Rhys

Later, in December…

“Is the blindfold really necessary?” Lily asked as I helped her onto the private helicopter. She was already bundled up in a puffer jacket and a red wool scarf and hat. The only part of her face that was still visible was a narrow strip around her cute mouth.

Loved that mouth.

But back to the blindfold. She already knew we were somewhere on the West Coast, since I couldn’t get her past the airport gate without her seeing we were headed for San Francisco. But I wanted everything else to be a surprise, hence the extra measure.

“What if I get airsick?” she yelled as we settled into the seats, and I strapped her in. “You don’t want to make your girl sick on Christmas Eve, Rhys.”

“Just let me know, and I’ll get you a bag. Don’t worry. We won’t be airborne for long.”

Lily frowned the way she usually does when she’s annoyed at me, in the way that means she’s only sort of annoyed, but not really. Trust me, I know. She’s been doing it since we were in school, and I’d had more than a few chances to see that face over the last year.

If I was being honest, I was probably the one who would need the airsickness bag because helicopters secretly freaked me out. But it was a risk I was willing to take because the end result would be worth it. I’d planned this whole trip to a T, and the helicopter was absolutely necessary.

Less than an hour later, we touched down in the middle of a field. The chopper blades spun down as I helped her off our ride and into a meadow. It had snowed recently. About an inch of white gilded the forest and mountains around us.

“It’s cold,” Lily remarked, crossing her arms to conserve warmth. “Where are we?”

“Just wait.” I led her through the meadow and toward the trees.

We walked for about ten minutes, until the sound of the helicopter had been replaced by the sounds of nature.

“Is this some weird Christmas present? Because you’re not getting off the hook; I still want that set of bath bombs from Lush.”

“You’ll get your bathtub things, don’t worry,” I teased, continuing to lead her carefully down the trail.

As we broke through the trees, our destination lay in front of us. I could finally remove the blindfold.

“Okay, we’re here.” I took the cloth off her eyes.

Lily’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the late-afternoon light, but after a second, she gasped.

“The hunting cabin?”

I nodded.

She alternated between looking at me and looking back at the shack we’d both loved.

“I can’t believe you helicoptered us up to our shack. You’re crazy! Where did you even land? Wait. I’m so confused.”

“There’s a meadow not too far from here. I turned it into a landing pad.”

She pulled her neck back. “Wait. What? How - ?”

“I bought it, Lily. For us. The land was up for sale, and we had a little profit from the studio, so…”

She blinked at me. “How did you even know - ?”

“I’ve had a realtor watching the listing for a few years now. The family decided to sell a couple months ago.”

She grinned. “You are insane. You know that?”

I shrugged.

Her eyes sparkled. “Can we go inside?”

I nodded. “I don’t see why not.”

A light snow started up again as I trailed behind her toward the door. She untwisted the wire lock. Once she went inside, she gasped. I’d had someone come out earlier that day and decorate it with Christmas lights and tinsel and those type of paper snowflakes she loved so much. It practically glowed.

“Oh my God, did you do this?” she squealed.

“Maybe.” It made me happy to see her this excited.

“This is so cool, Rhys.” Lily ran her fingers over the small table and chairs and then spun in the center of the small room. “So we can come here whenever?”

“Yep. Although we might want to expand. Add a real bathroom and an actual lock or something.”

Lily laughed. “I don’t know; I kind of love it like it is. This is such a special place, you know?”

I pulled her into me. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that, because I actually brought you here to ask you something. Something important.”

Her face tilted.

I reached into my pocket as I dropped to my knee. “Liliana. You mean more to me than anyone I’ve ever known. You challenge me to be a better person and do it with more warmth and humor than I thought was humanly possible. You are both beautiful and talented, and your collection of holiday-themed underwear is unmatched. Lily, what I’m trying to say is, I want you to be my tradition. Will you marry me?”

I opened the small box to reveal the diamond ring I’d designed myself. It had a large center diamond flanked by smaller diamonds all around so it formed a -

“A snowflake! I love it. Oh, my God, I love it so much!”

A wave of relief passed through me. “So is that a…?”

“Yes, of course I’ll marry you, dummy! I love you!”

Relief and unmatched joy flowed through me.

She said yes.

It was the best moment of my life, and it was Christmas.