Page 37 of Not Because You Loved Me

I leaned against the counter, a dish towel in hand, wiping down the clean island while Trent loaded the last few glasses into the dishwasher. The familiar intimacy between us was something I treasured.

Trent shut the dishwasher door, wiped his hands on a towel, and turned around to look at me. The look on his face made my pulse jump.

"What?" I asked softly, a small smile curving my lips.

Instead of answering, he reached into his back pocket, pulled out a small, familiar yellow sticky note, and walked across the kitchen to slap it right over my heart.

I looked down, reading his clear, bold handwriting:

Location of the rest of our lives (equipped with a man who loves Kat more than anything).

My breath hitched. I looked back up at him, my heart thudding hard against my ribs. "Trent...?"

Trent

I didn't wait another second. I reached into my pocket, pulled out the small black velvet box I’d been carrying around for months, I still kept Kat’s first engagement ring as a reminder of our past, but bought her something new that felt perfect when I saw it, and dropped onto one knee right there on the hardwood we’d laid together.

Kat gasped, her dish towel slipping from her fingers to the floor, her hazel eyes widening in shock.

"I've spent the last few months trying to plan the absolute perfect moment," I said, my voice thick with emotion as I flipped the box open, revealing the diamond ring inside. "I thought about taking you on a vacation, or taking you out to a fancy restaurant on the riverfront. But then I realized... we don't need perfect grand gestures. We never did."

I reached up, taking her trembling hand in mine and smoothing my thumb over her knuckles.

"I looked at you tonight while we were cleaning up after dinner, in this house we rebuilt from the ground up, surrounded by the life we created... and I knew I was going to burst if I didn't ask you right now."

Tears welled in Kat’s eyes, sparkling under the warm kitchen lights.

"I once gave you a ring out of panic, and duty," I whispered, looking straight into her eyes so she could see every drop of truth in my soul. "I promised myself that if I ever got the chance to do this again, I would do it right."

I squeezed her hand gently.

"Today, it’s just me, completely and unconditionally in love with you. You're my best friend, my partner, and the only person I want to build a life with."

A single tear spilled over her lash line, but her mouth curved into a breathtaking, radiant smile.

"Katerina Sterling," I murmured softly. "Will you marry me?"

Kat didn't hesitate for a single second.

A breathless laugh burst from her lips as she dropped to her knees right in front of me on the kitchen floor, throwing her arms tightly around my neck.

"Yes," she whispered, her lips finding mine in a deep, sweet, completely unhurried kiss. "Yes, Trent. A thousand times yes."

I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close against my chest, wrapped up in each other in the centre of our home, ready for forever.

Epilogue 2 - Trent

Three years after I proposed to my wife in this very house and life was a whirlwind in the best possible way.

Kat had officially graduated from medical school, making the transition from head athletic therapist to sports medicine physician for the Kodiak’s. We’d had a busy couple of years, balancing her schooling, my expanding responsibilities within our family business, and planning a wedding that felt like us.

It was a quiet Sunday morning in late autumn. I was sitting at the kitchen island, a mug of dark roast coffee between my hands, scrolling through permits for a new residential build, when I heard the bathroom door down the hall click open.

Kat walked into the kitchen, her steps unhurried. She wore an oversized grey crewneck, her dark hair pulled back, and a radiant, breathtaking smile lighting up her face.

She stopped in front of me, reaching out to set a small white stick on top of the napkin beside my mug. Two bold pink lines stared back at me.

"We're going to need to plan a nursery," Kat whispered, her hazel eyes shining with tears.