Page 160 of The Promise Of You

He nudges me ahead with a soft press of his hands. Within the high grasses and wild flowers, a path leads to lights softly flickering in the distance. In the quickly setting sun, they shine brighter and brighter as we approach, defining the shape of a house floating way above the ground. I stop in my tracks. “What—?”

“I want to give you the world, Clover. My world. A better, bigger, wider, world. One where you are at the center. One where you never feel constricted. One where you always come first.”

What is he saying? My hand shoots up to his, grasping his fingers.

We’re standing at the bottom of the house in the meadows. It’s not a house. It’s the dream of a house.

Thick tree trunks make up an elevated platform. Birch trees loosely design the frame of the house—walls, door, a steepled roof. Ethereal fabric hangs from the branches, forming dreamy walls.

A staircase made of thick logs leads to a doorway framed in garlands of flowers and greens.

Justin takes my hand again and leads me up. As we reach the top, he lifts me, cradles me in his arms, and carries me through the threshold, his hand resting on my bare thigh.

“What are you doing?” I breathe.

“I’m showing my wife her new world. Or—an idea of it.”

His wife?

“Justin—”

“I know what you’ve been through, and I know where you’re coming from. I know the lies you heard today and the hurt you’ve felt. And I’m sorry about that. I wish you'd have come to me, but I understand why you didn’t.” He dips his lips to brush my forehead. “Promise me to always come to me now, when you’re in pain, or in doubt.”

“Justin, what—”

He turns me in his arms so he’s holding me upright against and above him, his head tilted back to meet my gaze. “Clover, will you take me as your husband?”

My heart stutters.

“—to worship and protect you—”

Tears fill my eyes.

“—love you and care for you?”

My hands lock behind his nape as my lips open to him.

“Clover, will you take me as the father of your children?” he whispers against my mouth. “I beg you, sweet Clover. Don't leave me. I’m so, so sorry I didn’t see how you were being hurt, and I swear, I have no excuse, but I'll make it right by you. You’re my queen, and I’ll let it be known. No one'll ever mess with you again.”

“Justin—”

“As for marrying you, darling Chloe? I knew the night in the elevator that you were the one for me. No one else will do, no one else can fill my heart, nourish my soul, give my life meaning. I’m a shadow of myself without you. And I’m arrogant enough to believe that I’m not such a bad match for you either. If you’ll have me.”

I blink several times. Where is my resolve? In his arms, in this place, with these words, of course I want to say yes.

“There has never been anyone else, and there'll never be anyone else. And you know it. Follow my lead and don’t let your fears steal your life from you. I beg you, Chloe. I will devote my life to proving to you I’m right about that.”

I dip my mouth to his, our tongues softly mingling.

He nibbles my lower lip. “Is that a yes?”

I take a shaky breath and whisper, “Yes”. My throat is tight, my eyes burn, and my heart is about to explode.

He wraps my legs around his waist and kisses me deeply. “How do you like our new digs, my queen?” he asks when we come up for air.

“Our new digs?”

“Look around you. What do you see?”

---