Page 141 of Valentine Nook
I breathe him in, like I always do. He smells like mine, and if I can end every day in his arms exactly like I’m doing now, I’ll die happy.
Leaning back, I hold his clear blue stare. “You really liked it?”
“Ilovedit. Broadway next.”
My eyebrow shoots up, and I muffle a laugh. “I think we have enough to plan for the moment, don’t you?”
Twelfth Nightruns for two months, and at the end of November, I begin filming a new legal drama set in the echelons of European security. Somewhere between that, I’ll take on the role of a lifetime as Lando’s wife.
He proposed to me a couple of weeks ago.
After two months of intense rehearsals, Hamish had graciously given the cast a weekend off before the preview performance, which was to take place ahead of opening night. The second we were allowed out, I jumped into Lando’s Aston Martin and hit the gas until we reached Burlington to spend a glorious uninterrupted forty-eight hours.
We arrived just in time for family supper, which so happened to be almost exactly a year after my first Burlington family gathering.
And just like last year, fireworks were included.
The following morning, we woke early to take Sunday and Thunder for a long ride across the fields, checking on this year’s calves, and then visited our favorite spot on the estate. The one where we met for the first time.
While Lando tied up the horses, I walked in ahead through the canopy of trailing vines and wisteria to find the crop of rocks next to the waterfall had been laid with a picnic. A bottle of champagne sat in a cooler next to a bowl of bright redstrawberries, along with a giant donut with multicolored frosting that I knew Pierre had made.
And while all that was incredible, the little black box sitting in the middle of the donut was what caught my eye.
I could sense Lando’s footsteps behind me, along with his anticipation. I don’t remember breathing when I bent down to pick it up, but when I turned around, Lando was on one knee, looking nervous.
My nerves got the better of me, and I squealed yes before he’d even asked the question.
“Hollywood, can you let me have my moment?” He sighed, with the mother of all eye rolls.
Biting down a smile, I placed the box in his hand. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Opening it up, he tipped out a smaller velvet case hidden inside and took a deep breath.
“Holiday Simpson, I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you right here in the glen. You came into my life at a time when I couldn’t have needed you more. I was completely lost, but you found me and showed me the way home. Home to you. I know marrying me means you take on all of this too, but if you say yes, I promise I will never stop trying to make you the happiest woman on the planet. And I’ll always be your biggest cheerleader.”
By the time he cracked the lid, silent tears were running down my cheeks. Inside was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen—a huge diamond, set in the thinnest gold halo and a band of pavé stones.
“It’s stunning,” I whispered.
“A family heirloom,” he added. “You really like it?”
“I absolutely love it, just as much as I love you.”
With shaking hands, Lando placed it on my finger, and we didn’t leave the waterfall for the rest of the morning.
Since Lando came to Los Angeles, we’ve tried to keep our life together as private as possible, something that’s not alwaysbeen easy. Which is why we decided to keep our engagement a secret for as long as we could.
Only two people know, my dad and Tanner. Everyone else will find out at dinner tonight, which sadly Tanner couldn’t attend because he’s in the middle of his season.
“Maybe we do. But wishful thinking for next year.” Lando smiles, taking the opportunity to smack his lips to mine. “I have something for you.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a small black box and holds it out in his palm. It’s exactly like the one he gave me at the waterfall.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
