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“Everyone else is thinking you should say yes!” Audrey Violet said with a giggle.
I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “I’m thinking the same thing, but no pressure.”
Hazel tipped her head back and laughed, the sound filled with joy as the energy built. She wore the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen when she pinned her gaze back on mine. “Oh yes, I will be your wife, Irving Wallace. I will marry you in that little gazebo in the park and celebrate with our family here in Seeds of Hope Legacy Hall. When everyone goes home and we’re all alone, I’ll dance with you to one last song before we go to sleep, having lived the first day of the rest of our lives as soulmates, lovers, and friends. I love you, Irving Wallace.”
“That was a solid yes if I’ve ever heard one!” Gabe yelled out, and I nodded, biting back the tears from my eyes.
“I was just thinking that myself,” I said as I pulled the ring from the box. “I’m so glad the doctors decided to fix that left ring finger, and I can’t wait to put this ring on it. For now,” I took her right hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. “I love you, Hazel, and I promise in front of all of these people, who will call me out if I don’t keep my promise to love, honor, and cherish you, that I’ll also keep you in a steady supply of candy canes all year through.”
“A girl can’t ask for more than that,” she whispered with a smile and a wink.
“With the power vested in me by the State of Michigan and the Interwebs,” Ellis called out. “You may now kiss the bride!”
“With pleasure,” I said as our lips came together, and the room erupted in laughter and applause.
There was love here, both in the people who surrounded us and the building we resided in. There was also hope in our hearts as we fused ours together on this cold December night. As she leaned back and took my hand in hers, I realized that this room overflowed with joy—joy for the love of a community. In the end, that’s really all any of us can ask for in life.
As we accepted congratulations from our friends, I knew that three things remained: Love, hope, and joy, but the greatest of these is—and always will be—love.
