Page 46 of Serious Cowboy

“That’s a lot of candles,” she stated, then with one deep inhale, blew them all out. It was as she peered down at what those candles spelled out that comprehension seemed to dawn on her features. Zeke, petrified now, held his breath as she read it out loud. “Will you marry me?”

She spoke this with confusion coloring her voice, then blinked. Zeke had already lowered himself to one knee, a small black velvet jewelry box sitting in his palm, open. Callie gasped.

“Are you seriously asking…” She trailed off, glanced around at the waiting expressions—all the adults were in on this—of those in attendance. “Zeke?”

“Yes, I am seriously asking. I love you, Callie. With all that I am or ever will be. And if you’re okay with it, I’d really adore it if you’d agree to be my wife.”

That was when she burst into wild shuttering sobs and covered her face with her hands. Everyone froze, no one more so thanZeke. He couldn’t tell if this was good news or bad news. Was she about to reject him in front of all these people? Her weeping sounded so… stunned.

He bounced up to his feet, an action that was slower than it used to be, ringing his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. If she didn’t want to get married, he could cope, as long as she didn’t leave him. Zeke felt more concerned than embarrassed at this point.

Had he honestly upset her by laying all this on her without warning?

“I’m s-sorry,” she cried, and his breath became locked up in his lungs. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”

A collective sigh of relief the likes of which he’d never before heard rose up at her pronouncement. Thank goodness.

Talk about coronaries.

After a wave of handshakes, embraces, and relieved laughter that accompanied their many wishes of congratulations, Lindsey’s staff served the cupcakes. Callie had been given the one in the center with the largest frosted flower on it. Zeke held his own, but since his stomach had basically fallen out of his torso over all that, he didn’t eat it.

Instead, he whispered into her ear. “You all right?”

“Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was just…”

“A shock?”

“Definitely. I didn’t see it coming.”

“Not even a little?” he pressed, wanting to make sure she was okay. Sure, he’d done his best to keep everything under wraps,but he had no idea that she hadn’t so much as had an inkling. He thought he’d made his feelings for her clearer than that.

“Not even a little. I guess I just thought you might not want that again.”

Zeke felt a twinge somewhere under his diaphragm.

“I didn’t before I met you. But you changed all that. Now, I can’t imagine my life without you.” Due to her reaction, he’d thrust the jewelry box back into his pocket and out of sight. Now that they were off in their own little corner and no longer the center of attention, he retrieved it. “Would you like to slide it on and see if it fits?”

“Oh my gosh, please,” she said, peering up at him with so much emotion that it made his throat hurt. Since they stood next to a window with the sun shining in, the diamonds not only sparkled, they threw prisms around them. “This is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m glad you think so, since you’ll be wearing it from now on.”

They kissed, then kissed again.

“Yes. Yes, I will.”

EPILOGUE

Callie peeked down at herself,then back into the cheval mirror in front of her. As much preparation and thought that had gone into this day, there was still a part of her that couldn’t believe it was really transpiring. Yet here she was at the Overlook Grand Mountain Lodge in a white satin and lace dress preparing to marry the love of her life.

Zeke Knight.

If anyone had told her when she first moved here to help out her brother that she’d be married to some guy who worked on a local ranch, she probably wouldn’t have believed them. As often as she’d imagined her wedding day, the groom had always been a mystery. She’d never been capable of nailing down the details about him. But it turned out that the man of her dreams just so happened to be a feed manager with a tragic background.

Who could’ve predicted that?

Not her.

Still, it felt right. Despite her tearful response to Zeke’s proposal, it had never once felt wrong with him. Not even when they’dbeen broken up or when he’d suffered amnesia. Deep down, something inside her recognized that man as her match, and seeing him on bended knee before her had caused an avalanche of emotions to overwhelm her.