"I have a proposal," I said, surprising myself.
Her eyebrows rose. "A proposal?"
"Not that kind." I paused, letting that word hover. "Not yet."
I watched her eyes widen slightly, watched the color rise in her cheeks, and felt a fierce satisfaction at being the one to put it there.
"I think we should go somewhere," I continued. "Together. A trip."
"A trip?"
"You said once you wanted to travel. Somewhere with a view, where the air is clear." I traced my thumb across her knuckles. "I want to give you that. Before—" I stopped, swallowed the fear that always lurked beneath the surface. "I want to give you good memories. As many as I can."
Charlotte was quiet for a long moment, her expression unreadable in the flickering candlelight. Then she smiled. Not with the fragile smile from this morning, but something brighter. Something that looked like hope.
"Where would we go?"
"Anywhere you want." I squeezed her hand. "Pick a place. I'll figure out the rest."
"Anywhere?"
"Anywhere."
She considered this, a slow smile spreading across her face. "I've always wanted to see the northern lights."
"Then we'll go somewhere with northern lights."
"That's not exactly a quick trip."
"So we'll take a long one." I leaned forward, holding her gaze. "I'm serious, Charlotte. Whatever time I have, however much or little, I want to spend it making you happy. I want to fill your life with so many good memories that even if..." I stopped, my throat tight. "Even if things get difficult later, you'll have enough light to see you through."
Her eyes glistened in the candlelight. She raised my hand to her lips and pressed a soft kiss to my knuckles, right over the tremor that never quite stopped.
"Okay," she whispered. "Let's go see the northern lights."
We walked home along the waterfront, her arm looped through mine, the night air cool and clear. At some point, she stopped, turned to face me, and kissed me, slow and sweet and tasting faintly of the wine we'd shared.
"What was that for?" I asked when we finally pulled apart.
"For the French toast. For dinner. For today." She smiled up at me, her eyes bright in the moonlight. "For being someone worth choosing."
I cupped her face in my hands, both of them, tremor and all, and kissed her again.
The future was still uncertain. My body was still betraying me in slow motion. There would be hard days ahead, probably more than either of us wanted to imagine.
But right now, on this quiet waterfront with this extraordinary woman in my arms, none of that mattered.
Right now, we had a trip to plan and memories to make.
And I intended to make every single moment count.
11.Charlotte
"You're staring at my butt."
Miles's laugh echoed across the empty river path, startled and delighted. "I am absolutely not."
"You absolutely are. I can feel it."
