Page 19 of Cider Kissed By the Mountain Man
Trent
One Year Later…
The ring had been burning a hole in my pocket for three weeks.
I’d driven to Nashville, walked into the fanciest jewelry store I could find, and told the salesman I needed something perfect for the woman who’d turned my world upside down. Something that would make her understand that I wanted forever with her, not just for now.
The ring I’d chosen was simple but stunning—a solitaire diamond surrounded by smaller stones that caught the light like the gold flecks in her dark eyes. The moment I’d seen it, I’d known it was hers.
The problem was finding the right moment to give it to her.
I’d planned a dozen different scenarios. A romantic dinner at the house. A picnic in the orchard. Even considered asking her during one of our lazy Saturday mornings in bed. But every time I started to reach for the ring, something stopped me.
It wasn’t that I was having second thoughts. Hell no. I’d never been more sure of anything in my life than I was about wanting to marry Abby. I wanted to wake up next to her for the rest of my life. I wanted to listen to her stories about her students and catch her every time she inevitably fell down.
I wanted it all with her.
But I also wanted the proposal to be perfect. She deserved perfect.
Which was why I was currently standing in the apple orchard at six in the morning, checking and double-checking that everything was ready. The early April air was crisp and sweet, carrying the scent of apple blossoms that had burst into bloom seemingly overnight. Pink and white petals drifted down like confetti, carpeting the grass beneath the trees.
It was exactly what I’d been waiting for.
“Trent?” Abby’s voice carried across the orchard, and I turned to see her walking toward me, coffee mug in hand and a confused expression on her face. “What are you doing out here so early? And why did you ask me to meet you out here?”
She was wearing one of my flannel shirts over jeans, her dark hair loose around her shoulders, and she looked so beautiful in the morning light that for a moment I forgot how to speak.
“Trent?” she said again, stepping closer. “You’re kind of freaking me out. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s perfect,” I said, finding my voice. “More than perfect.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re standing in the orchard looking like you’re about to throw up.”
Romantic, Lawson. Real romantic.
“I’ve been thinking,” I started, then stopped because my carefully rehearsed speech had completely evaporated from my brain.
“About what?”
“About apple blossoms.”
She looked around at the trees, taking in the riot of pink and white flowers that surrounded us. “They’re beautiful.”
“Do you remember what you said when you asked about the history of the orchard?”
A smile tugged at her lips. “I said a lot of things that first day. Most of them sarcastic.”
“You said something about tragic romances involving forbidden love and apple blossoms.”
“I was being a smart-ass,” she said, but her cheeks were turning pink. “You shot me down pretty thoroughly, if I recall correctly.”
“I was an idiot,” I said, stepping closer to her. “Because you were right. This place is full of romance, especially now that you’re a part of it.”
“Trent...” There was something in her voice, like she was starting to understand where this was heading.
“You changed everything, Abby. This place, my life, me. You took a grumpy hermit who was convinced he was better off alone and made him believe in love again.”
Her coffee mug slipped from her fingers, hitting the ground with a soft thud, but neither of us moved to pick it up.
