Page 277 of Time Stops With You

Mom smacks her hands on the table. “You were hard-headed since you were a child, Nardi. Why can’t you just follow instructions?—”

A squelching sound shuts everyone up.

I stare in horror as Cullen sticks his hand into my key lime pie.

“Hey!” I squeal. “Why’d you do that?”

“Because, Nardi Davis, I want to ask you a very important question.” As Cullen speaks, he pulls his hand out of my pie and I see the glittering diamond ring that I’d lost.

My jaw slackens and I cover my mouth in shock.

Cullen turns my chair around and gets down on one knee while Josiah films and mom grins from ear to ear.

“Nardi,” he says, his silver eyes fixed on my face, “I love you.”

“I love you,” I whisper automatically, tears rushing to my eyes.

Cullen smiles and his fingers tremble, hinting at his nerves. “I didn’t realize I was dying until I met you. Until I kissed you. Until I loved you. And then I discovered what it meant to be alive.”

My heart is thudding so fast in my chest I’m sure mom, Josiah and Cullen can hear it.

“I won’t promise you forever. For me, that’s not realistic.” He clears his throat, getting emotional. “But I do promise to make every day we spend together worth more than a year. I promise to give you Christmas presents wrapped in actual gift paper.”

Emotions make it hard to swallow.

“I promise to take you on a cruise around the Caribbean and we can tell everyone it’s for our thirtieth anniversary.”

Shaky laughter pours from my mouth.

Cullen smiles, caressing my knuckles. “I promise to build you a house in the islands where you can swim during the day, cook food in the evenings, and look up at the stars at night.”

I’m openly weeping now, tears running hot and strong down my face.

Mom whispers to Josiah. “What does he mean by that?”

“It’s Cullen’s New Year’s wish,” I tell her. Except this time, he’s not wishing for me to do these things with another person.

But with him.

Mom still looks confused, but I don’t care. My entire heart is beating in Cullen’s hands. And the best part is, I know he’ll take good care of it.

“I don’t want to live in a world where we never met, Nardi. I want to live in a world where you’re my wife. Will you marry me?”

I look into the face of the man who has such little time to live, a man who’s chosen to spend that precious time with me, and I whisper the word ringing through my heart.

“Yes.”

Mom and Josiah cheer while Cullen wiggles the ring on my finger. I admire the sparkling diamond for a bit until it hits me.

“Wait, did you just say Belize? Are you moving to Belize?”

Cullen nods. “As long as I’m with you, I’d go anywhere.”

He draws me to my feet, guides my hands around his neck and kisses me.

I kiss him back for all I’m worth, relishing in his love.

Life isn’t fair. I firmly believe that, but it can be beautiful. And I choose to make a beautiful life with Ronan Cullen until his dying breath.

---