“Is everything okay?”
I slid my phone back into my pocket as I whipped my head up to take Michelle in.
“Of course,” I said. “Ready to head home?”
“Ready to head to bed,” she said with a giggle.
“Well, if you stick with me, I’ve got one more thing for you before you head off to bed tonight.”
“Gray, I really can’t go anywhere else. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful—”
“You never could,” I said, as I stood from my seat. “Not in a million years. Don’t worry. The surprise is back at the house. Just stay with me a little while longer, okay?”
“Why are you doing all this?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
I traced my thumb over her lower lip, watching as her cheeks flushed.
“Come with me,” I said. “I have something I want to ask you.”
I led her to the car and we drove back home. But instead of walking her through the house, I walked us around the perimeter. I held her hand, our fingers laced together as her heels lightly clicked on the cobblestones that outlined paths around my property.
Our property, if she said yes.
The second I walked her out to the terrace in the backyard, I heard her gasp. A million twinkling lights raced along the edges of everything out there. The edge of the concrete foundation. The outline of the door. The table and the chairs set up with presents for our baby. There were pink bags and blue bags and a bouquet of flowers meant for her. Candles twinkled in the seats of the chairs, casting a beautiful hue in the areas the twinkling lights didn’t reach. The table and the terrace were full of baby gifts. Stuffed animals rested against the colorful bags while clothes and diapers and gift cards overflowed the colorful tissue of the presents.
The sun slowly sank behind the hills, draping us in an illuminated darkness as I slipped my arm around Michelle.
“What is all this?” she asked, breathlessly. “What have you done?”
I looked down and saw the wonder in her eyes and knew I couldn’t wait a second longer.
“Michelle Danforth, I’m in love with you.”
Her eyes whipped up to mine as I turned her body in my arms.
“I can’t live without you,” I said. “I don’t want to imagine my life without you. And I want to raise our child together. Here. In Napa Valley. I want the laughter of our child and the laughter of the woman I love to fill the halls of this home. I want my home to become ours, Michelle. And I don’t want to wait another second to ask you the one thing I’ve been dying to ask you since I found you in Williston.”
Then, I slid down onto my knee and pulled the ring box out of my pocket. It had been burning a hole into my thigh the entire night. I popped it open and held it up to Michelle, watching as her hands cupped her mouth. Tears rushed her eyes and streamed down her cheeks, and I finally allowed myself to hope. To wish. To pray and to believe that the answer I wanted would come out of her mouth the second I asked.
“Michelle, you will be a fabulous mother. But I want you as more than that. I want you as my wife. As my partner. As the only love my life with ever know. I’ve never loved another woman. Not even my own mother. And now that I’ve experienced that with you, I want no one else. I long for no one else other than you, Michelle. My love, will you marry me?”
She let out the breath she was holding as her hands came down to cup mine.
“I never expected this to happen, and I never thought you would ask. But I hoped with all my might that you would. Yes, Grayson MacDonald, I will marry you.”
I couldn’t contain myself as I shot up from my knee and crashed my lips against hers. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in tightly, feeling the way she molded to me. The way she bowed when I dipped her. Our tongues collided and every single piece of my world fell into place. I saw visions of my future smash against the forefront of my mind as her lips swelled against mine. I steadied her on her feet before plucking the ring from its box, then I slid it onto her finger as she wiped at the tears of happiness coating her skin.
Then, without another word spoken, I brought her in for another kiss.
Epilogue
Michelle
One Year Later
I pushed the dark hair back from my son’s face as I stood on the balcony with him. I gazed into his beautiful blue eyes, marveling at how much he looked like his father. With every passing day, he woke up with another one of Grayson’s features. A stern look or a furrowed brow. His nose grew stronger and even his little baby jawline seemed etched with the same ruggedness Gray had.
There was no denying who this child belonged to, even if it still mattered.