“Yeah, she gave it to me when I?—”
“Ryder,” Elizabeth said, setting down her handbag by the blankets and pillows. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer you. It was rude and cowardly. Selfish. I don’t want to be that kind of woman.”
“To be fair, a voicemail proposal deserved a bit of silence.” He pressed play on his phone, and the melody of “As Time Goes By” filled the square box. “Can I have this dance?”
Elizabeth stepped into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder as they turned in a slow sway.
“Granny prayed with me,” she said, leaning back to see his face. “To know God’s heart.”
“And what did God say?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Ryder ended the dance. “But not because you need a new goal? Or feel like you have a future, so I’m it?”
“Maybe, a little. I’m still me, Ryder Donovan.” She gripped his hand. “But truth is, I’m completely head over heels in love with you. The women in my class complained ad nauseam about not being able to find a good man, yet I’d let one go.”
Ryder gathered her to him again and buried his face against her skin. “Will you be happy in Hearts Bend?”
“I’ve always been happy in Hearts Bend, Ryder. It just took me a few years to admit it.”
The song changed to “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Ryder knelt by the basket, reaching in for the ring.
“Beth Dorsey, I’m not sure I can top a voicemail proposal, but now that I’m live and in person…” He opened the ring box. “Will you marry me?”
She dropped to her knees in front of him and held his face in her hands. “Try and stop me, Ryder Donovan.”
“Oh, I know better than to?—”
She pressed her warm lips to his. “I’m going to need a lot of these.”
“Good, I have a lot to give.”
Ryder slipped the ring on her finger. “This ring has a story.”
“It’s so beautiful,” she said, her smile brighter than the diamond. “I love stories.”
After a few more kisses—well, a lot of kisses—they settled into the pile of pillows and dug into the charcuterie basket. While dining on cheese and crackers, prosciutto and salami, grapes and almonds, Elizabeth regaled him with stories of Wharton, and he gave her the latest details on the TWRA investigation.
“The FBI has made a few arrests. A senior accountant at the TWRA had been hiding money for years. Her husband worked at Dorsey Mill. She ordered the cherry and teak using my name, then he fulfilled the orders. Someone else picked it up. She paid the invoices out of a hidden account. They kept the orders below the amount required for authorization by her superiors. She could do it on her own. Then she had to cool her jets and stopped paying for things. Thus, the flagged account at Dorsey.” In the distance, a bird sang its song.
“So you’re exonerated.” Elizabeth rested her head on Ryder’s shoulder. “And I’m free from all my striving. Love did that, Ryder. Now tell me about the ring.”
He bent forward for a kiss. “Do you know where Earth-n-Treasures used to be?”
The air in the fire tower cabin shifted, and the bird singing the song rested on the tower steps as he told her about the mysterious Jewell and the gift of the ring.
“I tried to return it, but the new owner said he’d never seen it before. Said he couldn’t buy it from me ’cause he didn’t have the capital yet. We went round and round, me trying to return it and the man saying he couldn’t afford to buy it.”
“So this ring just showed up at your house? That’s crazy.” She held her hand up to the evening light. “I don’t understand. Who is Jewell, and why’d she give you the ring?”
“I don’t know, but I think I have to simply have faith and believe.”
“Simple faith?” she said. “That’s hard for me.”
“Then let’s do it together. For the rest of our lives.” He kissed her again, sealing their love to the gravelly sounds of Jimmy Durante singing “As Time Goes By.”
All her life, she’d believed that if she worked hard enough, she’d achieve her dream. That’s what they said. And in so many ways, they were right. Except they forgot to mention life’s greatest achievement: love.
