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But something he most certainly was not going to be confused about was that I was his mother, by law. I adopted him immediately and was officially his mother within a few months. The day after I got the letter and confirmation that everything had gone through, Kane had me come to dinner at the family restaurant.
“That was delicious,” I said, putting my napkin down over the empty plate. The restaurant was empty save us, and the romantic atmosphere was intense and wonderful. Kane hadn’t stopped staring into my eyes all day.
“Derek outdid himself,” Kane said. “The pairing with our wine was phenomenal.”
“It really was,” I said, smiling. I looked at the bottle again. I couldn’t believe how special it was. Kane had developed a new blend, based on my suggestions, and had named it “Dani.” The still mostly full first bottle was sitting on the edge of the table, and I stared at the picture on the bottle, a glamourous one of myself from a few months before.
“You like the wine?” he asked. It was the third time he had asked, and I couldn’t blame him. I had only taken a tiny sip of it, saying that I just felt like having water that night. He didn’t seem upset, but he was curious.
He had every reason to be.
“It’s great,” I said. “Maybe we can take it back home with us.” It was a way out, and it seemed to work. He nodded and smiled.
“That would be great,” he said. “Speaking of, would you like to take a walk with me? Head back to the house and watch the sunset?”
“That would be wonderful.”
Standing, Kane grabbed the bottle and recorked it. I didn’t want to tell him just yet, but since we were going on the walk, I figured it would be the perfect time to spill the beans. The excitement and secrecy of keeping it in were going to kill me if I had to wait any longer, and I had barely known for more than a few hours. I wasn’t going to make it much longer.
He took my hand, and we walked to the back of the restaurant, going through the kitchen to the back door. Derek was there, and his face brightened when he saw us.
“Going for a walk?” he asked.
“Yup,” Kane said. “Dinner was perfect. See you on Monday.”
“Alright,” Derek said, giving a little salute. “Glad to hear it.”
“Bye,” I said, waving. Derek looked up, waved, and went back to cleaning the kitchen. Whistling.
We began to walk through the fields, hand in hand, taking our time. There was no reason to rush. The sun was setting just past the vineyards, and we stared ahead at the orange glow turning to bright shades of pink and purple. It was beautiful.
I squeezed Kane’s hand, and he squeezed mine back. We hadn’t really said much our entire walk, but we were about halfway to the house at the edge of the vineyards, and I didn’t want to miss the moment. At some point I had to stop him and tell him the news, surrounded by the fields he loved so much. It was the perfect way to tell him, and I could feel the rush of the oncoming announcement building. I was about to turn to him and stop him. The words “I have something to tell you” were at the edge of my lips. But I couldn’t get them out, because at the exact same time I went to say them, Kane stopped, turned to me, and dropped down on his knee.
Confused, I looked at him with my head to one side.
Then I saw it. The box he was pulling out of his pocket. The small, unmistakable box that could contain only one thing.
I felt like I was babbling, the words I had intended to say flowing out, but I realized no sound was coming. I was just moving my jaw up and down in silence. Kane was looking up at me expectantly as he opened the box, and I saw a gorgeous diamond ring.
“Danica Peters,” he said, and my breath hitched, tears welling up in my eyes so that he was kind of hard to see through them. “Will you marry me?”
I could barely speak. The sound just wanted to stay inside my chest, and I had to force it out.
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “Yes, I will!”
His grin grew wider, and he stood, putting the ring on my trembling finger before pressing his lips into a deep kiss. Suddenly, applause began to ring out from around us, and I noticed that the tiny buildings on either side, used to hide water pumps and contain tools, had opened up and his brothers were streaming out. Even Derek, still in his chef whites, was trotting toward us. How he got there I didn’t have a clue.
