Page 65 of Barn Burner
“Oh, a little cheese board on the mountain. You know the way to my heart, Mr. Huxley.”
I sit down on the blanket and make a beeline for the container of cheese, but he slaps my hand away.
“So impatient,” he grumbles.
“Hey, it’s cheese! You expect me to be patient with cheese? It’s like asking me to be patient when you’re standing naked in front of me.” I shake my head at him. “Not gonna happen.”
He laughs softly, rolling his eyes in that adorable way he does. He takes more containers from the saddle bags, then takes a seat next to me. We eat in a companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the wilderness coming from the dense forest in the valley below.
“Should be any minute now,” he says once we finish the food and have cleared our rubbish away in the saddle bags to take back with us to the ranch.
“What should be?” I ask, but as the words leave my mouth, I see it. The sky is gradually turning a deep, vibrant orange with streaks of pink and red as the sun begins to disappear behind the mountain peaks. I can’t remember the number of sunrises we’ve managed to watch over the years, but I can count on one hand the number of sunsets.
“Wow,” I breathe, unable to tear my gaze from the beautiful scene. Even six years on, I’m still so awe-inspired by all of this. The land, the views.
This man.
I turn back to Jesse, about to tell him that it never fails to impress me, but the words die on my tongue. Instead, my mouth drops open.
He’s down on one knee, holding a black band between his fingers.
“Jesse…” I say barely above a whisper, my breath catching in my throat.
“Brayden, I’ve wanted to do this for quite a while, but I wanted the time to be right,” he begins. “I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. Being by your side while you accomplish your dreams has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.” He swallows roughly. “If you had told methat the man who I thought was dead on the side of the road would end up being the best thing to happen to me, I would’ve laughed in your face.”
I let out a choked laugh, and he grins.
“But you are, Brayden. You’re everything to me. You’re my sunrise. My beauty, providing endless hope and optimism, and you’ve become my purpose,” he says, then removes his hat to set it on the ground beside him. “If it’s alright with you, would you do me the honour of being my husband?”
“Yes!” I shout, causing Prince and Mango to snap their heads our way. With a shaky hand, I wipe the tears from my face and nod rapidly. “Yes! I want to be your husband so fucking bad.”
Jesse’s face lights up in a wide grin as I drop to my knees in front of him. He takes hold of my hand and slides the ring onto my finger. I stare at it, and more tears fall as I blink.
“Fuck, I love you so much,” I sob and throw my arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around my back, holding me close to his chest like he always does.
My protector. My lover. My cowboy.
“I love you, too, Brayden.” He cups my face between both hands and kisses me. “Now, how do you feel about heading back, putting these two to bed, then I can show you just how much I love you until the sun comes back up?”
Sitting back on my haunches, I run my fingers through the long strands of his dark hair, which is now threaded with silver. “I’d say that sounds like the perfect idea.”
As we pack up the blanket and head back toward the ranch, I think about how far I’ve come to get here.
In a way, I guess I have the media to thank, because without them tearing me apart, I wouldn’t have run away from the world and found Jesse.
Jesse, who ended up putting me back together, stronger than before.
Jesse, who supported me through the highs and the lows and never once allowed me to doubt my worth.
Jesse, the man I’m going to marry and spend the rest of my life with.
I thought I wouldn’t be able to reach a higher point in my life than the times I lifted the Stanley Cup, but I was wrong.
The highest point is this.
Being loved by Jesse Huxley, and now I’m going to spend the rest of my life with him as his husband.
Nothing could top this, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
THE END
