DECEMBER
Pristine snow covered the creek banks, sparkling like tiny diamonds beneath the winter sun. The fronds of the willow softly rustled, and their ends dipped into the chilled water. Brett’s boots crunched through the thin crust of snow and left their imprints behind. He inhaled the icy air, then exhaled a deep sigh of contentment. The winter wonderland was as beautiful as he’d hoped it would be.
Christmas was only days away, to be closely followed by AJ and Shelby’s wedding. Then they’d be ringing in the New Year with its promise of fresh starts and hopeful resolutions.
He didn’t need to wait till then. His fresh start had already begun.
Whenever he imagined a moment like this, the setting had been completely different. A romantic candlelight dinner in a five-star restaurant. Soft music. Impeccable service. He wore a fine suit and silk tie; the anonymous leggy blonde across from him looked glamorous in a skintight mini and strappy heels.
The reality, a brown-eyed brunette bundled into a thick jacket and mittens, crunched the snow beside him.
A mere slip of a girl who had spilled, snooped, and giggled her way deep into his heart.
And he wouldn’t want it any other way.
He cleared powdery snow from the top of the picnic table, then sat on it, his feet planted on the bench. “Sit by me?”
She settled beside him, wrapping her arms around his and burying her red-tipped nose in his sleeve.
“Cold?” he asked.
“A little. But it’s breathtaking out here.” She laughed softly. “Literally and figuratively.”
“Worth the hike?”
“Absolutely.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the solitude of the winter day. Brett glanced at Dani, barely visible beneath a scarlet-and-gray stocking cap, a souvenir from her first Ohio State Buckeyes football game.
In the months since they’d flown back from Boise, his world had turned right-side up again.
No, not again. For the first time ever.
Jonah had left the hospital walking on his own two feet, and the family—Brett, AJ, and Amy—plus Dani, Shelby, and the girls, had crowded into Meghan’s small apartment to celebrate. Amy brought presents for the children and behaved herself admirably with the adults. Aaron was there too, exchanging shy smiles with Meghan when they thought no one was looking.
Brett’s fifteen minutes of notorious fame flashed then burned without any of the drama Tracie had predicted. Instead he’d been lauded in the mainstream press for a generous donation to the children’s hospital for families in need. The timing may have been a bit calculated, but not the intent behind the gift.
Dani now had an official office in one of the upstairs rooms at the Misty Willow homestead, and a second room held potential display mock-ups, archival items, and the beginnings of a Civil War library. Once Shelby and the girls moved out of the house, it’d be transformed into the planned museum and research center. If all went well, the grand opening would take place a few months later with a daylong festival.
The past may have been rough and flawed, Brett mused, but the present was as fresh and pristine as the newly fallen snow. This was the perfect moment.
He reached into his backpack and drew out a book-sized package.
“I got you a gift,” he said.
Dani’s brown eyes sparkled. “What’s the occasion?”
“You’re here with me. That’s all I need.”
“You’re sweet.” She leaned forward for a quick kiss, then carefully loosened the broad pink ribbon. Finally she unwrapped the paper to reveal a mahogany box.
“Oh, how lovely.”
“Look inside.”
She opened the lid, and her eyes widened with delight. Pink tissue paper lined the box, and nestled inside was an engraved heart that read Dani + Brett.
She lifted the heart and stared at him, her mouth open.
Brett chuckled. “Shelby promised me a branch on the engagement tree.”
Dani gulped and cradled the heart. “We’re going to put this on the willow?”
“That depends.” He nudged Dani, and her lovely brown eyes gazed into his. “We’ve had a rough time of it, you and me. Scarred by our pasts. Finding it hard to love. But God gave us the chance to find a deeper love with each other than we’ve ever known before.”
He pulled a ring from his pocket and held it between his fingers.
“Sully shut this away because it symbolized something painful to him. But then you came along, and you didn’t see just a diamond. You saw beauty, and you saw a story.”
He paused for a moment, wanting to say the words exactly right.
“We may be imperfect. This diamond. Me.” He flashed a smile and tapped her nose. “Even you. But we’re better together than we could ever be on our own. Together we’re imperfectly perfect.”
He pulled her upright, then got on one knee. The snow crunched, and an icy dampness chilled his jeans, but he didn’t mind. He gazed into the face of the woman he loved and thought only of her and his hopes for their future.
“Dannaleigh Christina Prescott. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Unshed tears glistened in Dani’s eyes, and the entire world seemed to pause as it waited for her answer.
“Yes,” she said as the tears graced her flushed cheeks. “I will.”
He removed her mitten, then slipped the diamond onto her finger. “We’re writing our own story,” he said as he stood and drew her into a lingering kiss.
A story of two lonely people brought together by a shared childhood tragedy who finally found their hearts in each other.
And a deeper love than they ever dared imagine.