I wasn’t sure exactly when I knew that Russ was going to ask me to marry him.

I’d dreamed about it enough, for sure, since I was a little kid. I never told him back then, but I’d think about it sometimes: what it would be like coming home to him, sharing a bed, eventually hearing wedding bells.

And now I’d actually had that. Well, at least the first two parts.

So when he booked a surprise trip to Hawaii for us next summer—the first summer we’d spent together since he came to Rose Falls—I knew something might be up.

First of all, he was so much more interested in planning the trip than I’d ever seen him get about anything before. Usually, he left things up to me, saying he’d be perfectly happy with whichever restaurants or activities I chose.

But this time was different. He arranged the trip months ahead of time, and when the date drew closer, he started to talk about nothing else. He arranged for people to cat-sit for Pepper and to stop any fights, he let Meredith take her for the first week and Emmett take her for the second. He got us the nicest suite in a resort, using most of the money he got from his company bonus to pay for it.

And he seemed particularly fixated on a hike we were going to take—a nice, gentle hike up a beautiful mountain, on top of which we would be able to look out at the tropical scenery below.

He got dreamy eyes whenever he talked about it.

So when the time came, and we were in Hawaii, the morning of the hike, I already had butterflies in my chest. Russ was trying to act casual, but he wasn’t really doing a great job.

I didn’t mind though, because when he got nervous he tended to touch me a lot more, squeezing my hips or kissing me to calm his nerves.

When we approached the base of the mountain, he turned to me.

“I hope it doesn’t rain,” he said nervously, looking up at the cloud cover above.

“It’s fine if it does, though, Roo,” I said. “Rain can be nice.”

“I know, I know, but I just want this hike to be perfect,” he said.

“It already is,” I said. I turned my head away, trying to suppress a grin. Russ was being adorable, and I couldn’t quite believe it.

We started up the sloping pathway that led up the mountain. The gravel was dark and crunched softly under our feet, and the only sounds that surrounded us were birds that occasionally flew by, chirping or calling out.

The greenery around us was beautiful, and as we scaled further and further up the side of the mountain, I could begin to see the ocean stretching out beneath it, clear and blue even on the cloudy day.

“Oh, my God,” I said, pausing for a moment to look out at it.

“I know, right?” Russ said, stopping next to me. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. But we should go—I want to get to the top before it rains!”

“Okay, okay, Mr. Impatient,” I joked.

He twisted toward me and planted a kiss on the top of my head, grinning. “It’ll be so nice up there. Just trust me.”

“I trust you.”

We continued on, and as we approached the top, a light rain began to fall.

“Oh, no, here it comes,” Russ said, holding out his arms to feel the raindrops.

“Russ, I’m telling you, I love it,” I said. “It’s so refreshing.”

It only took another twenty minutes to reach the top. I hurried after him, trying to keep my excitement in and not give away my suspicions.

My heart was hammering in my chest when we reached the peak. Another family was up there, but after smiling at us they headed back down the path, leaving us on our own. The rain was cool against my skin, and the air was humid, but not oppressive.

I turned to Russ, adrenaline coursing through me, wondering when it was going to happen.

But so far, he was just gazing out at the view, showing no signs of a proposal to come.

“Incredible,” he said, shaking his head. “Y’know, maybe I’ll reconsider my retirement plans. How would you want to move to Hawaii with me when we’re sixty-five years old?” he said with a grin.

I smiled. “I don’t know about that, but we can certainly visit whenever you’d like.”

“You know, I could see you painting this,” he said. “See how the soft, overcast light hits the ocean like that?” he said. “It’s beautiful. Reminds me of that one Monet painting.”

“Wow,” I sad. “Check it out, Russ, you’re talking about art! And I know exactly the Monet you’re talking about.”

He grinned. “I know, right? I’m finally talking about something other than work on a date. How fancy.”

“You can talk about anything on our dates, and you know I’ll love it.”

We paused for a while, looking out at the view again.

“It’s like paradise,” he said. “Come here.”

My blood pressure spiked again as he drew me in close, hugging me tightly and then pressing his lips to mine in a deep kiss.

Was this it? Was this the lead-up?

But after he let me out of his embrace, he reached down for his camera and began taking photos of the scenery. We spent a good half hour up there, taking everything in, as tourists occasionally joined us before continuing down the rest of the hike. The gentle rain came and went, sometimes stopping completely and sometimes coming down a little harder.

I started to wonder if I’d been right at all.

Had I just been making it up in my head? Maybe he wasn’t going to propose—hell, maybe he wasn’t even ready to marry me.

I felt a gnawing beginning in my chest.

Some time, what felt like it must have been an hour later, Russ turned to me. “Okay,” he said, smiling gently and putting his hand on my hip. “Do you want to get out of here?”

My heart felt like it sank to the ground.

I had been wrong.

“Oh—okay,” I said, probably failing to hide the disappointment from my voice. “Let’s head on back.”

“Sounds good, baby.” He took a few steps forward before turning to the side, pointing out over the ocean behind me. “Holy shit, Dev, look at that,” he said.

I turned and saw that a slight break in the clouds had appeared, and sunlight started to pour through it. It cast an incredible ray of light down over the blue ocean, illuminating the sky and rendering everything in a magical glow.

And next to it, along the horizon, a rainbow had appeared.

“Oh, my God,” I said, gazing out. “That is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.” It mesmerized me, and I stared for a good few seconds, knowing it was a once-in-a-lifetime view. “Can you hand me the camera?” I asked, turning back toward Russ.

When I turned back, he was on one knee, a little black box in his hand.

And I was sure then that I was definitely an idiot, because despite everything—all my suspicions and intuition, in that moment when I looked at the rainbow, I’d forgotten everything.

So when I saw Russ there, big brown eyes looking up at me as he held out a ring for me, I felt like my breath had been taken from me. A rush of emotion washed over me, and I let out a little cry.

“Devin Crawford,” Russ said, his voice trembling a little as he said it. “I have loved you for my whole life, and I want nothing more than to be able to love you for the rest of it. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Dev, and I want to be so good to you.”

I took a step forward, putting my hand on his cheek as a tear ran down it.

“Will you marry me, Dev?”

I was already crying as I nodded my head, smiling so wide as tears streaked down my cheeks. “Yes,” I whispered, throwing my arms around him the second he stood up. “Yes, yes, a million times yes. I love you, Roo,” I said.

His lips crashed against mine as I breathed in deep, holding him close, melting against his body. He held me there for what felt like forever, and his gentle warmth felt like the only thing that would keep me from floating away into the air.

I put on the ring and it fit—he said he’d used my college class ring as a size comparison.

I was in a dreamlike state, on top of the mountain, and I had no idea how much longer we were up there.

After all, it didn’t really matter.

The moment on top of the mountain was incredible and emotional, and something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.

But the really incredible feeling was just knowing that I’d get to spend my life with this man. And the fact that we’d already spent so many moments together—all the best, formative ones in my life, and that he only wanted to make more memories with me.

For eight years of my life, I thought I had lost Russ.

But really, I’d learned, those eight years had only always been leading to one thing: Russ had become the kind of person who could love me like no one else, and I had become ready for him.

I knew there was no one better for me.

And whether we were in Hawaii or Rose Falls, or anywhere else in the world, I knew that we would always be with each other.