Page 165 of The Golden Hour

That’s an understatement.

It’s the most stunning piece of jewelry she’s ever seen.

Mason then pulls another box out of his pocket, this one thin and long, and he hands it to Honey. She looks at him for a long moment before opening it and gasps. A tiny daisy pendant hangs from a delicate gold chain, its soft, rounded petals surrounding one small diamond in the center.

“They used some from my old ring to make that,” Mason grins. “For Daisy, when she’s a little older, of course.”

Honey loses the battle with her tears then, fingers brushing against the necklace, reshaped from the past and turned into something beautiful for the future.

Fitting.

“You’re such a good daddy,” Honey laughs wetly.

Mason beams.

Then she adds, “And you’re a wonderful husband too.”

Mason’s smile softens at that, and he bends on one knee.

“I did this once and almost passed out because I was so nervous.”

Honey giggles, remembering that at nineteen, Mason practically fell and slammed his knee against the deck at her parents' house. She can still hear her father snickering, and her mother shushing him while they all watched Mason stumble over his proposal to Honey.

He had barely managed to get the question out before Honey tackled him and screamed, “Yes!”

Her old ring had been cut off of her at the hospital, and while she missed the tiny diamond he spent summers saving up for, and the secondhand wedding band they found at a vintage shop, this one’s symbolism means so much.

“I love you, Honey Carpenter,” Mason says. “I have only ever loved you. My love for you is as constant as the stars in the sky. As inevitable as the Phillies disappointing us in the playoffs⁠⁠—”

Honey tosses her head back and laughs.

“There is no life I want that doesn’t have you and Daisy at the center of it. There is no Mason Carpenter without Honey.” Mason swallows and takes a deep breath. “I’m asking you to let me be your husband again, if you’ll have me...”

She doesn’t tackle him this time. Instead, she places Daisy’s necklace beside her on the bed, reaches out to cup Mason’s face, and pulls him closer.

Before their lips touch, she smiles. “Yes.”

Mason’s eyes close briefly, relief and love washing over his face. He slides the engagement ring onto her finger gently, then the wedding band, slotting together in a perfect fit. She takes his ring and slides it onto his finger.

For a moment, they hold their hands beside each other and admire the rings.

A ray of light filters through the bay window and catches on the diamonds, scattering tiny rainbows across the wall. Mason pulls Honey close and kisses her slowly, deeply, his hand cradling her face like she’s precious. Her hands on his shoulders keep him close.

Mason peels off the rest of Honey’s clothes, and when she’s completely bare in front of him, the silvery c-section scar too exposed to be ignored, Mason just bends and kisses it. His lips touch every single centimeter, murmuring gorgeous and beautiful and perfect and a fucking angel.

Honey reaches for him and pulls off the rest of his clothes, and they take their time relearning each other.

As the golden hour fades into night, their giggles and murmured teasing become gasps and moans and declarations of love.

Afterward, Mason holds Honey tightly in his arms, their limbs tangled from head to toe. There are more boxes to unpack, more furniture to build, but for now, they just bask in the peaceful stillness of the new home and the new life they’re building.

Together.

“I love you, Mason,” Honey whispers.

Mason presses a long kiss to the top of her head.

“I love you, Honey,” he rumbles. “We’re going to be alright.”