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Although normally we would have settled ourselves down on the couch to relax after a meal like that, having Archie stretched out on the rug sort of put a damper on those plans. Calvin and I gravitated back toward the dining room table, which by that point had been cleared of the dessert plates and now only held our wine glasses — still with a few sips left in each of the cabernet Hazel and Chuck had brought to the party — as well as the holiday centerpiece with its red cinnamon-scented candle and glitter-dusted pine branches and holly berries.
We sat down, and Calvin cast another glance in Archie’s direction, as if to satisfy himself that the cat truly was dead to the world for the foreseeable future. “It was a wonderful dinner,” he said, and I smiled.
“I liked cooking for all of you. It really was a perfect Yule celebration.”
That was nothing more than the truth. I’d performed my own Yule ceremony earlier in the day before I went down to work — lighting a candle to banish the dark of this shortest day, and uttering prayers for the return of the sun — but sitting at this table with my friends and the man I loved had honestly felt like the real Yule ritual, a sharing of food and wine and company that strengthened the bond between all of us and served to remind me that the love and support of others was truly greatest weapon we had to fight against the cold and the dark.
Calvin reached out to touch my hand. “I think so, too.” He paused there, dark eyes intent on my face.
I didn’t know what he saw there — a kind of tired happiness, I hoped, and not smeared mascara.
“And that’s why I think it’s time to ask you something.”
Another pause, this time so he could reach into his jeans pocket with his free hand.
Was he…?
I didn’t quite dare to breathe, only sat there as quietly as I could, waiting to see if my unspoken wishes and hopes and dreams of the past year were about to come true.
In the next moment, he produced a ring box, and then lifted his other hand from mine so he could open the box. Inside was a bridal set, with a glittering oval stone set in a silvery band carved with leaves, their finish faintly oxidized. The wedding band had the same leaf pattern.
It was utterly unusual, and so perfectly, perfectly me.
“Selena,” Calvin went on. His voice had lowered slightly, as if he still wasn’t completely sure whether Archie was going to continue to sleep through all this. “I’ve been happier this past year than I’ve ever been in my life, and I know it’s all because of you. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, and so I’m hoping you’ll want to share it with me…forever. Will you marry me?”
I knew there was no reason to hesitate, or question my heart. The universe had sent this man to me, and I’d be crazy to say anything except, “Yes, Calvin. I absolutely will marry you.”
He bent forward and we kissed, a kiss that sent the same wonderful, warm heat flowing through me his kisses always did, only this time with extra intensity because of the lasting promise we’d just made to one another.
Eventually, though, he pulled away and sent me a rueful grin. “You should probably see if this fits,” he said, and gestured with the ring box, which he’d held the entire time.
“Oh, right,” I replied, then added airily, “Even if it doesn’t fit, I’m sure Alonzo will be able to resize it.”
Alonzo Gonzales owned the only jewelry store in town, and it seemed that most of his business lay in jewelry and watch repairs rather than selling new pieces. But he was a genius at what he did, and so I knew resizing a ring would be child’s play for him.
But when Calvin slid the engagement ring on my finger, it fit perfectly. I looked down at it on my hand, admiring the glitter of the stone and the exquisite workmanship that had gone into fashioning the band.
“It’s not a real diamond,” he said, sounding almost apologetic. “I didn’t think you’d like one, considering all the problems with the diamond industry. This is a white sapphire — I found the set on Etsy.”
Which sounded like the perfect place to get me an engagement ring, something that had been handcrafted rather than mass-manufactured and sold in jewelry stores all over the country.
“I love it,” I said firmly. “It’s exactly what I would have picked out for myself. You did good, Calvin Standingbear.”
He shot me a relieved grin, and leaned over to kiss me again, a kiss redolent of Bordeaux and cabernet and cranberries. I let myself relax into that kiss…and then a horrible thought crossed my mind.
What about Archie? Where would he fit in this new future Calvin and I had begun to shape for ourselves?
It seemed the time had finally come to tell the truth.
I pulled away from Calvin and said, “I want to marry you, Calvin…but I’m not sure what to do about Archie.”
Thatnon sequiturmade him lift a brow. “Why would Archie be a problem? You wouldn’t be able to let him roam at my place, because there really are mountain lions and coyotes and eagles out there, but the house is big enough that he should be okay.”
Oh, boy. I didn’t even comment on how Calvin automatically expected me to move in with him — really, that was the only logical thing to do, considering his sprawling pueblo-style house out in the countryside was twice the size of my apartment.
If only it were that easy.
“No, that isn’t the issue,” I said. Now that the time had come, I realized I had to just blurt it out. “It’s because Archie really isn’t a cat.”
