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His chest moved up and down against her fingers, his expression sobering, then he leaned toward her and pressed his lips against hers. She didn’t hesitate to kiss him right back, wrapping her arms around his neck as he encircled her in his embrace.

After a moment, she pulled back, staring deep into his eyes. “Melody’s going to be unbearable with us now, you know that, right?”

“Hopefully I’m worth it,” he said with a wink.

She ran her fingers through his hair just above his ear—the strands as soft as she’d imagined. “Liam, you’ll always be worth everything to me.”

Then she reached up and pressed her lips to his again.

Their first kiss, Claire had been so preoccupied with what was going to happen afterward that she couldn’t focus on the present. But she wasn’t going to worry about the future anymore.

Because right now, she had Liam standing in her corner, fighting to be with her, and loving her for who she was.

And nothing was better than that.

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

Liam walked with Claire beneath the row of arbors that lined the pathway toward the garden folly at Kew Gardens. Brown branches of dormant ivy crawled across the wooden eaves. Only a few green leaves still hung on, despite the thick, December snowflakes falling down around them.

Liam hadn’t seen a snowfall like this in years, the grass fully covered with sheets of crystal white snow. It really couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

“It’s so pretty,” Claire breathed next to him, her arms wrapped around his like a koala bear as they walked. “It reminds me of the snow we got up at Yellowstone.”

“That was an adventure,” he said, recalling the holiday they’d taken together last summer. Who would have thought it would snow in June?

Despite sliding from the road a few times, Liam had managed to capture some pretty spectacular photos—photos he was still benefiting from today. Apparently, people loved to purchase images of bison in the snow.

He and Claire continued together down the empty pathway. Kew Gardens would be closing in less than an hour, but Liam had one more stop to make before they could leave.

Claire had only arrived that morning from the States, and already, it was a relief to be reunited with his girlfriend. The past year had been the fastest and slowest of his life. His time with Claire always flew by, despite his living out of a suitcase at various Airbnb properties for weeks at a time.

But when they were apart—the eternal flights, the hour-long phone calls just to connect, the ache that always came from being away from each other—he certainly wasn’t going to miss it when things changed.

And things would be changing soon. All he needed to do was reach that folly.

He focused on the stone structure perched on top of a small hill covered in snow. Five pillars held the domed roof high above the flat, open platform, providing just enough shelter from the snow, while still allowing a view of the fluffy flakes drifting down on the gardens.

Thank goodness the folly was empty.

He grasped the small, velvet box in his coat pocket for the hundredth time, his heart pounding as he contemplated what he was about to do.

They’d spoken of marriage before, and of having children, where they wanted to live, and all the other things pertaining to their futures. They knew they were on the same page with things. But when he glanced down to Claire, snowflakes caught in her blonde locks, her blue eyes peering up at the world around her, his heart twinged.

“Are you going to miss it? The snow, I mean. I know you get a lot of it in Colorado.”

She seemed to think for a minute. “Yeah, I’ll miss it. But not more than I would miss you.”

He pulled in his lips, not yet satisfied with her response. “But what about the sun? You’ll miss that, right? You do remember how much it rains here.”

She gave him an odd look. “Yeah, I’m well aware of the rain. I’ve been here, like, four times now.”

He bit his tongue, not wanting to bring up the next sore topic. But then, how could he propose without giving her the chance to back out now? Yes, moving to London had been her idea in the first place, but Liam would never forgive himself if he tore her away from where she actually wanted to be.

“And you’ll be fine away from Colorado, your job, and Melody? And…your parents?”

Claire peered up at him, her features dropping only the slightest fraction before she nodded. “I’ll miss them all, of course.” She looked away. “Even my parents.”