Page 135 of Tasting Fire
She shifted away from the mic so her words wouldn’t carry to the crowd. “Scary? Overwhelming? The height of vulnerability?”
“All of the above,” he admitted. But there was a glowing hope that was eclipsing all those uncertain emotions. “But I’m willing to see how it all plays out.”
Emmy crooked a finger for him to follow her as she moved back toward the mic. “Some of you were standing right here thirteen years ago when Cash Kingston did something very brave and asked me to marry him.”
A rustle of sound waved through the crowd.
Cash sought out his family to see if they’d known about this. His dad had an arm around his mom and they were grinning like two possums in a bag of cat food. Yeah, they’d known what was going down here today.
“That day, I was just a serious girl with a lot of living and learning in front of me. I thought the only way to build the life I wanted was to work really hard and make it perfect. What I didn’t realize was that finding joy and accepting love is an inherently imperfect process. And without those imperfections, life isn’t worth much.” From a pocket in her dress, she retrieved a plain white box.
One that had been well-handled since he last saw it, because the edges were worn down to the brown cardboard beneath.
When she popped it open, it held the white gold engagement ring he’d offered her all those years ago.
“It looks so small,” he said. He could do better now, but he had a feeling Emmy wasn’t as interested inbetteras she was inforever.
“We’ll be lucky if it fits your pinky.”
“Are you giving it back for good this time, Emmy?”
“I’ve kept it all these years and I realized it was because I did want to give it back one day. Cash Kingston, will you marry me?”
He scooped her up in his arms, not caring that the ring box was crushed between them. “You better believe it, because I’ve been waiting all my life for a less than perfect girl like you.”
