Page 63 of Forget Me Knot

“I only came for two reasons. To give you these…” Dinah gasps when I offer her the bouquet of pink roses, mixed with an assortment of lavender, pastel orange coneflowers, and wildflowers. I love how every time I bring a small cluster of flowers for her, she acts as if she has never seen a more beautiful bunch. “And to—”

“Eat my Cracker Jacker Bites??” she interrupts, standing on her tiptoes for a peck.

I shake my head, taken aback as a memory stirs in my head. It’s one I remember well.

She’s angry with me, green eyes flaring, but there's a softness to her that makes me wonder why she’s hurting, and whether I could ever be the one to make her smile. I want to be that person for her, but she doesn’t even know my name. I think of ways to say sorry, for whatever foolish nonsense came out of my mouth while I was dumbfounded by her fire and her loveliness. Somber music lulls in the background of the shop that curiously smells like home, and I think I have an idea…

“You are so pretty, Dinah Knot. That first time I saw you, right over there”—I point to the place where we met on a different day—“I couldn't take my eyes off you. Or when I saw you here.” I push open the door and welcome her into our hallway.

Dinah gasps, covering her shocked smile with her fingers as she takes in the mint-colored walls, plastered with every note we've passed back and forth throughCat.Every Post-it note I leftto myself with Dinah’s name on it. Every journal entry starting after the day we met, where my life seemed a little brighter—a little more hopeful—because she was suddenly in it.

“You were so rumpled from sleeping, hair a little wild, and you were wearin’ that sexy shirt.”

“Reading is sexy,” she whispers, now running her shaking fingers over the words on our wall like they’re priceless works of art she can't bear to fully touch.

“That's the one.” I step behind her and shake the small package in my pocket, garnering my bravery, then take her hand in mine, pulling her back to rest against my chest, so we can admire the wall, molded perfectly together. My arms lay criss-crossed over her chest, locking her in close, and my thumbs have a mind of their own, slowly running the length of her collarbones.

“You and this hair, Dinah.” I kiss the crown of her head. “And that shirt.” My hands trail down her side until they rest on her waist. “This incredible heart of yours that called so clearly to mine. That saw every broken piece of me… and chose me anyway.”

I twist her around in my arms and see the mist of tears in her green eyes just as Chipper pushes through the cat door.

Right on schedule.

“And this cat… that I did not want.”

“You love him so much.” She licks her lips then traps her bottom lip in her teeth.

“I do.”

I bend low, scooping the miscreant in one hand, holding him between us, and let the other rest on Dinah’s face, tilting her chin and gaze to mine. This is definitely the party I was hoping for.

“For three years, I taught myself not to hope or plan ahead or dare think I could have the future I’d always prayed for… until you, Dinah Belle. Until I set eyes on you, and I knew thatmoment in time was one, that if I forgot, I could live over and over again and never grow tired.”

“Jacks…” She sighs on an exhale. The name only she calls me hits my lips, so achingly close to hers. Totally unaware of the effect she has on me, Dinah gives Chipper a rub behind his ears without even thinking about it, and only a breath goes by before she finds the note tucked in his collar.

“What’s this?”

The way Dinah grins ear to ear and shakes her head, unable to take her eyes from mine, tells me she knows exactly what it is. She passes our cat-child over to me, then frantically unfolds the pink note like I’m a kooky chocolatier and she just won the golden ticket.

But I don’t wanna waste any more time. I take her free hand and fall to a knee, reciting the message from memory.

“Polly… I promise to complain about how loud you play your music every day for the rest of our lives.”

When she laughs, clenching my hand tighter, my courage bolsters. “I also promise to feed you donuts, to read you romance, kiss you in closets, and keep all your secrets.” I wink, and I know she knows I’m talking patterned underwear. “I want to make you laugh and hold you while you cry. I want to cherish you, Dinah Belle. Forever. And I promise I will fight, everyday, to be the best version of myself, if you’ll have me.”

I take a deep breath and slip the rose gold, round cut diamond ring on her finger. It’s set with an arrangement of smaller diamonds encircling it like a flower and celtic knots along the band. Just like with Dinah, the moment I saw this ring, I knew it was the one.

“Will you be my wife?”

She kneels down as she wraps her arms around my neck. “Just you and me? Forever?”

“Yeah, Polly. Just you and me… andCat.”And the bunches of babies I want to make with youis what I don’t say. Life is short, so the few short months I’ve called Dinah mine without calling her my wife already feel like a lifetime. I’m ready for it all.

“Yes,” she says, nodding against my head just before I can’t stand it any more and catch her mouth with mine in a dizzying kiss filled with promises, desire, and hope for the incredible life we’re going to have together.

I lift her in my arms, see the crowd of our friends and family creeping on us through the window of the shop, pump one hand in the air and shout, “She said yes!”

They cheer and holler as Chipper purrs, weaving his body around my legs.

---