Chapter 8 - The Proposal
On Christmas Eve, a soft snowfall dusted the courtyard of the public museum where Nora and Caleb had first met seven years ago.
The museum was closed for the holiday, but the courtyard garden was illuminated by thousands of tiny white fairy lights strung through the bare branches of the oak trees.
Caleb walked beside Nora, holding her hand, while Lily rode high on Caleb’s shoulders, her small mittens holding onto his dark wool hat.
"It's quiet here," Nora murmured, her breath forming small white clouds in the crisp winter air.
"I rented the courtyard for an hour," Caleb said, looking up at her with a gentle smirk.
Nora laughed softly. "I thought you gave up buying out venues, Mr. Whitmore."
"I donated five hundred dollars to the museum's children's art program," Caleb corrected her, pulling her close against his side. "It wasn't a corporate buyout. It was a favor."
Lily let out a happy cheer from his shoulders, pointing at the glowing fairy lights. "Lights! Pretty!"
Caleb carefully lowered Lily down from his shoulders, setting her gently on her feet on the dry stone path. He pulled a small wooden sled from behind a stone bench and set Lily inside it, wrapping a warm wool blanket around her legs.
"Stay right there, little pea," Caleb smiled.
He turned back to Nora.
The fairy lights cast a warm, golden glow over her face, highlighting her dark hair and her deep blue eyes. She looked breathtaking—happier and healthier than she had ever been in the golden cage of their former life.
Caleb reached into his coat pocket.
Nora’s breath caught in her throat.
He didn't pull out a giant diamond ring from a luxury jeweler in Paris.
He pulled out a simple, delicate band of brushed rose gold, set with a small, brilliant clear sapphire—the color of the sky over the ocean in Maine where they had spent their first summer together.
Caleb dropped to one knee in the soft snow.
"Caleb..." Nora whispered, tears instantly welling in her eyes.
"Nora," Caleb said, looking up into her eyes, his voice raw with pure, unfiltered love. "Seven years ago, I fell in love with you because you were the only person in the world who saw me for who I really was. Three years ago, I let my pride and my fear destroy the best thing that ever happened to me. And sixteen months ago, you gave me the greatest gift a man could ever dream of."
He took her cold left hand in his, his fingers wrapping around hers.
"I don't have billions anymore, Nora," Caleb whispered. "I don't have a corporate crest or a seat at the Harbor Club. But I have a heart that belongs entirely to you and our daughter. Will you marry me? Will you make me the luckiest man alive, and give me the chance to spend the rest of my life making up for the time we lost?"
Nora dropped to her knees in the snow right in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder as her tears fell freely.
"Yes," Nora sobbed happily. "Yes, Caleb! A thousand times yes!"
Behind them, Lily clapped her small mittened hands together, letting out a joy-filled cheer from her sled. "Yay! Daddy! Mommy!"
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Caleb slid the rose gold band onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
He pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss beneath the twinkling lights, sealing a promise that no money, no empire, and no family dynasty could ever break.
