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Arlo grabbed the handle and pushed it open, but Ada didn’t move. “I’ll let you go first.”
Arlo grinned. “Alright.”
As they ascended the stairs, she heard soft music. At the landing, they stepped into a modern minimalist coffee shop. A chunky wooden bar adorned the back wall with steel black bar stools.
“This is pleasant,” Ada noted.
“Order anything you want.”
Ada scanned the menu and decided on a gingerbread latte, while Arlo ordered a peppermint mocha.
“What else do you want? I mean, you gotta pick something out of here. These look delicious.” Arlo was staring at a glass case filled with desserts.
All of the pastries are so perfect they almost look fake.“I’ll try a peppermint meringue cookie,” Ada finally decided.
“Make that two,” Arlo said. “And could we also get two of the hot chocolate brownie bites… ya know what? Why don’t you just give us two of everything.”
“Oh my gosh, what? That’s too much.”
“I owe you, remember?” Arlo arched his eyebrows. “I hope you accept cookies as payment.”
The barista boxed up their desserts and Arlo flipped open the lid for Ada to take one.
She didn’t normally binge sweets, but it was Christmas and she’d never seen so many adorable desserts in one place. After biting into the minty, soft dough, she murmured, “I think cookies might be the only type of payment I’m going to accept from now on.”
Arlo shot her a full grin, flashing his sparkling white teeth. Ada suddenly felt like she was melting like the cookie on her tongue.
“Let’s sit.” Arlo walked toward the back of the shop. Soon they were face-to-face with more stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“Just a little further up.”
Being careful not to spill her drink, she climbed the steep steps.
“Made it,” Arlo said, swinging open another door.
String lights were the first thing Ada noticed. They ran across the entire rooftop lounge, giving everything a twinkling glow. There were café tables among outdoor couches filled with people. Apparently this was a popular spot, which made sense considering the ambiance was out of this world. Beautiful outdoor rugs made the space boho cozy. Candles twinkled on every surface. Thankfully, there was a plethora of space heaters too.
Arlo walked over to a café table near the edge of the rooftop. As Ada approached, her breath caught in her throat. It was late afternoon, so the sun glistened off the snowy mountains. The view was unlike anything she’d ever seen. When she turned to tell Arlo he did well, she found him down on one knee—proposal style.
Her heart galloped clumsily. “What the—”
“I’m sorry for missing our date last year. I thought I had texted you but it must not have gone through. I should have followed up, but since you didn’t respond I thought it meant you were mad. I figured I should just leave you alone since I wasn’t even in the States… Ada James, is there any way you’ll forgive me?” Arlo held up a Santa cookie with a red hat, red nose, and swirly white beard as if he were presenting a ring.
Ada chuckled at the ridiculousness of it all.
Pressing his lips together, Arlo tried to keep a solemn facial expression, but a smirk was starting to slip through.
Ada shook her head in disbelief at his antics. She was about to grab the cookie and take a giant bite when she noticed the rooftop was oddly quiet.
Swiveling her head, she realized everyone was staring in their direction. There was shushing.
Arlo peered out the corner of his eye. “The people are waiting,” he said quietly, a laugh about to burst through.
The sudden spotlight made her pulse skyrocket. Glancing around and then back at Arlo, she nodded. “You’re absolutely ridiculous… but yes, I forgive you. Now will you please stand up?”
Arlo got to his feet and pumped his fist proclaiming, “She said yes!”
