It was nine o’clock at night, and Zach and Elise were skating on the Rideau Canal. Zach had promised her this weekend a year ago, and now he was prepared to promise her much more. The ring box felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket, if anything could feel like it was burning in such cold weather. He was going to do it soon, while they were out on the canal. Any minute now.
They skated along in silence for a little while longer. She was a much better skater now. He’d tried to teach her to skate backward a couple weeks ago, but she hadn’t mastered that yet. But in time, he was sure she would. She could ride a bike, and although saying she could swim was a bit of a stretch, she was getting there.
“I need to learn so I can teach my children,” she’d said a few weeks back. They were planning their future together, and he was looking forward to it. He only wished Darren could be there to stand up at the altar with him.
Darren, tragically, was gone, but Zach wasn’t, and he planned to make the most of it. And that included marrying the woman he loved.
Of course, to do that, he first had to propose.
Elise sped away from him, laughing. She looked back, her face illuminated in the lamplight, so very beautiful. And that smile—all for him.
He caught up with her, took her hand, and stopped. She lifted her face to his for a kiss, but he didn’t kiss her, not yet. He dropped to one knee, her hand still in his.
“Oh, Zach.” She put her other hand to her mouth. “Yes. Of course I will.”
“You know I have a ring and lots of things to say,” he said, fumbling with the box in his pocket. “I’m very proper.”
“Ha.” She was probably thinking of what had happened when they’d arrived at the hotel that afternoon. “I wanted you to be able to do all that without being nervous.”
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I knew what you’d say. Your feelings for me are far from secret.”
“How could I keep them secret?”
She was so radiant and she was his.
All the things he’d planned to say escaped his mind. He could only manage to open the box and say, “Elise, will you be my wife?” And when she said yes—again—he kissed her, his heart filled with joy at the thought of being with her for always.