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“Showing you—” He cuts himself off as the door opens.
A fierce-looking man with a full beard fills the doorway. Justin’s just as tall as him, but somehow in the last week,hisloom has stopped intimidating me.
This man, though, is scary looking. “You Justin?”
“I am.”
He shoves his hand out. “Ford Gamble. Your brother says you want to see the light?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” He gestures for us to come inside. I’m surprised to see the main floor is a comfortable home, and the open staircase to the upper level has what looks like a woman’s t-shirt and pajama pants hanging on them.
Mr. Gamble grabs them and mumbles something about his woman. Then his fierce face softens into an affectionate expression.
On the second level, there’s another door, and this time he doesn’t lead the way. “You’ve been up here before?” he asks Justin.
“A few times as a kid. We won’t touch anything.” He takes my hand, and we climb again, up into the narrow space around the lighthouse’s beacon.
It’s dark, and old, and very interesting. “Why are we here?” I whisper, because it feels like a sacred space.
He sits me down on the top stair, then positions himself in front of me.
“The first time I came here was when I was four. My mom convinced my dad it would be a fun thing for me to see, but she had an ulterior motive. You see, this was where my dad proposed to my mom, when she was pregnant with me. And when she got pregnant again with my brother, it was a surprise—so she brought him back to this same spot to break the news.”
“Oh, Justin…” The fact that his parents got married after they found out that they were expecting him doesn’t go over my head.
Maybe their marriage started the way ours will, hopefully. With a bun in the oven.
Thisissacred space, I realize.
He gives me a careful, sad smile. “The last time I was here, she was pregnant with my sister. Same story. But she got sick soon after Jenna was born, and died a year later. We haven’t been back. I don’t think my dad ever could visit again. But I want to make a new memory here.” He sinks down, resting his back knee on a step.
Down on one knee, in a sacred place.
“Abigail Forrest, will you marry me? I want to spend the rest of my life making memories with you, and protecting you, and making you laugh. Showing you all the wonders of the world, like beer and diner lunches, and—”
“Yes,” I breathe. I want to throw myself at him, but we’re perched at the top of a very narrow set of stairs, and that might kill us both. “Yes, yes,yes, I will marry you.”
He leans in and kisses me, his tongue stroking against mine, his mouth sure and strong. “I mean, I already told you that you had to, but it’s nice to make it official.”
I laugh with him, but when he eases back, the laughter fades to a tiny sucked-in gasp, because in his hand is a diamond ring. Even in the dim light, it sparkles as he slides it onto my left hand.
“First stage of the mission complete,” he whispers as he kisses me again. “Next it’s operation, knock you up.”
CHAPTER20
JUSTIN
I had wanted to marry her that afternoon, but my brother burst that dream bubble. Oregon has a three-day waiting period for getting hitched. So we wait until we’ve crossed the border into California to get our marriage license, and then I call Jenna to tell her she needs to plan a wedding with only ten guests in forty-eight hours.
“Jacob’s going to take a few days off and fly down to meet us. We’ll be back tomorrow night or Saturday morning. I’d love to get married Sunday afternoon.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re up to the challenge,” I say confidently.
“Of course I am, but—”
