Amethyst

I open the door to tell Adam breakfast is ready and find him crying. I’ve only seen him cry two, maybe three times in my life, and never like this. His shoulders are shaking and his face is in his hands.

“Adam?” I say softly, slipping in the door and closing it behind me so Harper won’t wander in. She’s at the breakfast table with Lady and the stand-in housekeeper Maria, but you never know what kids will do.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I say, kneeling down between his legs holding his knees. He shakes his head back and forth, unable to speak, and my heart breaks for this man that I love so much. I stand and pull him against me, his arms wrap around my waist and he buries his face into my tummy.

“Shush, it’s going to be all right. Tell me what’s wrong so I can help,” I say, stroking his hair with one hand and rubbing his back with the other.

“Cherry was FBI.”

I must have heard him wrong. My shirt muffles his voice, he didn’t just say Cherry was FBI, he couldn’t have.

But he did.

I sit down and listen to him tell me the story.

“Adam, I’m so sorry.”

“I was so cruel to her. I called her horrible things, I tried to take Harper from her, I kicked her out of my guesthouse.”

“You didn’t know. You weren’t supposed to know. She was good at her job. Anybody would have felt the way you did. Can you imagine living your life as someone else? And for so long.” I shake my head.

“And she was so close to finishing. She solved the case and they murdered her the same day.”

“Do you think she would have been able to go back to living a normal life? I mean she was tied to you forever because of Harper. It’s not like she could just pick up and go back to wherever she’s from and be Annika Blom again. Are you going to tell Harper that her mommy was a cop?”

“Yes, absolutely. I want her to be proud of what her mother did for her and for me.”

“She’s a hero.”

“I never thought I’d say this but yes, she was an awesome woman.”

“Poor Harper will have to grow up without her.”

“She’s going to have the best stepmother though.” He takes my hands in his and kisses my knuckles.

“I’ll do the best I can, but I’m no Annika.”

“No, you’re not, and I’m glad. I want you safe and sound here with us, not pretending to be a criminal.”

He looks down at my hands in his. “Hey, will you help me with something?”

“Of course.”

“Push me over there to that burgundy chair.”

“Okay,” I say and wheel him to the corner of the room where a wingback chair sits all alone.

He reaches in and pulls on a piece of molding, exposing a hidden panel where his safe is located. He looks up and smiles at me while I wonder what in the world he is up to.

He flips the combination rollers and opens the safe. Inside, a light pops on and from here, I can see envelopes and a small stack of cash. He reaches in and pulls out a small, square, black velvet box. Is that what I think it is? How could he have a ring for me when he proposed so spontaneously last night?

“I know it’s strange, but I bought this years ago when I still had hope that we would get back together, and I never took it back.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“If you don’t like it, we can get you something different. And since you’ve already said yes, I’ll skip the big production.”

He opens the box and it makes a little creaking sound. I don’t even look at the ring, I’m focused on his face as he removes it from the box and slides it on my finger.

“I love it.”

“You haven’t looked at it yet.”

“I don’t care, I love it.”

I bend down and press my mouth over his and get lost in a kiss that says I will love you forever and ever.

“Daddy? Maria says breakfast will be asqueroso if we don’t eat soon,” Harper says, peeking around the office door.

“We’re coming,” he says.

“Uh, uh, you’re kissing,” she says.

“We are done kissing, Princess. We will come and eat, I promise.”

“Are you gonna make me a baby sister?”

Adam and I both throw our heads back and laugh. Kids sure do know a lot at five years old these days.

“Not right now honey, maybe someday,” Adam says, and my heart skips a beat. The future we planned so long ago on a blanket in my front yard under the stars is finally coming true. It’s incredible.

Another incredible thing is this ring on my finger. When I go to push Adam to the kitchen, I glance down at my left hand. There on my left finger is a salmon-colored pear cut diamond flanked with two white diamonds in the same cut. It’s breathtaking, and big, so big I think about that article and grip the handle tighter.

“If you’re afraid someone’s going to cut your finger off, we can exchange it,” he says as if he were reading my mind.

“No, I love it, it’s mine. I’ll just stay home forever so I can keep it and my finger.”

He chuckles and reaches back to hold my hand as we enter the kitchen. The smell of cinnamon wafts in the air and my stomach growls.

“You can do that if you want, it’s fine by me. You can stay home with me and the kids and your ring.”

“I’m not quitting my job. I love my work.”

“I hope not. I need you to get me back on the field so we can get busy catching up on our life plan. Aren’t we a couple kids behind already?”

“Yes, we should have two and one on the way by now.”

“Well, we aren’t that far off then, we have one and I’m sure I can arrange the one on the way.”

“How about a wedding first? We haven’t done that yet either.”

“Yes. A wedding. How does April 1^st sound to you?”

“April fools day?”

“Yep, I like it. And I’ll be able to walk down the aisle by then.”

“Okay, April 1^st. That’s a pretty ambitious goal.”

“I’m an ambitious guy and you’re a miracle worker, we got this.”