I can’t wait to see him,she thought.I’m going to thank him for being such a sweetheart and arranging this clue hunt for me. What a great—oh!
She froze in her tracks and stared at the town square in front of her. It was dimly lit by streetlamps, and had a hushed, almost reverent atmosphere. What drew her eye and captured her attention, however, was the gazebo, which was aglow with light.
She hurried toward it, feeling as though she was in some kind of dream. The gazebo was filled with candles, and on the floor had been spread a beautiful red and white picnic blanket. On it was a gorgeously arranged charcuterie board and a bottle of champagne along with two glasses.
“What on earth,” Faith whispered. She looked around, but she didn’t see Ryan. Was this meant for someone else? Where was Ryan?
Then she saw him walking toward her around the side of the gazebo, a huge grin on his face. Her expression lit up into one of joy the moment she saw him, and she raced forward and threw her arms around him.
“What on earth is this, sweetheart?” she asked, laughing in her excitement. “Did you do all this for me?”
“I did,” he said, kissing her tenderly. “Well, truth be told, I bought the charcuterie board already made up that way, but yes, I set up the picnic and the candles.” His eyes twinkled at her. “I wanted to celebrate you. You’ve been so instrumental in my life, especially lately with how much you’ve been helping me out with the brewery. It means so much to me, and I wanted you to know that.”
Faith beamed at him. “It’s been my pleasure. Truly. I love working with you.”
“Well, I love working with you.” He nuzzled her nose. “And I feel so grateful.”
They sat down together on the picnic blanket and began to eat. The charcuterie board offered a wide variety of delicious items, and Faith nearly squealed with happiness when she saw that Ryan had gotten her favorite basil lemon cheese spread.
They had been enjoying the food and the champagne for a few minutes when Faith noticed that there was a small red box on the charcuterie board, nestled amongst the crackers and cheese. At first, she’d thought it was some type of gourmet cheese or even a fancy dessert, but the more she stared at it the more it became clear it was a tiny box.
“Um, Ryan,” she said slowly, her heart beginning to beat wildly. “What is that?”
He cleared his throat. “Well,” he said slowly, and his expression of hesitation was so comical to Faith that she laughed out loud, “celebrating us working together so well at the brewery might not be the only reason for this special setup. You should open that box.”
“I should, huh?” Suddenly she was completely breathless. She reached for the box with trembling fingers, noticing that Ryan was staring at her as she did so. Her heart thumped in herchest, and she could feel her body ripple with a hot and cold shiver as she opened the tiny box.
Inside, nestled on a white cushion, was a diamond ring, with the diamond cut in the shape of a heart and a rose gold band. It sparkled magnificently in the candlelight, and Faith stared at it, hardly able to believe her eyes. She felt a tingling sensation of joy all over, but it was several heartbeats before she could lift her eyes from the ring and make eye contact with Ryan.
“Faith,” he said, standing up and lifting her gently to her feet. “I have a very important question to ask you.” He got down onto one knee, and Faith felt tears of happiness blur her vision.
“Faith,” he said, speaking slowly as if he was choosing his words carefully. “I love you with all my heart. Once, I was sure that I would never get married, and that going through life with the same person wasn’t something that would ever happen to me. I’d thought I wanted to stay independent. You changed all that. As soon as I met you, I felt drawn to you in a way I’d never experienced before. You are the brightest light in my life, and I love you with everything in me. I know for sure that nothing would make me happier than spending my life with you, and growing old with you. We’re a great team, and I want us to be a team forever.” He took a deep breath, holding eye contact with her and grinning. “Will you marry me?”
Faith’s mind was reeling. She couldn’t believe he’d had the time to do all this—to plan his proposal, to set up their picnic, to find this perfect, gorgeous ring –
All at once she realized what his “errand” on the edge of town had been. There was a family-owned jewelry store there, which often made custom jewelry. The tears in her eyes welled up again when she thought of him spending all that time making sure she had the perfect ring.
“YES!” she said, so emphatically it was almost a shout. She bent down and kissed him, getting streaks of her tears on his face. “Of course I’ll marry you. I want to grow old with you too.”
He stood up and took her into his arms, rocking her back and forth in a jubilant embrace. Then he gently took the ring box from Faith and took the ring out of it. He slipped it onto her finger, and it fit like a glove.
“Alexis stole a couple of your rings so I’d know your ring size,” he said with a grin. “And by steal I mean borrowed.”
Faith laughed, shaking her head. “I’d thought she was acting kind of suspicious when she came over to borrow a book from me. She kept insisting it was on the bookshelf in my bedroom, and she came over when I was working so I just let her rummage around in there. Turns out she must have come over while I was working on purpose.”
Ryan looked gleeful. “Oh yeah. And Noelle, Hazel, Julia, and Alexis all helped me decide on the ring design. Or, I guess I should say, they gave their approval. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just being short-sighted. I wanted to make sure you’d actually really like it.”
“I actually really love it,” she whispered, and lifted her face up to his for another kiss.
“I actually really love you.”
“Wow, I really love you too.”
“You’d better, you’re going to marry me.”
“I am?”
“Yup. You just agreed to it. Set in stone.” He pointed to her ring.
