean.”

My throat tightens when he uses my middle name. Of course, he knows it from years of being around me and being Dusty’s best friend, but it’s weird to have that fact thrown in my face.

Tyler swallows hard and goes on, eyes earnest. “Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”