The camera cuts to him, and he’s smiling his golden boy smile. “I don’t think Mallory is quite ready for a proposal. If it was up to me alone, she’d have a ring on her finger already. But I’m happy to wait on her. She’s worth it, and if this show has taught me anything, it’s that the journey is where the magic happens, when you have the right person by your side.”
Off camera, one of the producers—I think it’s Callen—says, “So you’re not proposing today?”
Holland smiles into the camera. Gosh, he’s handsome. “Not today. But whenever Mallory is ready.”
I scoot up onto my elbow so I can look down at him in the tree house. “Whenever I’m ready, huh?”
He nods, a tender expression making his face soft in the hazy twinkling lights. “That’s what I said.”
“What if it takes me five years to be ready? Ten years?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says with a shrug, but then he taps his jaw. “Although, that might kill me. I want to make you my wife. I want to officially be your guy. I want to vow to honor you and love you in good times and in bad times, and in sickness and in health. I want a family with you,” his voice cracks. He swallows. “So yeah, I’ll wait on all that until you’re ready, but I’m also not so secretly hoping that you don’t make me wait a decade.”
I nod slowly. “You did say you were an impatient man when it came to me.”
“That much is still true.”
“What if I say I’m ready now?”
He blinks. “I’d say, ‘Are you sure?’”
I nod.
He closes his eyes and tips his head back. “Thank you!” he whispers the words to the heavens before turning to look at me. He eases me away from him. “You sit there.”
My heart thrashes as he crawls to the opposite wall of the tree house.
“What are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he bends and starts prying up a board that’s in the corner. When it pops up, I gasp. He sticks his hand into the hollowed out opening and produces a jewelry box.
I shake my head as he crawls back over to me. “You’ve been keeping secrets.”
“I’ve made no secret about wanting to marry you.”
That’s true. We’ve talked openly about our future. Holland has been completely transparent about where he stands. It’s always been up to me to signal that I’m ready for the next step. Staring at him now, I know without a doubt that I am.
“I was talking about your hiding spot over there.” I motion to the corner.
“I wanted to be prepared. It’s a good thing no one else comes up here, or they might have stolen the ring.”
“How long have you left it out here?” I gasp.
“Not exactly sure.” He looks up, doing the mental math. “I bought it the week after the PGO Championship.”
My jaw drops.
“Now, stop talking and listen.”
“Sorry. Go ahead.” I tuck my hands primly in my lap.
“Thank you.” He scooches forward so he’s sitting across from me, our knees touching. “Mallory, you are it for me. I admired you in secret for almost two years. Your work ethic. Your intelligence. Your poise and bearing. I thought you were the classiest woman I’d ever seen. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are too good for me.” I shake my head, but he goes on. “You are. You can deny it, but I know it’s true. Then I got to know you more personally, and your humor and heart shone through, and it was game over for me. If I had a crush on you as my coach, it turned into full-blown obsession the second you signed on toMost Eligible Mister. Thank you for giving me a chance to love you, Mal. I have made it my mission to work to be worthy of you. I will always be here to lift you up and to catch you when you fall. I will love you through it all. I’m yours, and it would be my honor to be your husband. Will you marry me?”
He flips open the box, and my breath catches. The round diamond is exactly what I would have picked for myself. It’s exquisite, and the symbolism of an infinite commitment that it represents makes tears spring into my eyes. Fittingly, it also reminds me of a golf ball, which is what brought us together in the first place. I have a feeling that’s why Holland picked it.
My parents pop into my head, and I think about their relationship, the ups and downs they’ve weathered in their lives together. I have complete faith in Holland and how he’ll be by my side, championing me, supporting me, making me laugh, holding me when I cry, for as long as we both shall live.
“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you, Holland.” I reach forward and wrap my arms around his neck.
