Page 105 of Known By You
I huffed a laugh, praying this one would be a good one. “You’re an impressive woman, whether I’m looking at your résumé, your ability to make a decision under pressure, or your glorious a?—”
Her gasp was loud enough to startle me, and her hand pressed against my mouth. “You were not just about to say that.”
I giggled, the nervous energy spiraling out of control. “I wasn’t, actually.” My beaming smile had her grinning back at me, and it hit me right in the chest.
“Falling for you was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was scary, and I’m so grateful we’ve been able to stay together. I know marriage ends up being work, but I want to do that work with you. I want to do everything with you.”
“Marriage?” she asked, voice quiet.
I shifted to one knee in front of her, hands grasping hers. “I love you, Liz, and I’m in love with you. I admire you and enjoy you, and I want us to be partners for the rest of our lives. I want to spend my days and nights with you, make a family.” Our five-year age gap wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t nothing. She’d mentioned being anxious about waiting very long, and I wanted nothing more than to marry her and knock her up, as I’d told her.
It was happening.
Right now. It’s all happening right now.
Emotion caught me as our gazes held, but I pushed through. “Elizabeth Malcom, will you marry me?”
She launched into my arms and hugged me, then kissed me with a passionate, but sadly fleeting, kiss. When she pulled back, she cupped my face. “Yes. I will marry you, Kenneth Carmichael.”
Relief and awe and adrenaline swept through me and I kissed her again, then grabbed the ring from my pocket. “If you want to take this back and go shopping for something else, we can. But I wanted to give you something, and I thought this suited you. But it’s fine if?—”
“It’s beautiful, Kenny. I love it.”
She gazed down at the simple solitaire. The platinum band wasn’t fancy, nor was the setting, but the diamond itself was a conflict-free stone so brilliant and beautiful it was something I was deeply proud to have her wear.
“We can get you something smaller for work, if you want,” I said, recognizing the stone might be a bit big for certain missions.
She let me slide the ring onto her finger, and then we hugged and kissed again. I was laughing and her eyes were shining when we parted.
“There’s one other thing…” Anticipation and an instant and complete crash ofthis was a terrible idearained down on me.
“Another surprise?” Her smile said she didn’t mind.
I loved that she knew me and she wasn’t scared of, or bothered by, the way I liked to spring things on her. My smile was crooked and full of nerves, but I nodded.
“Yeah, so… we’ve talked about how you don’t care about a big wedding and I only care that my chosen family and friends are there, right?”
“Right. I’ve never been one to dream of a fancy ceremony. I never thought I’d get married until you.”
And I would never take that for granted. But it was also why this might seem… extra.
“I’m honored I could stimulate your imagination a bit,” I quipped, then pressed a kiss to her lips. “And because of all of that, and the discussion we’ve had, I, uh… Iplannedaweddingforustoday.”
She blinked. “What?”
I chuckled, heart hammering. “I planned a wedding? For today?”
A laugh burst out of her. “Is that a question, or… you actually did it?”
I laughed, too, because what else could I do? “Not a question. I did it. Jo helped. Well, everyone helped. Your mom is here, and?—”
“My mom?” She still had this expression that told me I’d truly surprised her, maybe even shocked.
“Yep. You want her here, right? So, I mean if this is too much, we’ll just call it an engagement party and we’ll figure out another time, but if you like the idea…”
“I think…” She glanced out at the mountains and the perfect summer day. “I love it. I mean, I wouldn’t have planned it this way, but I think my record has shown that sometimes, the things I don’t plan are the best.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you.”
I grinned down at her, heart so full of love I could hardly breathe past it. “Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see what you think of… everything. And if we’re doing this—” I glanced at my watch “—then we only have about an hour to get everything done and meet at the chapel.”
