Page 39 of The Green Card Baby Deal

He shook his head and smiled up at her. “Yes. Now if you’ll just allow me to continue, I have something I want to ask.”

“I know what it is!” A small voice came from behind one of the large stone formations on the beach. Then a young boy ran toward them. “I know what it is, lady!” he said.

“Oh, no.” Luis raised his eyebrows. “There goes the surprise.”

The precocious boy, who looked to be about nine years old, started explaining everything. “There’s no way this is a surprise. Look, mister. You’re on one knee and reaching for something in your pocket. It’s obvious you’re going to ask her to marry you. I’ve seen it in a billion movies. Everyone has. If you wanted to surprise her, you should have done something different.”

Clara held her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing openly, but it was no use. The whole scenario was beyond funny.

“Tell me how I should do this, then,” Luis said. “Since you’re the expert here.”

The boy crossed his arms over his chest. “Firstly, she should be facing the sunset. You’re making her miss it, and that’s just not cool.”

“Ah, that’s an excellent point, kid. I can’t argue with that.” Luis stood and maneuvered Clara so she was facing the sunset. “Now what?” he asked the boy.

“Well, now you tell her how you really feel about her. You have to butter her up before you ask her to live with you forever. Everyone knows that.”

“Oh, well then. I don’t suppose you’ll give us a bit of privacy?”

The boy huffed and shook his head. “No way. You need me. You’re going to mess this up if I’m not here to tell you how it’s done.”

Clara was practically doubled over with laughter. Part of her couldn’t believe this was even happening. Luis was going to propose for real. He was going to put a stop to their stupid separation. She had no doubt about it this time. The way he looked down at her, like he could barely stand to be so close without kissing her. He still loved her, despite everything she’d done, and he was going to heal both their broken hearts right now. She wanted nothing more than to let him. But the boy overseeing the whole thing was too delightful to silence.

“Go on,” the boy said. “Tell her how you really feel.”

Luis took both of Clara’s hands in his. “Clara, I’ve loved you from that first night. Something like fear and ridiculous pride kept me from coming out and just telling you so. I should have done this so much sooner. I should have fought harder for you. But I love you… I’ve loved you. The first time I asked you to marry me, it was mostly because I wanted you to stay. And the only reason I called off the wedding was because I thought you didn’t love me, and it would be unfair to force you to marry a man you didn’t love. But then I talked to Dawn.” He knit his brow and murmured, “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“No!” The boy cut in. “That’s not how you do it. You’re not supposed to make her feel bad for anything. Butter. Her. Up.”

Luis couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m doing my best, you know.”

“Do better,” his ruthless supervisor demanded.

“Okay, okay!” Luis turned back to Clara. “I cannot imagine ever loving another woman the way that I love you. The thought of settling for anyone else makes my heart so heavy. You are my one and only, the mother of my child, and the first woman who ever truly won my whole heart. Clara Ashford, will you marry me?”

Before Clara could answer, the boy cut in again. “Now give her the ring!”

Luis reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cardboard box. It surprised Clara. She expected to see that fancy ring box, that massive diamond. But when he opened the box, she could only see a plain gold band with no diamond at all.

“You deserve something real,” Luis said, taking the ring from the box, “something no amount of money could ever buy. So I offer you my grandmother’s wedding ring with one small modification.” He held it out so Clara could see the empty setting in it. “The glass you chose will be the centerpiece of this ring. I will have it set once you’ve chosen your favorite. That way this ring will tell you two things. The first is that, to me, you are more precious than diamonds. The second is that, if you say yes, you will be part of my family just as much as I am part of yours.” He nodded back to the boy behind him. “Which is why I wanted to introduce you to my sister’s son.”

Clara’s mouth fell open. “This is your nephew?”

“Yes.” Luis grinned. “Gabriel wanted to participate, so I wrote a script for him.”

“Did you like it?” the boy said, bouncing in place to expend his excited energy. “I memorized all of it on the way here.”

Clara bit her lip and fought her own overjoyed tears. “You did so, so well. You deserve a trophy for that performance. I’ll have to make you one when we go home.”

Luis squeezed her hands. “By home, do you mean?—”

“Yes, you idiot.” Clara leapt into his arms, and he squeezed her tight. “We’re going together. I thought you’d never ask.” She couldn’t begin to express how much his proposal meant to her. She couldn’t have imagined a more perfect one. Every fantasy she’d ever had throughout her childhood paled in comparison. “I love you so much, Luis. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I chickened out again and again. Thank you so much for taking the risk. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“I could not possibly go on living knowing I passed up the chance to be with you,” he said, sliding the ring onto her finger. “You’re worth every risk in the world. I love you.”

Gabriel ran back toward the rocks he had emerged from, shouting, “Did you hear? She said yes! I told you she was going to say yes!”

And as Clara watched, a group of what looked like over a dozen people slowly emerged from behind the rocks. Luis kissed and kissed her, lifting her into his arms as he did. Then he let her go and took her hand in his. “Would you like to meet my family? They’ve been dying to meet you.”

---