Until Lilly (Until, #3)(61)

“Holy shit,” Cash says, making me smile. I know it’s one thing to talk about seeing a glacier, but it’s another thing completely to see it for yourself. The air near the glacier is so much colder, but it is also so much cleaner.

“I told you it was awesome.” I tug on his hand, dragging him behind me to the edge of the river. “You would think just by looking at it that it’s close, but it’s actually miles away,” I tell him, looking across the river at the giant white wall of the glacier in front of us. The colors of turquoise and blue that run through it are so vibrant that the whole thing looks like a painting.

“It really is the perfect place,” he says, standing behind me. One of his arms wraps around my waist, the other around my chest, his chin resting on the top of my head.

“I love coming out here.” I put my hands on his arm at my chest. “This is the one place where you really are apart from all the stresses of normal life. I know, standing here, just how small I am in the giant scheme of things.”

“You may be small in terms of the whole world, but to me and my kids, you make up our world,” he says softly against my ear. My tummy flips over, and I can’t help the tears I feel filling my eyes. I feel his hand leave my waist, and he reaches into his pocket. I think he is going to pull out his cell phone so he can take a picture, so when his hand comes around in front of me, it takes a second to realize what he is holding.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, my nails digging into his arm. In between his fingers is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.

“I have been carrying this thing around for a while now, waiting for the right time to ask you to marry me.” My brain slowly registers the words. It starts screaming ‘yes, yes, yes!’ but I can’t make anything come out except, “What?”

My eyes are glued to the ring; it’s absolutely perfect. I feel myself being turned, but my eyes are locked on the design of the ring—three diamonds, and two smaller stones in-between. I don’t really notice the change in position until Cash is kneeling in front of me.

“Lil, I need you to look at me.” I shake my head before taking my eyes off the ring and meeting his. “I kept telling myself that when the time was right, I would know it, and this is the moment.” I watch him take a breath, his hand grabbing mine. “This is the moment I have been waiting for. This is the moment we start our forever. This is the moment you tell me you will marry me and make me the luckiest f*cking man on this planet.”

“Yes.” I cover my mouth and drop to my knees in front of him, burying my face in his chest. I start to cry immediately. If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be with Cash at my favorite place in the world, with him on his knee asking me to marry him, I would have laughed in their face. I never would have believed that this was a possibility for me.

“Baby, you’re freaking me the f*ck out right now.” His arms are wrapped tightly around me, his mouth close to my ear.

“I…I’m…s-so…h-happy,” I say on a sob, and laugh because I sound like an idiot.

“I would feel like you are telling me the truth if my shirt wasn’t soaked with your tears, baby.”

“Sorry.” I take a deep breath and pull my face back so I can look at him. His hands go to the hair at the side of my head, pulling it away from my face.

“What do you say we see how the ring fits?” His eyes search my face and I smile, looking at his hand. He leans forward and places a light kiss on my lips before taking his right hand away from my face, pulling the ring off his finger, and pulling my hand towards him. I feel the cool metal slide along my finger and over my knuckle. The fit is just right.

“It’s perfect.” I put my hand against his chest, looking at the ring there.

“I had it made to represent our family, and all of us coming together as one.”

“I love you,” I say, looking up from the ring on my hand and into his handsome face.

“You are my world, baby. I never thought I would be this happy again. Now, having you back, and having Ashlyn and Jax, I have surpassed happiness.” He smiles, showing off both dimples.

“I feel the same. I didn’t think I would ever feel like this again.” I wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head against his chest. We’re turned to the side so that we can both look out at the glacier. “Thank you for giving this to me.”

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.” His arms give me a squeeze. “There is no way for you to know what you have given me,” he says softly, kissing the top of my head. I don’t say anything, just hold him a little tighter. I know what I have given him, because he has given me the same thing.

“We’re getting married,” I blurt after a few minutes. I feel Cash shaking with laughter. I know it’s dumb, but the realization that he just proposed to me and what that means hits me hard.

“Yeah, baby, that’s usually what happens when someone asks someone else to marry them.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me do it. We stand there watching as a large piece of ice falls off the glacier, crashing into the water below, the sound echoing around us sounding like thunder.

“Where is everyone?” he asks, looking around. The whole area is completely empty.

“There are guided trips out here a couple times a week, but for the most part, the only people who come out here are residents.” I shrug. “It’s a long drive, and not too many people want to make the trip.”