Page 145 of The Third Baseman

“What?” she barked out, because my girl liked changes of plans about as much as she liked surprises. “Why? When did this happen?”

I shrugged but offered no verbal response, because in about thirty seconds, her focus would be taken.

Twenty.

Ten.

She let out a loud gasp.

Bingo.

“Oh… Jupiter,” she breathed out in a way I definitely wanted to hear again later, maybe even as soon as we checked into our hotel. Her eyes widened. “We’re really going here? You’re taking me to Joshua Tree?”

I leaned over and kissed her, slowing down as we passed the ‘Welcome to Joshua Tree’ sign.

“Yep. I thought it would be good to get away for the night.”

Her mouth opened then closed, then she said “but-I-didn’t-bring-my-telescope!” so quickly, it took me a second to figure it out.

“Don’t worry, there’s something in the trunk just for you,” I winked.

She whipped around in her seat, forgetting momentarily she couldn’t see through leather, and then let out a little giggle. “Joshua Tree! I can’t believe it. I haven’t been since my seventeenth birthday. Thank you! This is definitely better than a barbecue with my parents.”

I wasn’t about to argue with that.

* * *

“Oh God, Jupe, look at it! It’s so beautiful.” Marnie’s neck craned back so far she slipped down the tub with a splash.

I made a mental note to add a bath to the observatory at the New York house.

After we’d checked in and I’d spent the afternoon showing Marnie exactly how much I loved her, we’d taken a walk while the veranda of our suite had been transformed into a sparkling, flickering, stargazing wonderland by the hotel. We’d returned at twilight to find the outdoor bathtub steaming full and overflowing with bubbles, all catching the light of a thousand candles, and a trillion emerging stars.

We’d now been in the bath close to an hour watching the sky.

An empty bottle of champagne was resting in a slowly melting ice bucket off to the side.

We’d blown out all but five candles, though even those which had lit the space couldn’t have distracted from the incredible night glittering a thousand shades of blue and lilac.

“It is.” I brushed a damp tendril off her forehead, my gaze never leaving her face as I kissed her softly, quickly. Her expression was so filled with wonder, delight, and happiness I could watch her forever. My heart was fit to bursting. “Do you remember the first time you introduced me to the Milky Way? The first time we watched it together and I saw a shooting star?”

She tore her eyes away from the sky and met mine, with a nod and a broad smile.

“I wished for you.”

“What?” Her head tipped back, and the bubbles rose up as she moved closer. “What d’you mean?”

“I’d never been in love before, but that night… laying there, drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn… I never wanted it to end, so I wished for you forever. I knew that night I would fall in love with you, that we’d always be together. Even when we broke up, somehow I always knew I’d find you again, that we’d find each other. It wasn’t easy. I’d wake up some nights and miss you so much I could feel my heart cracking again, but all I had to do was look up to the sky, and I knew you’d be somewhere else doing the same.”

I swallowed down the emotion threatening to break in my voice and reached under the bath for the little box I’d placed there while she’d been setting up her telescope.

“I love you so much, Marn. So,somuch. I can’t imagine ever being without you, and I don’t have any intention of it happening again.” I swallowed once more, this time to buy me a second to calm my racing heart. “Therefore, my perfect Star, I need to tell you that I no longer want to be your boyfriend.” She didn’t blink as I opened the box, and the only way I knew she was breathing was from the movement of air over the bubbles by her chest. She stared down at the ten-carat blue diamond set in a gold band twisted with diamond dust; a hazy, glowy Milky Way of her very own. The Milky Way was where it all began. “If you’ll have me, I’d like to be your husband.”

Her brows creased so much they nearly touched, and her nose crinkled in confusion. “You’re asking me to marry you?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

She brushed her fingers over the stone, and delicately removed it from the velvet casing holding it in place. Just as delicately, I took it from her.

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