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Starlet rested her head against my shoulder as I wrapped my arm around her waist.
“I love you,” I swore.
“I love you,” she promised.
As the sun rose over us, I couldn’t help but feel our adventure was only beginning.
One Month Later
“How is this even real?” I asked Starlet as we finished reaching the top of the Grand Canyon. We’d been on our road trip for thirty-two days and witnessed thirty-two sunrises together, along with our fair share of sunsets. The trip had been packed with beautiful sights and weird stuff, too. Starlet wasn’t the biggest fan of Doll’s Head Trail in Georgia, where muddy, creepy doll heads and body parts were displayed through the dark, patch woodlands. Even though she was helping guide me through the trails, she held my arm tighter in that park. Dinosaur World in Kentucky was another highlight.
At one point, I was sure she was getting annoyed with me for making her stop at every single dinosaur statue on the roadside, but we’d managed to take a million pictures with T-Rex and his friends.
Watching her dance in the streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. Seeing how free Starlet became when she joined a random marching band traveling down Bourbon Street was the best thing in the world. She might not have known precisely what she would do with her life, but she knew how to be free that summer.
“Did you see me dancing with the drummer?” she asked me, wide-eyed with joy.
I smirked and pulled her to my side, kissing her forehead. “I saw you.” And I did. I saw her. I saw every piece of her with my eyes open and shut. Starlet’s aura was so bright that I couldn’t have missed it if I had tried. I felt her in every piece of me. Something about her just made the dark days that much brighter.
She never once fussed about needing to help me at some of the attractions. She never complained about driving the whole trip. She showed up with a grace I didn’t think I deserved and gave me her love without limits.
I paused as we sat atop the Grand Canyon, staring at the most breathtaking scenery I’d ever seen. The wind brushed against us, and I was almost sure it was Starlet’s mother saying hello. I quickly learned that that was how she liked to communicate—through the wind.
I wished I could’ve known her. I wished I could’ve met the woman who’d brought me the best gift I’d ever had. I didn’t know how to thank the universe for someone like Starlet. All I knew was that my gratitude was overflowing.
“Here, stand up and let me get a photograph of you facing the canyons,” I said as I waved my camera.
Starlet hopped up, turned her back toward me, and stretched her arms wide.
“That’s perfect! Keep standing there. Strike a few poses,” I directed. She did as I said, and I snapped a few more photographs before placing the camera down. “Okay, now turn back to me so I can get a few shots of your face.”
She spun around on her heels and gasped when she met my stare. “Oh my gosh, Milo,” she whispered, her hand flying to her mouth.
There I was, down on one knee, with an engagement ring in my hand. My body was shaking nonstop as I stared at Starlet. Every nerve in me was a wreck as she stayed frozen in place. I parted my mouth to speak, and my voice cracked the second the first word came out. “I love you, Star. I love you in a way that I didn’t even know love existed. Within a few months, you came into my world and turned my upside-down life right side up. You saved me from despair, taught me what unconditional love was, and you are the best person I’ve ever met, and I want to spend the rest of forever loving you fully. I want to be yours for the rest of my life, and I want you to be mine. So…” I nervously chuckled, shaking my head to try to stop the tears from falling down my eyes. “Marry me? Marry me, Star, and let’s chase the sun for the rest of our lives.”
She moved closer and reached toward me, touching my arms. “Yes,” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Of course, I’ll marry you.” She didn’t even look at the ring as she pulled me to a standing position. Her lips locked with mine. I saw it all as I closed my eyes and kissed the woman of my dreams. I saw my future, I saw my past, and I saw my destiny. I was destined to love Starlet Evans, and she was destined to love me back. We were written in the stars—or, more so, the sunrises.
