“Good. So we understand each other.” He took her arm and began to lead her towards her family. She dug her heels into the ground and halted them. “Wait. Haven’t you forgotten something?”
He glanced at her in surprise. “I don’t think so.”
She dropped her voice. “There’s a little matter of a proposal that hasn’t been given yet or accepted.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “It was implied.”
This was so much fun she could go on for hours but she decided it was time to put a stop to their foolishness. She crossed her hands under her breasts and glared at him. “I want a decent, romantic proposal of marriage and I want it now.”
He shook his head. “You drive a hard bargain.”
And then, to her shock and surprise, he dropped to one knee at her feet and glanced up at her, lights dancing in his eyes.
She glanced around but so far no one had seen them. “I didn’t say you had to get down on one knee.”
“Well I’m down here now. If I’m getting grass stains on my pants I want it to mean something.”
“Oh stop it. This is the most unromantic thing that’s ever happened to me.”
She grabbed his hand and tried to yank him up but he held firm. “Marguerite. On the spot where you grew up, and in front of your family and your friends I’m asking you if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
His image grew misty as she stared at him through gathering tears. “I didn’t think I could love anyone as much as I love you.”
“I know the feeling.” He stood and took her into his arms and when he kissed her it was possibly the happiest moment of her life. He lifted his head and said, “So, do you think I’ll get an answer anytime soon?”
“I’m savoring the moment. But yes. My answer is yes.”
“I really didn’t see this coming, so I don’t have an engagement ring, but I saw this in a jewelry store and I thought of you.” He pulled out a silk bag and shook out a ring that sparkled silver in the light. It was a gorgeous hand crafted silver ring set with a fresh water pearl in the center. “Consider it a promise ring.” As he slipped it on her ring finger, she felt as though her heart would burst.
Suddenly, a shout rang out. “Okay everybody, gather round, it’s time for a toast to the happy couple.”
He pulled away and stared down at her startled. “How did the news travel so fast? We haven’t even told anyone yet.”
She reached up and kissed him softly on the mouth. “The toast isn’t for us. It’s for Iris and Geoff.”
He gazed down at her. “I think the world of your sister and Geoff. But when I drink a toast, it’s going be to you and to our future together.”
“And I’ll be drinking to you and our future. And also to Iris and Geoff. I’ll take a very big sip.”
“I love you.”
“That’s a very handy thing, because I love you too.”
And, hand in hand, they walked back to join family and friends in celebrating the union of another very happy couple, and the beginning of another generation.
Roots, she mused, as she gazed around at Jack and Daphne and their assorted children. Roots were the basis, and from them grew strong plants that threw out the best and most cherished blooms.
* * *
If you enjoyedLove to Go here’s a sneak peek of The Sheriff’s Sweet Surrender, James and Kimberley’s story.
* * *
James Chance sidledup to the front door of Sunflower Coffee and Tea Company and peered inside. He figured he looked more like a burglar casing the joint than the town sheriff as he searched the busy café for trouble.
Trouble, in this case, wasn’t criminals who might want to hold up the bakery in hopes of cleaning out the till, or stealing his sister Iris Chance McLeod’s morning glory muffin recipe. Trouble right now, for him, meant a certain very determined divorcee, Loreen Ludlaw, who took way too personal an interest in James, to the point that stalking would not be too strong a term. He’d considered a restraining order on Loreen but nixed that idea when his brother Evan, a lawyer, told him it would make him the town laughingstock. Though he suspected the good people of Hidden Falls, Oregon were already enjoying the joke at his expense.
As his trained cop’s gaze rapidly swept the inside of the coffee shop he recognized most of the customers. A table of older women laughing over their bright pottery mugs. A couple of young mothers in running gear, their babies sleeping in jogging strollers beside the table. A young man in a corner with his laptop open. He was a budding screenwriter who seemed to treat Iris’s coffee shop as his office. Since Iris offered free Internet along with the best brownies ever baked, she drew a number of people who studied, worked, or played on their computers amid all the chatter and noise of a busy café.
