Page 52 of Hotshot Mogul

The teenage girl in the passenger seat gasped as I closed the baby blue case. “That’s from Tiffany’s.”

“I’m proposing, and I want the sunset and privacy while I do it.” I looked toward the dude driving. “Are we cool?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll make sure nobody goes up there while you do it,” the girl said. “This is sooo romantic!”

I headed back to the Jeep as the ranger, same one as before, headed toward the teens. I started the engine and plowed up to the top, then got out. The teenage girl laughed and pointed to us as the ranger nodded. When a pickup tried to drive past her, the ranger stopped them, pointed to us, looked at me, and pointed to her watch. Fair enough. I could work with that.

Anneliese stood next to me, hands on her hips, looking from me to the ranger. I walked us behind the Jeep so the crew on the bottom couldn’t see us. The sun dropped lower and lower toward Lake Michigan.

I pulled out the box and sank down on one knee in the sand. Her hair looked like spun gold in this magic twilight. “Anneliese, I love you. I want everything with you. The two of us together—I feel like we could do anything. I know I could do things I never dreamed were possible with you by my side.” My cheeks were damp. I wiped the wetness away. “Be my wife, have our babies, as many as you want, and chase your dreams with me. Will you marry me?”

I opened the box. It was an eternity band. She sank to her knees so we were at eye level. This woman.

Her beautiful face held a trace of worry. “I think I have learned how it is now. To be clear, I would be the only woman you would be with, and you, my only man. Before, I left Étienne because he was cruel and harsh. I would never have been with another man otherwise.”

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “I know you’ll be faithful. As will I. I want only you. I have wanted only you since the first time I saw you. That will not change.”

“I love you,” she said. Her eyes shimmered with tears. “I didn’t want to become attached, because I remembered our tragedy before. But I came to love you, who you are now.”

My joy exploded like the fiery sunset. Pink stained her cheeks. “Yes,” she shouted.

I put the ring on her finger and pulled her to her feet so I could kiss her. I tasted maple syrup and the champagne we had at Callie’s. I let her go so we could breathe. and walked us so the ranger and the others could see us.

Anneliese caught my play and held her hand up so the ring caught the waning light. The stones looked like liquid fire. “I said yes.”

“Woohoo!” Shouts of congratulations rang out as engines revved up to climb the dune for the sunset.

Anneliese gripped my arm. “The glade—we must go there.”

Pure panic shot through my joy. I took hold of her waist. “The tree? Please, don’t go back, ever again.”

She pressed her hand to my heart. “I wish to be in the here and now, to stay here, with you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Anneliese

The nighttime sky was clear and splattered with infinite points of light that hadn’t changed since we’d last walked the earth in this spot. The oak leaves fluttered in the soft breeze. An owl hooted.

Bruce let go of my waist and held my hand in a tight grip. My cocky hotshot was afraid I would leave him for the realm of nature, or that it would take me away from him again. He tensed when I ran my fingers over the grooves in the bark. I was sending my beloved oak my love, gratitude, and goodbye.

When I stepped toward what was left of my sister pine trees and inhaled their soft scent, he let me go, but stayed close. I sank to my knees and pressed my forehead to the soft earth. Bruce did the same, so we were touching.

Grenmann’s words rumbled through the pines. It is well, my dearest child. I lifted my head, hoping to see him.

He and Isolde stood by the oak. I ran toward them. “I’m so happy to see you tonight. I decided to be wife…deer turds…a wife, to Bruce.” I held my hand out. My ring glinted in the light of the almost-full moon.

Bruce stepped close and dropped his hands on my shoulders. “I want us to be married here,” Bruce said. My joy exploded like the stars dotting the sky. “If that meets your approval,” he said.

Grenmann and Isolde nodded and smiled. The fairies, tiny points of light like fireflies, danced around the oak. My fear of the purple fairy bubbled up. I stood stiff. “What’s wrong, babe?” Bruce asked.

“The wicked fairy with purple hair,” I said, stepping closer to Grenmann and Isolde. “She should be banished. She means to harm Bruce.”

“What has she done?” Isolde asked. Her lacy gown rustled. The gold threads shimmered in the moonlight.

“She took his clothes, punctured his tires, and tried to spill hot coffee on him…” I faltered. Saying these things aloud, they didn’t seem as bad as I built them up to be. “She was on the sand hills tonight. She wants me back in the realm.”

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