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“I know I am deeply thankful to Sorcha for many things—ones I never told her. I figured many of you felt the same. Everyone knows her favorite scent was oranges, and even today, we still smell her signature scent around the village. I thought it fitting that everyone take a stem of orange blossoms, which Linc was kind enough to send off for, and lay it at the foot of her favorite tree as a tribute to her. Whatever words are in your heart will be heard. Of that I am sure. Carrick? Would you like to be the first, seeing as how she held your name?”
His friend shared a loving smile with Angie, who was crying beautiful tears, before he walked forward with baby Emeline and picked up a stem filled with delicate white blossoms. Carrick laid the branch at the base of the tree and then touched a hand to its trunk, his head bowed. Tears ran down the faces of many he knew before the little baby girl lurched forward in his arms and touched the tree with him, making a few in the crowd gasp. Seeing that, Liam thought, was good and right. Another circle complete. He could see the little girl singing and running around the tree with other children. Sorcha would wish it so. She had loved this spot, and now the whole village would share it to honor her.
When Carrick was done, Angie came forward next and did the same, brushing at tears, and after that the whole village stepped forward and paid their respects. The perfume of the orange blossoms wrapped around them, the scent one of the most beautiful Liam had ever smelled, save Taylor when she woke in his arms.
When everyone was finished, he spotted Taylor waiting for him with a branch in her hands. They’d agreed to go last, sealing this moment for themselves alone, being the final couple Sorcha had helped. He picked up a branch himself and met her halfway to the tree. When he took her hand, something sparked between them. He felt a glorious rumble under his feet, and as they laid their branches on the pile arranged as a tribute made to their beloved friend, a flash of white light arced out of the base of the tree and then lit the sky.
He heard Taylor’s exclamation before she turned to him and gripped his coat. “Wow, that’s got to be a sign, right?”
His heart was pulsing in time with the earth’s heartbeat now, and that seemed fitting too as he lowered to a knee before her, taking her hand.
Her brown eyes widened, and then she smiled like a well-satisfied cat. “Of course you’d do it here and now.”
He was chuckling as he used his free hand to bring out the ring he’d selected with Linc’s help only days before on a quick day trip to Paris. The small diamonds swirled like stars in the silver band, something he’d thought she would like. But it was what he’d inscribed that still made his heart fill with light.
“Taylor McGowan, I love you with all my heart, and I want to spend the rest of my days with you, sharing our very souls with each other. Will you marry me?”
She knelt until she was in front of him and took his hand, her gaze soft and direct. “Yes, Liam O’Hanlon. I will marry you. Happily.”
They leaned forward and kissed softly, and in the background he heard a shower of applause from bystanders on the hill.
“Even though Ibarelyknow you,” she joked, “and we’re still working out our morning bathroom routine.”
“I have a plan for that,” he bandied back, kissing her again. “You’re going to shower with me to start things.”
She made a humming sound, kissing the corner of his mouth. “Good plan, Yoda.”
He raised his brow.
“What?I happen to like it, and since you didn’t pick another code name, you’re stuck with it. Now, what about our honeymoon? Please tell me we’re not going to Bali.”
He fought a laugh. “I seriously considered it.”
She gave him a playful cross look. “But you knew I’d smack you, right, being the mind reader you are?”
“Exactly!” He waited a beat, loving the playful light in her beautiful brown eyes. “How about Paris? I saw myself with you there.”
“I love Paris!” she said enthusiastically. “But I have this great idea…”
He bit his lip to keep from smiling as he’d already seen it in meditation. “Yes…”
“I think we take the opportunity to create a diversion. Eoghan—the Crow—thought it would be smart to have Veritas show up somewhere else and soon. Plus, I really loved painting with you, and what better way to lay a trail that doesn’t lead to us than doing a mural on our honeymoon? I mean, no one in their right minds would think of something that fantastical. Plus, there’s this falsely incarcerated artist in Mali who—”
“We can talk about it,” he said, because he knew she wanted the opportunity to persuade him. Deliciously, of course, as she liked to say. He loved that she was so eager to share another mural with him after all the years she’d gone it alone. He knew it was an honor, one that cemented their partnership.
“You should really look at the inscription inside the ring,” he told her, sitting back on his heels. “I saved the best for last.”
Her look was puzzled, but she turned the ring to the light. He watched as her lips mouthedYou are my truth.Then launched herself at him before pressing back. “Are you kidding me? God, that’s so going to make me cry, and I never cry.I’m your truth?”
He watched as she fought those precious tears she loathed shedding. “You’re that and more,” he said simply, touching her thigh.
She nodded, wiping one away as it fell. “That’s the sweetest thinganyonehas ever said to me.”
The reverence with which she slipped the ring on her finger was a moment he knew he’d remember forever. Suddenly a dozen little robins flew around them, almost as if in delight. She laughed as she pointed to the birds, her expression comical, and then she cupped his jaw and kissed him soundly on the mouth. “You’re my truth too.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “And I have the T-shirt to prove it,” he joked, wanting to hear her laugh, which she did, falling against him as his mouth sought and found hers again.
The scent of orange blossoms intensified then, and he heard in the background another wonderful sound—Sorcha’s laughter—and knew their tribute had done its job.
