Page 151 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

In the sunny afternoon, the bulbs shone brightly. Along with the snow, they made the entire tree sparkle. And they made the single red bow tied right in the center of the tree nearly impossible to miss.

I led Willa right to the bow and waited for her to notice.

“Jackson, what is . . .” Her hand came to her mouth as she saw the ring I’d tied to the red velvet.

I shucked off my gloves, tossing them into the snow, then untied the bow, careful not to drop the ring I’d bought in Kalispell the day after Magee had cleared me of Mom’s murder. Two days after that, I’d gone to the school and asked Nate for permission to marry his daughter.

“Willa Doon.” I held the ring between my thumb and index finger, then dropped to a knee. “I love you. You’re the reason I smile every day. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. You’re my everything. And I want to be yours. I want to make every dream you’ve ever had come true. Will you marry me?”

Tears filled her eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to get married to anyone.”

“I don’t. I want to get married to you.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t want you to feel pressured to do—”

“Willa.” I stood up swiftly, capturing her face with my free hand. “It’s cold and I’m worried I’m going to drop this ring and then we’ll have to spend the rest of our day digging for it in the snow instead of celebrating in the backseat of my truck. So I’m going to try this again.”

She sniffled, a smile stretching across her face as I went back down on my knee.

“Marry me?”

“Yes.”

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

She laughed as a tear dripped down her cheek.

I stood again and wiped it away before taking off the mitten on her left hand. With steady fingers, I slid the delicate band to the base of her knuckle. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off the ring. The center diamond sparkled in the sunlight. So did the halo of smaller white diamonds surrounding it.

The jewelry store would be receiving a monthly payment from me for a few years and I’d be delaying the purchase of a new truck, but it was worth it. Whatever I could give her, I would. Even kids.

Willa looked up from the ring. “I love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

She smiled wide and a squeak escaped her lips. She giggled again, then launched herself into my arms.

I scooped her up, slamming my mouth down on hers. Then I kissed my fiancée long and deep. I explored her mouth with my tongue and nipped at her top lip. I sucked at the bottom. By the time we broke apart, we were panting, our breaths forming a frozen cloud around us.

“Do we need to take these ornaments down?” Willa asked, her eyes dark with heat. “Or can we celebrate?”

I grinned. “Fuck the tree. I’ll come back up tomorrow.”

“Okay, good. Let’s go.” She jumped out of my arms and started jogging down the trail.

I laughed, following close behind to catch her if she slipped.

The second we spotted the truck parked at the trailhead, Willa stripped off her coat. Her hat came next. She was bent over, untying her boots as I dug the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the doors.

She hopped into the backseat first and I followed, slamming the door to keep out the cold. Then we spent an hour fogging up the windows before we got dressed to drive back home.

As I pulled my truck onto the highway, Willa laughed out her passenger window.

“What?”

“I was just thinking.” She smiled at her ring, then looked over. “When I was seventeen, I wrote in my diary that I was going to marry you one day.”