The following spring.
Quinn drummed her fingers together. “Are we ready?”
Amanda buckled her seat belt and gave Quinn a questioning look. “I’m not sure. I don’t know where we’re going and you seem really stressed.”
She blew out a breath. “Sorry.”
Amanda reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t apologize. Talk to me.”
Amanda’s concern went a long way in calming her nerves. “I’d rather show you. Is that okay?”
Amanda moved her hands up and down, indicating herself. “I’m here. Completely in your hands.”
The trust gave Quinn the shot of courage she needed. She put the car in gear and pulled out of Amanda’s driveway. “It’s not far.”
“All right.” Amanda’s smile was a mixture of encouragement and amusement. She probably thought Quinn was a little off her rocker.
In some ways, she was. She and Amanda had talked about moving in together, about the appeal of finding a place they could make their own. But the idea of starting from scratch added a whole extra layer of complexity. And time. And possible disagreement. Still, she’d not been able to shake the idea. And when this piece of land came on the market—only a couple of miles outside Kenota, in the direction of Ithaca—it felt like a sign from the universe.
Taking Amanda there, suggesting they build a house from the ground up, would have been a pretty big deal. The ring burning a hole in her pocket? That was another matter entirely. But in some ways, the two were inseparable. She wanted to build a life with Amanda, in every sense of the word.
She turned off Route 96 onto Otter Creek Road. Corn field gave way to forest on one side. The road pitched upward, opening up a view of rolling hills. They were too far from either lake to have a glimpse of water, but she didn’t mind. Everything else about the location was perfect.
“Are you taking me to see a house?” Amanda turned to her and beamed. “Is that the surprise?”
“Not exactly.” It wasn’t a question, but her voice did a lilt at the end like it was. She cleared her throat. “Not exactly.” There. That was better.
Amanda frowned, but more confused than irritated. “What does that mean?”
She was spared having to answer by their arrival. She pulled into the gravel driveway that had been started, but only went for about ten feet. “You’ll see.”
She cut the engine and tilted her head, indicating they should get out. She rounded the front of the car and took Amanda’s hand. Amanda smirked. “Now I see why you told me to wear practical shoes.”
They picked their way through tall grass and low brush. About fifty feet from the road, trees gave way to the large clearing that would be more than enough room for a house. Quinn stopped walking but didn’t let go of Amanda’s hand. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful.” Amanda looked around, then at Quinn. “Do you get to build a house here?”
“Maybe. If I play my cards right.”
Amanda frowned again. “Is this one of those super intense and demanding clients who’s making you jump through hoops even before you get the job?”
Quinn bit her lip and resisted the urge to laugh. “I wouldn’t categorize her that way.”
“Why are you being so weird today? What’s going on?”
Amanda’s cluelessness was about to make this whole harebrained scheme either a lot more fun or horribly awkward. “I was hoping you might be my client.”
“Me?”
“Well, technically we.”
Finally, realization dawned. “You want to build a house for us.”
“I’ll hire experts to do the heavy lifting, of course, but I do want to design it and I’m hoping we can both get our hands a little dirty along the way. Makes it so much more personal, don’t you think?”
“You bought this property for us.”
She’d been sorely tempted, but she’d resisted. “Not yet. I think it’s perfect, but it’s also the kind of decision we should make together.”
Amanda brought both hands to her cheeks and looked around again. “You want to build me, us, a house.”
She swallowed and reminded herself to breathe. “I do.”
“I can’t think of a better way to start the rest of our lives together.”
Okay. This was it. Now or never. “I don’t entirely agree on that front.”
“What—”
Quinn got down on one knee. She’d not done that when she and Lesedi decided to get married, but something about Amanda made her want to go the traditional route. It had the added bonus of being closer to the ground and making it less likely she’d keel over and pass out. “I want a future with you—a home and a life and a forever. But I’d be so much happier if you would do it as my wife.”
Amanda didn’t move. She didn’t speak, either. She just stared at Quinn. Then the ring, the antique emerald cut diamond Daniella had helped her pick out. Then Quinn again. “I…”
Waiting for her reply was utter torture. Probably fewer than ten seconds passed, but each one felt like an eternity. “I’m not sure if it will influence your answer, but I feel like I should tell you I talked to both Cal and Daniella about this. Not that you need their permission, but I wanted them to know I was hoping for the whole family, not just you.”
Amanda nodded. It started slowly but picked up steam. “Of course you did.”
It wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a yes, either. And being on her knee only exacerbated the ticking seconds and the fact that Amanda had yet to answer. “It seemed like the right thing to do, but please don’t think for a second it’s anyone but you I’m proposing to. I love you, Amanda, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I love you, too. More than I thought possible. And I love who I am when I’m with you. That’s been maybe the most magical part of all this.”
Quinn’s heart, already at a persistent thud, began to race. “That, too. Absolutely.”
“I can’t imagine wanting to spend my life with anyone else.”
“So, is that a yes?” Please, let it be a yes.
“Oh.” Amanda’s eyes got huge. “Yes. A thousand yeses. A million.”
For as sure as she’d been Amanda would say yes, she’d never been so relieved in her life. She freed the ring from the cushion in the box and slid it onto Amanda’s finger. “Just to be clear, you can say yes to this and no to the land. I want you to love where we end up.”
Amanda took a second to admire the ring before grabbing Quinn’s hands and pulling her to her feet. “Yes to all of it.”
“It’s really okay to think about it for a couple of days.”
Amanda placed a hand on each of her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Are you trying to talk me out of it?”
She laughed. “No. Absolutely not. But they’re two separate decisions and I don’t want the excitement of one taking over the significance of—”
“Quinn.”
She’d been rambling. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t ramble. “Sorry.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Utterly.”
Amanda took a deep breath and looked around before returning her gaze to Quinn. “I love it. And you. I want it all.”
Quinn let Amanda’s words sink in. “I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me.”
Amanda smiled and angled her head ever so slightly. “Well, you’re off to a pretty good start.”
She thought about breaking ground, picking out furniture. Trips to the cabin and going with Amanda on wedding cake deliveries to interesting places. Big family dinners and quiet mornings on the porch. She wanted all of it, too. “I’d say we’re just getting started.”