“Lula, please wait! I need to talk to you!”
Lula fought to keep quiet, holding her breath, as his footsteps sounded on the concrete outside, afraid he would hear her ragged exhalations. But the sound of his footfalls continued past her hiding place and moved off toward the street. After a few silent moments, Lula released her breath with a whoosh, sagging against the fence as she turned to survey her surroundings.
What she saw made her scream, a wild yelp of surprise that leapt from her mouth before she could contain it.
There, less than five feet away, stood a row of Christmas gnomes, lined up as if they had been caught mid-escape from the Dumpsters. Before Lula could imagine where they’d come from—or calculate the odds of coming face to face with antique gnomes from the same collection as the one she’d so recently smashed—the gate screeched open behind her.
“There you are,” Carter said, breathing heavily. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? I heard you scream.”
“Go away,” Lula said, dividing her attention between Carter and the gnomes, some crazy part of her insisting the vintage ceramics weren’t to be trusted.
“What happened?” Carter asked. “Lula, I can’t make this better if you don’t talk to me.”
“Why should I talk to you when you’re on the next plane out?” she asked, fighting a fresh wave of tears. His words had turned the perfect Christmas Eve into a sequel of that horrible night, eleven years ago.
But instead of ducking his head in shame, Carter let out a relieved sigh. “God, is that all? It’s nothing, L.J. Just a ten day trip, two weeks at most, and then I’ll be heading straight back here to you.”
Lula frowned, her forehead furrowing as she looked from him to the gnomes watching their quarrel from the shadows and back to Carter again. “I don’t believe you. You said you were here to stay, you promised. And now, just when I thought everything was wonderful—”
“Everything is wonderful, babe! Please, listen! I can explain.”
“I don’t want to listen,” she said with a sniff. “I can’t live through this again! If you’re going, then just go. Leave and never come back.”
“Does this look like I planned on leaving and never coming back?” Carter reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box, opening it before he held it up between them.
Lula’s mouth fell open and her angry words drifted away as Carter dropped to one knee on the sticky concrete beside the Dumpsters.
“Tallulah Josephine Watson, I didn’t intend to propose in a place like this, but all I want in the world is standing right in front of me,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “You are my biggest dream and my greatest adventure. I need to go to London to settle some unexpected business, but as soon as I’m done, I’m coming right back to you. There is nowhere else I want to be.” He took a deep breath. “I know this is fast, and I’ll wait as long as you want, so you can be sure you’re making the right choice. But you’re the only woman I’ll ever love, and I would be so honored if you’d agree to be my wife.”
Lula blinked so fast that, for a moment, it felt like the world had become one of her grandfather’s old 8mm movies. “This is crazy,” she whispered, even as a voice deep inside her insisted the only crazy thing would be to tell Carter no.
“What’s crazy is that we’ve already wasted so much time, Lu,” Carter said. “I don’t want to waste another minute. If I thought I could get you to close the shop, I’d ask you to come to London with me. We could book two round trip tickets and see the sights before coming back here and settling down for good.”
Lula swallowed hard, beginning to feel like a fool. “So I overreacted? And ran through town like a lunatic for nothing?”
“Not for nothing,” Carter insisted in a gentle voice. “I hurt you when I left, and what we’ve found is so new. I understand why you’d take what you heard as a sign that I’m the same fool I used to be. But I’m not, L.J. I swear I’m not.”
Lula nodded as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I know. I do, deep down. I’m just afraid. I meant what I said, Carter. I don’t think I could live through losing you again.”
He reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing tight. “Then let’s make sure you never have to. Please take this ring as a symbol of my love and know I’ll spend every day from now on proving you can put your faith in me.”
Lula’s lips trembled, but her smile finally found its way across her face. “All right.”
He gripped her hand tighter. “Is that a yes?”