My eyes filled with tears.
“But I’ve learned something. I don’t want a life in which we keep waiting for the next person to tell us we’re allowed to be happy.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple gold ring.
“I want to build a home with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to be the person you can depend on when life gets difficult, and I want you to be that person for me.”
He took a breath.
“Willa Hartley, will you marry me?”
I started crying.
Not the desperate kind of crying that had followed Delaney’s accusations.
This time, the tears came with laughter.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Then, louder, “Yes, Caleb. Of course I’ll marry you!”
He slipped the ring onto my finger.
I threw my arms around his neck, and he lifted me off the ground while I laughed against his shoulder.
