“Then why don’t we sit down? Or do you want to go somewhere else?”
She shook her head. What she wanted to say needed to be said now, before she lost her nerve. “This is fine. I mean...it doesn’t matter where I am, as long as we’re together and talking, you know?”
He pulled two chairs over and they sat knee-to-knee.
“Is not having kids a deal breaker for you?”
“No.”
She was surprised at his immediate and blunt answer. “But, Dan, I know you always wanted children.”
“Yes, but it’s not a deal breaker. Because I love you, Del. And because, if we don’t have children, it’ll be fine. I’ve thought about it since you told me, and if we do decide we want to, we can look at options. But please, realize that you’re not denying me anything.”
Her pulse quickened. He’d said “if we don’t have children” and “if we do decide to,” which meant he was talking about the future. Their future.
“And the trust thing... Dan, I never wanted to leave you. I know it’s hard for you to trust I won’t leave again, but I’ll do everything I can to show you I’m in it for good. It’ll take time and...and...”
She paused, because this was the hard part, the bit she’d struggled over for the last few days. “And if it makes things easier, I can move the business. I can try to move my clients to someone new so they don’t lose any of their bookings, and reopen somewhere else to protect my credit rating. I hate to put it in such cold business terms, but I love what I do. I can do it somewhere else, but I don’t want to give it up.”
Dan shook his head, squeezing her hand. “No, it’s not cold at all. It’s responsible, and I wouldn’t want you to give it up. I love that you aren’t just thinking about yourself but want to take care of your clients. Which brings me to something I want to say, Del.”
“Oh.”
He twined his fingers with hers. “I don’t want you to move the business. The truth is, I’ve realized that my success was built on a habit of avoidance. I worked long hours, climbed the ladder, but inside, in here...” He pointed to his chest. “In here, I was empty. From the outside, it looked like I had it all. But I didn’t. Not even close. I had this great position and I didn’t have you, and one couldn’t make up for the other. I don’t want you to move. I want to make a change. I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I just got off the phone with the board of directors. Our branch manager here just resigned. They need someone to take over the Calgary operations and I want to be the one to do it.”
Her head swam with what he’d just said. He’d be living only an hour away if he took this job. And she wasn’t naive; she knew that going from CFO to a branch management position was a step backward. He was willing to do that for her? Hope soared in her chest.
“You’re sure you don’t want to look for something bigger, here? There’s got to be a lot of opportunity. You shouldn’t throw away all you’ve accomplished, Dan. We can work something out, I promise.”
But he shook his head. “I have loved being in this office, and being a part of building som
ething new, and seeing the teamwork in place. It’s exciting. And it’s not like there won’t be future growth. The market for clean energy sources is only going to go up with new innovations. I can be a part of that in real time, not just from a high-rise in Toronto. It’s not a demotion, Del. More of a lateral move. I’d be VP of Western Operations. I’d oversee this office, as well as Edmonton, the one opening in BC and any future branches.”
“You really want to do this.”
“I do. And it means you can stay where you are, and we can be together, and I can love you all the time.”
Her lip wobbled again. “I’m sorry I kept pushing you away. I was so scared. You were right about the reality thing. I’ve always been so afraid to hope. To...dream. The closest I ever got was putting together all these weddings for strangers, you know? But Harper made me see that I deserve a happy ending, too. And maybe it won’t be perfect, but we’ll be together, and that’s all that matters.”
“Come here,” he said, and pulled on her fingers. “Sit on my lap. I need you closer.”
She did as he asked, even though the chair was awkward. Still, he wrapped his arms around her and put his forehead on her shoulder. “God, I’m so glad you’re here. That you changed your mind.”
“Me too,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I love you, Dan. And I’m so tired of letting fear hold me back.”
“Then let’s not,” he said, leaning back and looking up into her face. “Let’s do it up right and stop wasting time. Marry me, Delly. I can tie up loose ends at home and come back. You can plan our wedding instead of someone else’s, and I can commute for a while until we decide if we want to live somewhere else.”
“Maybe Canmore,” she said, feeling a spark of excitement. “Or Springbank. Somewhere we can both travel easily...”
“Whatever. I don’t care, as long as you’re there.”
“Me either.”
“Is that a yes? Will you marry me? Finally?”
She’d been a planner all her life. She’d played the cards she was dealt, rather than taking a gamble. But it had all led to this moment, a make-or-break moment, and there was no way she was going to let it slip through her fingers again.
“That’s a yes.”