Only, he’d transformed it. “What have you done?” She could hardly believe what she was seeing. He’d framed the window with dangling ornaments in a heart-shaped design. She hurried inside to see hundreds of her glass globes hanging from the ceiling by silver ribbons.
He’d set up an easel, brushes, watercolors… Every tool an artist could dream of having. On the walls, he’d hung some of her paintings.
And on a table, she found a stack of familiar boxes. Tears filled her eyes, and she slapped her hand over her mouth so he wouldn’t see her ugly cry. She hurried over and ripped off the packing tape, pulling out the first tattered and worn box of her family’s ornaments. “Beau.” Her voice broke.
He came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
“I can’t believe you did this.”
“I’m glad you like it. It was presumptuous of me to turn your office into a studio, and if it’s not something you want, I can switch it back. I don’t want you to feel pressure to paint—”
She turned within the shelter of his embrace. “Pressure? I’ve been missing it like air. I just haven’t had the mental space.” She couldn’t create when she was so preoccupied. “You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever known. How on earth did I get so lucky?”
He kissed her. “I ask myself the same thing about you every single day.”
She reached inside the box and pulled out an angel ornament. “This was my great-grandmother’s.” She held it out for him to see. “How did you get these?”
“I asked Emerson to check with her dad. She said my timing couldn’t have been more perfect because he’d already stopped payment on the storage unit, and the contents were going up for auction.”
That fucker. He knew she could afford it now, and he hadn’t bothered to let her know. “You bought everything, didn’t you?”
“You’re damn right I did. I want to make sure you have a chance to go through it and keep what you want. You must have baby books and photo albums, important stuff like that.”
“I do.” She set the ornament back in its padded cubby and threw herself into his arms. “I love you so much.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. Because…” Reaching for her hand, he got down on one knee. “Margot Sophia Rhodes—” His cheeks flushed a deep red, and his breath caught. He lowered his gaze and took a moment to pull himself together before turning those bright blue eyes on her. “I love you. I love everything about you, and I want you forever. I know we haven’t talked about marriage. We’ve both signed the pieces of paper before, and they didn’t even amount to kindling for the fireplace. But marrying you means stitching our families together, and there’s nothing I want more than to be woven into the fabric of your life.”
She dropped to her knees. “My life? Beau, you’re woven into my heart. I can’t separate you from me in here.” She brought his hand to her chest. “But yes, I’ll marry you. Of course, I will.”
“I haven’t asked yet.”
She grinned. “Then, what was that whole speech for?”
“I was getting there.” They cracked up, and he pulled a box out of his pocket. He popped it open to reveal a ring. “Margot Rhodes, will you marry me?”
“Oh, my God.” She pulled it out of the box. “What in the world is this?”
“It’s called fire opal.”
When she held it under the lights, it gave a spectral display of yellows, oranges, and reds. Set in a gold band and surrounded by shiny yellow-green peridot, it was an absolute showstopper. “I can’t believe you made this.”
“It’s us. In a ring.” With a shaky hand, he slid it onto her finger. And then, he kissed her.
It didn’t seem real to have such a bounty of goodness in her life, but the press of his lips, the clutch of his hand at the back of her neck, and the heat of his body was all the proof she needed.
It had been a long road to get here, but she’d landed in a place she could finally call her forever home.
And the address was Beau.
* * *
