Listen to Your Heart(61)

It’s nearly midnight, and the apartment’s quiet except for the sound of running water. Eli’s asleep, and Skye’s in the shower. After finding what I need in my briefcase, I stand outside on the terrace, looking at the full moon and thinking about my parents.

Dad loves to tell the story of the night he first proposed to my mom. He’d taken her to a movie, walked her home, and immediately dropped to one knee.

My mom laughed.

Loudly.

A month later, they were engaged. Two months after that, they were Mr. and Mrs. Lynch.

So impatient.

But I get it.

Life is so freakishly unpredictable. Luisa is proof of that. You can be healthy and happy one day and planning a funeral the next. Time is precious and sacred, and when it’s gone, it’s truly gone.

I don’t want to waste one second with Skye.

“What are you doing out here?”

Turning around, I find her standing in the doorway, with a satin robe tied around her waist. Her hair’s wet and she doesn’t have a bit of makeup on. I don’t care, but she might. If I do this now, she may never forgive me.

That’s a chance I’ll have to take.

Our proposal story won’t be like my parent’s. Because of my impatience, it won’t be funny or cute, but it will be honest and real.

I pray she won’t be disappointed.

I pray she says yes.

Slipping my hand into my pants pocket, I let my fingers slide along the white gold band. It’s lived in my briefcase since the day Juliana gave it back to me. On my best friend’s hand, it’d just been a prop—a visual reminder of the lie we’d concocted, all in the name of making her mother smile just a little while longer. But tonight, it’s so much more. Tonight, I’ll be using it for its intended purpose and placing it on the finger where it was meant to be all along.

I offer her my hand, and Skye steps out onto the balcony with me. Taking a long, steadying breath, I gaze into the eyes of the woman I love and drop to one knee.

Her breath hitches.

“This isn’t how I planned this. Honestly, I didn’t have a plan at all. I just love you, and if I’ve learned nothing else this week, I’ve learned that life is too short to wait for the perfect moment. I think, sometimes, we have to create those moments and hope they’re perfect enough . . . and I really hope this moment is perfect enough because I don’t know what I’ll do if you say no.”

Skye’s eyes fill with tears.

“Caleb, I—”

“Please just let me say this. You are the love of my life. You’re it for me, pure and simple. I know you’re scared. I know this is fast. I know you worry that we’ll end up like all those couples you’ve planned weddings for who don’t even make it past the honeymoon. I know you’re afraid we’ll end up like your parents, but we won’t. I won’t let us. I knew from our very first date at The Boombox that I’d waited my whole life for someone like you. I knew then. Even though my life was complicated and messy, I knew you were the one, and it killed me that I couldn’t have you.”

“You had me,” she whispers tearfully. “You had me then.”

“You had me, too. And you’ll have me for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?”

All she does is nod, but it’s enough, and she gasps when I pull the antique ring out of my pocket and place it on her finger.

“That’s beautiful.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it . . . but, when did you . . . I mean—”

I smile and shake my head.

“It belonged to my grandmother. This ring has been waiting for you for a long time, too.”

“Oh, Caleb.”

She leaps into my arms, and we hold each other tight.

“I can’t believe you said yes.” I press my forehead against hers and gaze into her shining eyes. “Come to think of it, you didn’t—”

“Yes!”

It’s music to my ears.

Lifting her in my arms, I carry her to the bedroom and lay her down on the blanket. My eager hands reach for her robe, and I quickly loosen the sash around her waist. The satin falls away from her body, and my hands reverently ghost along her bare skin. Skye grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head before reaching for the zipper of my jeans. Within seconds, we’re skin to skin, heart to heart, and I sigh in contentment as her body covers mine.

“I’m going to make you so happy, Skye.”

“You already do.”

“Do I really?”

She gently traces the outline of my lips with her fingertip.

“You really do.”

We make love, and it’s the wildest combination. Sweet and hot. Tender and passionate. When our bodies find their release, and our racing hearts have returned to a normal rhythm, I’m stunned to hear Skye’s quiet sobs.

“What’s—”

“I’m sorry,” she says softly, burying her face against my neck. “Happy tears, I swear.”

I protectively wrap my arms around her and promise she’ll only cry happy tears for the rest of her life.



Two weeks later, I’m teaching piano scales to a little girl in enrichment class when I get a call from Lynsey.

“Mission accomplished.”