The Proposal
At exactly six o’clock, I saw her car. I let the dining room curtain fall shut and dashed back to the kitchen.
“She just turned into the driveway,” I said to Alice, who stood at the island, adding halved cherry tomatoes to the salads.
“I’ll slide these in the fridge, Sam,” she said.
“Libby’s here!” I called out the back door, and I took a quick glance around.
The evening light softly illuminated the patio and beyond it, the hills were filled with trees with red and orange and gold leaves, as well as a scattering of dark green cedars. It was as beautiful a backdrop for the evening as I could have hoped for.
Zeke, Doug, and Cleo scattered the last few rose petals on the pathway and hurried toward me.
“The wind has died down,” Cleo said as she slipped into the kitchen, “but it’s a good thing we waited until the last minute to put those petals out.”
I nodded and motioned them toward the door to the garage.
“Oh, I can’t wait,” Cleo said. She let out an excited laugh.
“Shhh!” I cautioned. “Libby might hear you.”
Cleo nodded and followed Alice, Doug, and Zeke into the garage, then I raced to the front door and cracked it open.
“Come on, Bella,” I heard Libby say. “Let’s go inside.”
I swung the door open wide and called out hello to her.
Libby looked at me, and my heart began pounding.
There she was. Libby Ballard, the woman who’d won my heart forever.
Her green sweater brought out the emerald of her eyes, her jeans hugged her hips, and her dark hair fell to her shoulders, looking soft and silky. Her lips spread into a wide smile when she saw me.
I gazed at her as she walked across the yard.
Before Libby, I’d struggled in relationships. Four years ago, Celeste had broken up with me because I worked too much. Three years ago, I’d almost married Deirdre—until a business colleague pointed out what I had failed to see: she was only marrying me for my money. Two ugly endings to relationships I’d been deeply invested in. But combined, those difficulties had spurred me to make changes in my life, changes that brought me to Dogwood Springs.
Where I met Libby.
In a weird way, the fact that we’d both felt betrayed in previous relationships was one more reason we were right for each other. Granted, she was gorgeous, she was kind and funny and brave and smart and everything a man could look for in a woman. But she also was someone who, both because of what she’d been through and because of her innate character, I’d learned I could trust completely.
To me, that was the cornerstone of our relationship, a relationship I hoped she would agree to make permanent.
Her sweet golden retriever, Bella, raced ahead and nuzzled her head against the leg of my jeans. I reached down to scratch her ears. “Hello to you too, Bella.” I gestured both of them toward my entryway. “Come on in.”
Libby stepped inside and inhaled deeply. “It smells fantastic in here. What are we having?”
“A green salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, beef stroganoff, and sourdough bread I picked up at the bakery downtown.” I’d made the stroganoff from scratch and only gotten help from Alice with the salads when time got short.
“Yum! And let me guess, are we having Minnesota’s Pride ice cream for dessert?”
“We just might be.” I winked at her and led her through the kitchen, silently willing Cleo to keep quiet. “The weather’s been so nice, I thought we could eat out on the patio.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Come on out,” I said.
Suddenly, my stomach coiled like a tight spring. Every inch of effort, every ounce of love I’d poured into this night—was leading to this moment.
I’d run through a dozen variations of how things might play out in my head—like debugging a program, testing every possible outcome. But real life didn’t come with a safety net. This was it. No do-overs, no test runs. Just me, putting my heart on the line for the woman I loved.
I gestured for her to go ahead.
She stepped onto the stone patio, and her footsteps slowed.
All my efforts lay before her.
Tiny white lights lined the limbs of the dogwood trees that surrounded the patio, shining against the trees’ red leaves. Two rows of white candles set in hurricane lanterns lined a path leading to a small table at the back of the patio. Red rose petals covered the path, and on the table, more candles surrounded a vase of large, extra-fragrant red roses I’d had specially shipped in.
Libby glanced back at me.
I took her hand. “It seems like we should follow the path, don’t you think?”
She gave a shaky nod and walked with me.
Near the table with the vase of roses, I stopped, rested a hand on Bella’s neck, then tipped her chin up to face me. “It’s time for what we practiced, girl. Go get the surprise.” I pointed toward a cluster of dogwoods.
Bella trotted behind one of the trees and came back with the present that Cleo had helped me wrap in white paper with a big white bow.
I handed the package to Libby, and my mouth went dry.
“Would you like to open this?” I managed to ask.
“Sure.” Her voice shook.
Bella moved in closer, clearly ready to help with the unwrapping if needed.
Libby slid off the paper—which only had a small amount of doggy drool on it—and lifted the lid from the box. Inside, there was a smaller box, and inside that, a dark blue velvet ring box. I gently took the ring box from her hand and opened it, displaying the ring. Then I dropped to one knee.
She placed a hand over her heart.
My pulse raced. I was more nervous than I’d ever imagined. But how could I not be? This mattered more than anything.
“Libby,” I said, “spending time with you has made me happier than I’ve ever been. You’ve made my life so much richer that I can’t imagine a day without you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Sam.”
Fireworks exploded inside me, but they were nothing compared to the sheer, overwhelming joy flooding my heart. Nothing—nothing—could ever compare to seeing Libby’s wide eyes and hearing her say “yes.”
I rose to my feet and slid the ring on her finger.
Then everything happened at once. I drew her into my arms and kissed her, Bella started barking, and Cleo, Alice, Doug, and Zeke surrounded us, all cheering and shouting congratulations.
Libby looked from one of my friends to another. “Where did you come from?”
“We were hiding in the garage.” Cleo angled her head back toward the house. “Sam cracked the door to the kitchen, so when we heard you come in the front door, we snuck around the side of the house.”
Libby shook her head at me. “I had no idea you had all this planned!”
“I can’t believe I pulled it off.” I shrugged.
“When I called this morning, you did sound stressed,” Libby said.
Stressed didn’t begin to cover it. Those blog posts and social media photos about setting up a romantic proposal didn’t give a clue how much work was involved. “When you called, I was trying to get the lights up in the trees.” I pointed to the tallest dogwood. “That one was a real challenge.” When I was throwing strands of lights over it, I nearly fell off the ladder. “But it was nothing compared to losing the ring.”
“You lost the ring?” Libby’s voice rose in horror, and she looked down at it.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Remember when Bella came over because you were having work done at your apartment?”
She nodded.
“I had the ring out on my coffee table because I was taking a picture to send to my mom. She really wanted to see it. Right before you drove up, I stepped into the other room to get the paper with all the information about the history of the ring so I could send her a photo of that too. When I came back, the ring was gone.” I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid, leaving it on the table with Bella in the room.
“Oh, no.” Libby glanced back down at her hand.
“After you left, I looked everywhere. I thought I’d heard a metallic rattle, but I wasn’t sure. After that peanut butter cookie incident, I was afraid Bella had eaten it.”
“That’s why I started my exercise craze,” Cleo said. “I took her for her morning walks because I was on pooper scooper duty. And I collected the pooper scooper bags you put in the trash and scanned the backyard in case you missed anything. I hid all the bags on my side of the garage, just in case.”
Libby burst out laughing. “Did she really eat the ring?”
“No,” I said. “I think she swished it off the table with her tail because it was finally found in the heating vent. It took the HVAC team longer than they expected, but they found it.”
“Which meant no one needed to go through the pooper scooper bags,” Cleo said.
Libby laughed again and looked at the ring.
Believe me, I was grateful to that HVAC team. I’d have been the one searching through those bags.
I glanced down at the ring. I’d spent weeks looking for what I hoped was the perfect antique ring—one that both Cleo and Alice had agreed was beautiful and one that had a rich history of love behind it. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful!” She held out her hand, admiring it. “I love it.”
“I’m so glad—and so glad you said yes.” I kissed her again. “I hate that this past week I’ve been swamped with alumni stuff at work.”
She brushed my concern aside, her eyes shining.
“Time to pose.” Cleo pulled out her phone. “We’ve got lots of photos to take!”
“And I made you two a cake for after dinner,” Alice said. “Hold on.” She dashed inside and returned with the cake she’d hidden in my fridge.
“It’s gorgeous, Alice,” Libby said.
Alice beamed at her and gave her another hug.
“It will go great with Minnesota’s Pride ice cream,” I said.
Everyone chuckled.
Then Cleo took photo after photo, posing Libby and me by the cake, by the roses, kissing, admiring the ring, with Bella, and one with me holding a sign Cleo had made that read “She said yes!”
Doug nudged Alice. “Time for us to leave and let the engaged couple have time alone, don’t you think?”
“Goodness, yes.” Alice hugged us both, and Doug shook my hand and clasped both of Libby’s.
Cleo gathered us both into her arms, her eyes teary, and Zeke hugged us and told us congratulations.
Then it was just Libby and me, standing on the patio. The sun had dipped below the horizon, the candles glimmered, and Bella lay on the stone patio beside us, worn out from all the excitement.
Libby shook her head and looked at me. “Wow, it hardly seems real.”
“I’m so happy,” I said. “My beautiful Libby, who’s going to be my bride.” I tipped my head toward the house. “I know we’ve got a while to decide, but would you like to join me living here at Ashlington after we’re married?”
She beamed at me. “What could be more perfect?”
“I’m glad you think so. I do too. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you”—I reached down to scratch her sweet dog’s ears—“and with Bella.”
Libby gazed out over the hills, and I stared at her, still lost in happy disbelief that she’d really said yes.
Then her forehead furrowed. “Maybe one day we’ll even find that diary that Hattie hid in the fireplace at the yellow house.”
“Oh! With everything that’s been going on, I forgot to tell you,” I said. “I got a call from that potential heir, a guy named Quinten. He’s confident he will inherit the house, and he says when he does, he’ll call me and let us look for the diary. He’s really intrigued.”
“Did he think it would be soon?”
“It sounded like at least a month, maybe two.” I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her closer, and looked into her gorgeous green eyes. “In the meantime, I’m going to kiss my beautiful fiancée.”
She slid her arms around my neck. “That sounds like a grand idea.”
I inhaled deeply, feeling my chest fill with tingles of joy and a sense of wholeness.
For years, people had told me I was successful. And that success had been sweet, but nothing compared with today.
Today, with Libby, my life wasn’t just full—it was finally, truly complete.
I brought my lips to hers and sealed our promise of a future together.