Page 42 of Courageous Yearnings

He had obviously changed the light fixture, replacing it with another that had crystals dangling from it. Shards of light were scattered around the room, giving it a romantic feeling. A pale blue satin robe was hanging in the closet in the distance, the mirrored doors opened to allow her to see it.

And then she hesitated.

If she wasn’t shocked to the core already, the picture frame on the nightstand certainly finished the job. She made a small noise in her throat as a trembling hand covered her mouth, trying to hold back tears. There, on the nightstand beside a bouquet of white roses, was the picture from the calendar, framed… and on the frame it said, ‘Mr. & Mrs.’.

Lance was asking her to marry him?

This was the most beautiful, original, extraordinary way that someone could ask a person to marry them, and she was beyond touched. She stepped into the bedroom, unsure if her legs would carry her. Her eyes were touching everything through blurry tears and she saw the fuzzy slippers in the closet waiting for her that were also blue and white.

Bridal.

The robe and slippers were bridal blue and white, and there was no mistaking his intent anymore.

“Do you like it?” he said nervously from the doorway – and she nodded, at a loss for words as she wiped tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, but I just wanted you to have something pretty, and when I saw this bedroom set…”

“It’s perfect,” she whispered, looking at him. “Yes.”

“Yes?” he repeated, questioningly. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I will marry you.”

“Huh?”

And there was a very strange noise deep within her brain at that single word. She had never realized that a person’s soul could make a sound like that until Lance’s eyes met hers.

“Alec said you might think…”

“I might think what…” she said quietly and heard his nervous laughter as he looked at her warily from the doorway. A second later, he waved her over toward him and quickly crossed the room, gathering her in a hug.

“Hey, I was just messing with you,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Of course, we’re getting married.”

Blythe felt her knees sag in relief because of the way he was reacting, she was pretty sure that this was some huge misunderstanding. They stood there, and he was rubbing her back gently in a comforting manner, both silent for several minutes.

“I was going to ask you to move in with me,” she finally whispered, trying to open the uncomfortable mental doorway between them. “I really liked having you close.”

“Oh really?” he tensed, almost seemingly surprised. “I’m glad because that floral cover on the couch is actually hiding my old couch and recliner. Furniture is freakin’ expensive.”

“You brought over your couch and recliner already?”

“And my mattress set.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, I thought things were going really well between us too and thought that I’d, ah, well… that we could, um, take things to the next level.”

“I’m touched that you thought to propose like this. It’s so original and different. I mean, anyone can do a ring or ask someone over for dinner, but you made dinner and created a home, a setting that shows you care,” she whispered, hugging him. “I think this was the sweetest thing, Lance.”

“That’s me… sweet,” he chuckled nervously. “You mentioned you were hungry, right? I made something for dinner and thought we could talk about things – but I guess everything is already out there, huh? I mean, we’re actually getting married.”

“Did you want a big wedding?” she asked, her mind racing with all sorts of thoughts and ideas. Did she want a big dress with a long train, or maybe something simple and retro? He did call her Betty Boop all the time but there was so much kind of unsettled out there financially with the fire. Her insurance stuff, too.

She was waiting to hear from her claims adjuster again, then she still needed to get her key programmed to her Jeep, the tow bill, plus the payments were now going to start coming for her new home – and Lance still had his apartment.

“What if we just went to the justice of the peace and sent out announcements to our friends and family. I mean, most of my aunts live in Maryland, and it’s kind of just me here…”

“I grew up at the orphanage that the charity event was being held for.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

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