Page 12 of Dear Blue Jean Cowboy
The crowd somehow gets louder when he walks out onto the stage. He smiles shyly and lifts his hand to wave at the audience.
I turn, and he gives me a kiss that still lights me up all over. I’ll never get tired of those.
“Can I say something?” he asks, pointing to the microphone.
I'm surprised by this. Usually, Rhett shies away from the spotlight of my career. He told me once that he's content with standing back and letting me shine as long as he's the one that I come home to every night. That was a promise I had no problem agreeing with.
“Go ahead,” I step back from the microphone stand.
Rhett reaches out and takes the microphone.
“How ya’ll doing tonight?” he asks. The crowd responds with cheers. “I know Diana has one more song to sing, so I won’t take up much of your time to see her perform. But I told myself that if the opportunity presented itself, I was going to do something that I should have done properly a long time ago.”
Rhett turns back to me and reaches into his pocket.
I realize at the same time most of the audience does with what is about to happen. Rhett gets down on one knee and pops open the velvet box to show a stunning emerald-cut diamond on a platinum band. He lowers the microphone so only I can hear what he has to say next.
"Diana, I've loved you since we were kids, and I will love you for the rest of my life. I let you go once, and it haunted me every day until the moment you walked back into my life. I don't want to make that mistake again. We've been given the gift of a second chance that doesn't come along often. So I'm asking you to spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?"
The crowd is getting restless. They want to know what he's saying, but I'm glad that he saves this part for just the two of us.
There is no question of what my answer will be. I’m so overwhelmed by this moment in the best way possible.
"Yes, of course!" I tell him as I shift the strap, so the guitar is hanging behind me.
Rhett stands up and pulls me into his arms, kissing me deeply. The crowd erupts with thunderous cheers. He slips the ring on my finger and kisses me again.
“I love you,” he says, but I can’t hear him over all the noise in the arena.
I nod and tell him I love him too, but even I can't hear myself when I say it. Rhett points over his shoulder to let me know that he will go back to the side of the stage. I don't want to let him go, but I have our whole lives to hold on to him.
I turn back to the audience. It takes almost a minute for them to quiet down, but I take a second to look around remember everything I can about this moment—from the flashing lights to the smiling faces of the people near the stage. The energy here is off the charts, and my senses are heightened to new levels I've never felt before.
When it’s quiet enough to hear me, I begin to strum the opening notes toDear Blue Jean Cowboy.
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