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“I have a present for you.” I pulled her toward the kitchen.
She didn’t fight me or ask a lot of questions as she followed. She trusted me.
The kitchen was full of the smell of the party food on the farmhouse table, but I didn’t linger. I led her to the back door and onto the large porch outside. I didn’t stop until we stood right against the railing, looking out at the pitch-black backyard.
August was close behind us, but he didn’t stay on the porch; he quietly slipped away as the rest of our families piled outside. My mom and dad were there, looking confused, but curious. All my brothers and Hailey came next, and then Winnie cautiously stepped outside, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold night air.
A few other people milled outside, too, but I didn’t see Emersyn. I tried not to let that distract me from what I was about to do.
Turning to Lark, I grabbed both her hands in mine. She smiled up at me, but a slight hesitation lingered in her expression.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
I cleared my throat. “I wanted to give you something.” My hand darted into my pocket, but I didn’t take the box out yet. I gazed into those big brown eyes, the eyes that made everything in me relax. They made me feel at peace, like I was home. “We haven’t been dating for long, I know that. But I’ve known you almost my whole life, Lark, and I have never been more sure about anything than I am of you.”
Lark’s eyes glistened. “Reid.” She said my name, her smile widening.
Before she could say anything else, August cut the lights and there was a collective gasp from the crowd.
Lark’s head swiveled toward the yard, her jaw falling open.
There, shining brightly from the darkened yard beyond the porch, were two words spelled out in Christmas lights. August and I had been working on them for weeks, cutting out the wood framing and gluing on every light to form the phrase I wanted to ask the girl that I loved:
Marry Me.
While Lark was gazing at the lights, I pulled out that box and got on one knee.
Hailey’s little voice echoed from behind us. “Oh, my gosh! That’s sooo romantic!”
Lark looked back at me, her rounded eyes widening further as she took me in. I held the box up to her and opened the lid. Her hands flew to her chest.
“Will you do the honor of being my wife, Lark Meadows?”
There were a few beats of silence. I started to doubt myself. Maybe this had been too big, too public. I had wanted to do something that was worthy of her. I also wanted to do something that was big enough that might have people talking, spreading good things around about Lark for a while instead of the sad ones. I wanted people to know that she was special. That she was loved.
But then, Lark’s eyes filled with tears. They spilled from her lashes and rolled down her cheeks. Finally, she opened her mouth, making this high-pitched, excited screech as she jumped on the balls of her feet.
“Yes!!” she cried, flinging her arms around my neck, almost knocking me over. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you! I love you, Reid Ramsey.”
I wrapped my arms around her, careful not to drop the box with the very expensive pink diamond ring inside. “I love you, too, Lark, and I can’t wait to love you for the rest of my days.”
