Page 76 of The Prince and the Puck
Was she going to turn me down?
If she did, I thought, I would just stay here. I’d give up hockey. I’d move back to Murdan. I would spend as long as it took to convince her. If that’s what it took to be with Lizzy.
“I guess I do have the experience to do that,” she said. I could see she was considering the idea.
I took both of her hands in mine and pulled them to my lips.
“So you’ll do it? You’ll come with me to Virginia?”
She stared at me, and then she nodded—the tiniest little motion, but the best thing I had ever seen.
“First, though,” I said, figuring if I was in for a dime, I was in for a dollar. I stood abruptly, kicking my chair out from behind me and dropping to one knee. “There’s one other thing I wanted to ask you. I didn’t want to do it tonight because I didn’t want to steal Lambert’s thunder, but… no one’s really looking, are they?”
Lizzy looked stunned, caught between laughing and crying, a huge smile spreading across her face even as tears poured downher cheeks. She glanced around. “Actually… a lot of people are watching.”
It was true. Kicking my chair from beneath me might have caused a bit of a commotion. We were definitely drawing a crowd.
I didn’t care. Maybe I was stealing some of Lambert’s thunder. But it was too late now.
I couldn’t stop myself from asking the woman I loved if she would spend her life with me.
“Lizzy, I don’t just want you to come to Virginia to manage my security detail. In fact, I don’t really want that at all—that was just an excuse to get you there. What I really want, with all my heart, is for you to be my wife.”
I stared at her expectantly.
Lizzy’s face beamed with joy, but she said nothing.
I held my breath. One of the spectators stepped in close, leaning down to my shoulder. “Hey mate, don’t mean to interrupt, but I think she might be waiting for you to ask an actual question.”
The man stepped away again, and I realized he was right. I swallowed hard and tried again.
“Eliza Canfield, I’ve loved you as long as I’ve known what that word means. And it would make me the happiest man in the world if you would agree to be my wife.” I took a deep breath. “Lizzy, will you marry me?”
She nodded first—just a tiny nod. Then finally, she said the words I had been dying to hear. “Yes, Declan. I will marry you.”
I swept her into my arms, spinning her in a huge circle as the crowd around us erupted in applause and cheers.
Soon, my brother, my mother, and my father were at my side, congratulating both of us—though they had completely missed the actual proposal.
“Is this what I think it is?” My mother asked us when we’d stepped apart enough for anyone else to get a word in.
“I hope so,” said another voice—Lizzy’s mother. “I’ve been expecting this for years.”
“Like, oh, twenty or so?” My mother agreed.
The two women laughed and hugged us, and then my brother and Celeste stepped in. “What do you think, bro, double wedding?” Lambert asked.
“No way,” I told him. “Your wedding is going to be the biggest event Murdan has seen since… well, since today! Ours?” I looked at Lizzy. “We’ll figure it out, but I don’t think we plan to invite the entire country.”
“Fair enough,” Lambert said, clapping me on the back.
Celeste and Lizzy hugged and whispered a few words to one another, and then the music swelled again. The night was young, and the people of Murdan had a lot to celebrate. Soon, the dance floor was full and the spirit in the room was soaring.
I danced with my fiancée, letting the joy of the night fill me, giving me a feeling of completion I’d never known before.
Later, as Lizzy talked with her mother and mine, I moved to the bar for a refreshment. My father met me there.
“Son,” he said, shaking my hand and squeezing my shoulder. “I cannot tell you how proud I am of you today. Of both my sons.” My father looked happy, and more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.
