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Christmas morning, one year later...
“Are you ready for yourpresent?”
Maggie jumped as I lobbed my question from behind her. She whirled around in the kitchen, turning away from the Christmas breakfast she’d been preparing for us. I smiled at her, adoring everything about this moment. She’d moved into my quarters six months ago, and I still felt an ecstatic jot every time I saw her in my home.
Our home.
“Ooh. Yes, please! Although I don’t know how you’re going to top last year. That rolling pin is one of the best baking tools I own, bar none.”
I gulped, my hands sweating as I held the small box behind my back.
I hope she likes it...
Merciful moons, I hope she says yes.
I wasn’t too familiar with the human custom, but it seemed simple enough. Procure a ring. Kneel before your woman.
Ask her to be yours.
But I knew that things that appeared to be simple on the surface were often much more complex in action.
I had no time to go over every possible mistake I could make now. Maggie was squinting and leaning to the side, trying to see around my back.
“So, what is it?” she asked, eyes shimmering with expectation.
I straightened, taking a short steadying breath, before I pulled the small box around to my front, opening the lid in one smooth thankfully movement.
I watched her face with intense scrutiny as nerves skittered under my skin.
Her eyes got huge, her mouth dropping open into a pretty O.
“Is that...?”
“If you mean an engagement ring, then yes,” I grunted, unsure if her reaction was a good one or not. I thought it a handsome ring, and thankfully I’d been clever enough not to ask Penny for guidance, instead getting Sophie’s input.
Sophie had given me ideas, but ultimately, I had chosen the ring. It was a thick, solid band of Hadorian gold, inlaid with tiny, shimmering red gems in a subtly swirling, floral design. The glint and shapes of the gem design had reminded me so much of the flowers in the photo of Maggie and her grandmother, the flowers that had inspired me as I’d carved the sign for the bakery.
Maggie still hadn’t said anything else, and I realized I’d already messed at least one part of this up.
You dolt. You’re supposed to be on one knee.
I fixed that quickly, moving down to one knee and holding the box between us.
“Maggie, will you accept me as your mate?” I asked, forcing my voice to be steady and strong. “Will you marry me?”
Still, she said nothing.
Oh no. That... Can’t be good.
“If the ring is not right for you, that is easily fixed,” I said quickly, starting to panic. “If it’s the man who’s not right, well...” My heart squeezed. “That is not so easily remedied.”
Maggie was shaking her head violently, her curls shaking back and forth.
“No!” she finally cried.
Blasphemous mountains...
“No?” I croaked.
