Page 60 of Heart So Hollow

Bowen takes a swig of his whiskey and cracks a smile, “Looks like you found a kindred spirit.”

I glance at him a couple more times as I smooth the front of my hunter green sweater and gaze up at the redwood beams, envisioning a body hanging from the rafters. Talk about holiday spirit…

I take another sip of the wine and hold it on my tongue, savoring the rich taste while Bowen stares at me with a faint smile on his face. He sits perfectly still, his elbow propped up on the bar and his chin resting in his hand.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, shooting him a side-eye.

He shakes his head with a laugh, “You’re the only person I’ve ever met that looks the most beautiful when she’s thinking about haunted houses and murder scenes.” Then he reaches over and runs his fingers across my back, “Are you happy?”

“Yeah,” I close my eyes, taking in the moment, “I am.”

He gives his whiskey a swirl, “In that case, you know what would make this even better?”

I shake my head.

“If you say you’ll marry me.”

I give one long blink, as if I couldn’t be any more stunned at this moment. Before I can respond, Bowen sets down a small, black, velvet box on the bar top and slides it in front of me. The lid is open, revealing a cushion teal sapphire with pave set diamonds along the gold band. I touch the box with my finger and stare at the ring, my mouth half-open.

I jerk my head up, “Are you serious?” I ask in a whisper.

Bowen grins, “I’m asking you, aren’t I?”

I gaze down at the ring and clasp both hands over my mouth, “But we’ve only been together—”

“Four months,” Bowen finishes my sentence, “are you planning on going somewhere?”

I smile at him as I pluck the ring out of the box, gaping at the large, teal stone, “No…”

Bowen takes the ring from me and holds my wrist steady while he slides it onto my finger. Then he kisses the back of my hand, “I already know what I want, and I knew it long before tonight. But,” he shoots me a look, “I knew if I asked you when I really wanted to, you wouldn’t be able to handle it because you have to plan everything, like, six months in advance.”

“You’re not wrong,” I say with a roll of my eyes.

I do have to plan everything six months in advance—at least, I used to… Now, I don’t seem to mind that Bowen decided to buy me a new vehicle or asked me to move in with him after only a short period of time. And now the thought of marrying him after only four months feels like something more akin to excitement rather than being crushed under a boulder. I don’t have to be on-guard all the time because I trust him. I can’t change who I am overnight, but being with him makes so many of the neurotic things I do seem unnecessary. Maybe I can be free again…

Bowen rotates my hand back and forth, examining the ring shimmering on my finger, “I realize you—" he starts, but I don’t give him a chance to finish.

“Yes,” I say, cutting him off, “Yes, I’ll marry you,” I reach for his face and pull him in close to kiss him. I could hold onto him like this the rest of the night, under the moody lighting of a haunted bar in a faraway city on Christmas Eve.

“You know,” Bowen ponders when I finally let go of him, “tonight played out a lot differently than I thought it would.”

I lift my wine glass to my lips, “Like how?”

“I tried to think of the most romantic thing I could do for you, and it turned out to be sitting next to you in a haunted bar on Christmas Eve, talking about the hanged man next to the top shelf mezcal.”

It is pretty perfect.

Suddenly, I remember we’re not back in Ohio, “They’re going to freak out,” I chuckle.

“Who?”

“Jo! Omar! My parents!” I exclaim, “They’ll probably think I’m nuts.”

“No, they won’t,” Bowen says dismissively, “they’ll be happy.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because your parents only knew each other for two weeks before they got engaged. And,” he brings his glass to his lips, “everyone already knew about this anyway…”

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