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“Nor have I.” I loved the way his blue eyes sparkled at me. “Not since we met a year ago today.”
He threw his head back as though basking in sunlight. “Ah, blessed day.”
I laughed at his silliness. “It was. I’ll never stop being grateful for that day. This last year has been…”
It’d been hard turning my life upside down for a trans-Atlantic move. It’d held a great deal more flight anxiety for me, with our trips back and forth to see each other before my entrepreneur visa came through in England. And it’d been emotional leaving family and friends behind in the States.
But it had also seen the return ofMolly Clarke Designs, where I was able to do the kind of work I loved, with more requests coming in every month. It had ushered in sweet relationships with his daughters, too—tentative and awkward at first, but through the magic of Taylor Swift singalongs and binge-watching cheesy tween movies, they’d made space for me in their lives.
And it had given me the most passionate, most genuine, most vital relationship I’d ever had. The more time we spent together the morerighteverything between us felt. We didn’t agree one hundred percent of the time, and we’d weathered a few arguments, but we always talked things through. Always kept seeking each other out.
The last year had been a wild ride, but none of it had been on autopilot.
“I’ve never been happier. I love you so much.” My voice cracked, and his eyes seemed to soften as he watched me. I tapped his chest over his heart. “You are my favorite adventure.”
“My Molly.” He scooped me up so my feet dangled, burying his face in my neck. His beard tickled my skin as he kissed me once, twice. He set me down again, eyes bright. “Let’s get married.”
My breath stilled in my lungs, my eyes wide. Maybe I hadn’t heard him right? “What?”
“I love you. I want to marry you, and have you be my wife, and I want you to stay with me always. Let’s get married.”
Shatner whined behind us.
Duncan side-eyed him. “And I want to share legal guardianship of that most insistent dog.”
I laughed, tears ready behind my eyes. I’d hoped this was coming—you don’t move halfway across the world to be with a man and not have at least an inkling—but it still stunned me in the moment.
“Wait. I’m missing something.” Duncan let me go and held up a finger. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Standing there in my shorty pajamas, my answer to his proposal at the ready, I wasn’t likely to run.
He dashed up the stairs. This time I did hear him clomping around up there. I hadn’t moved an inch when he came back down, a little black box in his hand.
“I was going to do this at Arundel Castle this afternoon, but I never could resist you.”
He lowered himself to one knee. My heart went absolutely wild: fireworks and pinballs and insane galloping all at once at the sight of my big strong man so vulnerable. He opened the box, revealing a square cut solitaire.
“Molly, my heart. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky as to meet you and fall in love with you—and best of all, convince you to love me—but I want nothing more than to be your husband. Will you be my wife?”
I was soaring, flying, drifting up into the heavens. I needed a second to remember how to make words.
“Yes. One hundred percent yes.”
His eyes shone as he stood and caught me up. We kissed long and hard, tears mingling on our faces. He slipped the ring on my finger—a perfect fit.
“How did you know?” I stared down at it sparkling in the morning light. From the size to the specific shape I would have chosen, everything about this ring was exactly right.
“Jill. I’m afraid she’s known about this for a few weeks. Her silence came at a price, though. I may have promised to tour her aroundOutlanderlocations when she visits.”
“You know you’re going to have to read book passages in your thickest brogue, right?”
He looked to the ceiling. “Oh, aye.”
“The girls are going to lose their minds that we’re getting married.”
That soft look that seemed reserved just for Louisa and Sophie came into his eyes. “I love how much they love you.”
“I love them, too.” We’d got on better than I ever could have hoped. “Can we get married in Scotland?”
