Page 120 of Yours, For Good

"I still remember the look on your face when you saw the library in the old Pendleton home."

"Or even the one at home."

"Yeah. It's shaping up to be my favorite one."

I ran my hand down the front of his shirt. Over our many months together, I'd gotten used to finding the shape of his chain, medal, and ring under his clothes. I frowned for the hundredth time that I couldn't find them. He'd sent it all for check up and cleaning, and had traveled without them.

He stopped my hand on its path, right over his heart.

"This isn't the oldest library, but it felt wrong to stand with you like this there."

"Yeah, it would have been disrespectful."

"Even this would have felt disrespectful there." He offered me his pinky finger.

I smiled and hooked my finger around his. "What are we pinky promising?"

"That we'll be together for as long as the Al-Qarawiyyin library has been around." His eyes shone down on me, dark blue in the warm light in the room. "That we'll take care of our love like they took care of books here."

"Deal." I pulled from our fingers and asked him for his lips. "I love the history aspect of the trip, by the way. That you're making it so romantic with libraries. Good romancing, Mister Pendleton."

"I was hoping you would feel that way."

"Yeah? So you could always brag about planning a great trip?"

"No, so you'd agree to wear this."

He dug his hand deep into his pocket, and came out with a small box. He presented it to me with a glint in his eyes.

My eyes latched to the royal blue velvet between his fingers. "Javier…"

He let go of me only so he could open it. His grandmother's ring nestled in white satin; a big, oval center stone, with the slightest hint of blue to it, and a halo of smaller diamonds around it.

I had studied the ring before; Javier knew I liked it, but I never thought…

"You said you'd sent it all for maintenance," I managed.

"I did. I also asked them to resize this ring to fit you." He took it out of the box and held it delicately between thumb and forefinger. "I never told you the full story of it."

I lifted my eyes at him, my heart in my throat. "But it is your grandmother's, right?"

He nodded. "But it wasn't my grandfather who gave it to her."

"What?!" My shock echoed through the old room.

"That ring was passed down to my brother, alongside the house, the running of our assets, etcetera."

"I always assumed…"

"I know," he whispered. He gave me a soft kiss, like he couldn't help himself. "But this was the ring her beloved had wanted to give her if they had been allowed to marry. She kept it, and gave it to me with the last tears I ever saw her shed— she told me it was mine to do right by. That if I ever loved the way she loved him, I should make the promise it was meant for."

"Holy shit." The muttered words escaped me, overwhelmed as I was by the reveal.

"I love you. I love that I get to give you this… if you want it." A small smile tilted his lips. "Here, where a billion words try to define love… I'm offering you a symbol of the promises I have made. I will always be here, tackling whatever life throws at us. Every fight we have, we'll resolve and grow from. We'll do this until we're eighty… and beyond. And maybe we'll have a small party with our friends and closest family, to let them all know this is our plan."

Tears filled my eyes. "Ask me the question."

"Nora… I choose to believe we'll grow old together. Whether we're gifted with living to a hundred or not, it's how I plan to live my life. Marrying you means I commit to that. Will you marry me and promise that back?"