Page 124 of His Eleventh Hour

The dog didn’t stop, and he came running past the bathroom door, practically bellowing out his barks.

She heard the knocking on the front door this time, and she quickly finished brushing her teeth and went to answer it. “Just come in,” she called, because it had to be Tarr. No one else ever came here, and they were going out to the Hammond Family Farm for Thanksgiving dinner later that day.

She pulled open the door, her irritation and the choice words she had for her boyfriend dying on her tongue when she saw Tarr there.

Not standing.

But kneeling. Down on both knees, the ring she’d picked out months and months ago shining in the space between them.

He’d told her to expect the proposal before Christmas, and to be honest, Briar had started wondering when it would happen. She didn’t need to book a venue, and she had plenty of experience getting amazing outfits made, so a wedding dress wouldn’t be too hard either.

She’d stuck to her decision not to reach out to her parents, and she hadn’t wanted a long engagement anyway.

“You’re not dressed,” he said, his smile etched on his face. “We have to leave in a half-hour.”

“I know.” Briar leaned into the doorway, her own smile stretching across her face.

“I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you to the truck, pajamas or not,” he said, echoing his threat from a year ago.

“I’m going to change,” she said. “I just finished brushing my teeth.”

“Well, you won’t be fully dressed until you’re wearing my diamond ring on your finger, and we can’t go to Thanksgiving dinner until you’re ready.”

She smiled at him. “Oh, I see how it is.”

“Good,” he said. “Now, I think we’ve both waited for this day for long enough. I’m happier than ever, and I want you in that house. It’s so lonely and big without you—and Wiggins.” He grinned over to the dog who sat at his side, both of them watching Briar with the same hopeful expression on their faces.

“I love you,” he said next, and the words reverberated all the way through Briar.

“I love you too,” she said back, because she loved saying it, hearing it in her own voice, andfeelingit.

“My truth for today is that I can make it through this sixty seconds, though I’m pretty nervous,” he said. “Because I know you’re going to say yes.”

“You better just ask then.”

“My thorny Briar, will you marry me?” He lifted the diamond ring a little higher, as if she hadn’t seen it before now.

She let her feelings fill her over and over again, and then she said, “Yes, my dark cowboy. I’ll marry you.”

Briar held out her hand, and it stayed perfectly steady as he slid that wonderful symbol of love onto her finger. He kissed the knuckle above it and then the one below, deftly turning her wrist over and kissing her there too.

Tarr sure knew how to send electricity through her whole system, and she waited while he got to his feet and took her face in his hands. “I love you, honey.”

Briar looked him straight in those dark eyes she loved and repeated her daily truth to herself.

I am lovable, because Tarr loves me.

And with the utmost confidence, she said, “I love you too, Tarr.”