It was beautiful, decorated in creams and tans, with a large, log cabin-style bed dominating the room, and a small sitting area in front of a fire. The fire must have been recently lit, and it glowed cheerfully behind glass, casting the whole room in a warm, golden, dreamy glow. She noticed a sliding door on the other side of the room that led outside onto a rustic balcony. She gestured to it. “Do you mind if I…”
“Oh, no. Go check it out. I have to get something.”
Jenny crossed the room, taking a deep breath as she passed the big, plush bed. She slid the door open and stepped onto the small balcony. It was ink dark, but she knew there would be snow-covered mountains in the distance in the morning when she woke up next to him: three peaks to be exact. She leaned her arms on the railing and breathed in the cold Montana air, closing her eyes, feeling full, feeling grateful.
“Jen.”
When she turned around, Sam was on one knee on the floor in front of her.
“Sam!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, fresh tears stinging her eyes.
In one palm, outstretched to her, was a small open box and inside the little box was a ring with a light-blue star-shaped gem. She still had her hands over her mouth, but her eyes flicked up, slamming into his.
“Jenny.” He swallowed nervously but held her eyes with enduring love and tenderness. “Noen elsker deg nå. Og han er velsignet. Someone loves you now, Jen. And he is blessed. I love you. Will you marry me?”
She dropped her hands and started laughing and crying at the same time, standing in front of him. He took her left hand and held it in his free one, staring up at her, his question still waiting for an answer. He raised an eyebrow and she started nodding frantically.
“Yes!” She laughed, shaking her head back and forth in disbelief and wonder as he slipped the ring on the fourth finger and kissed it. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
He stood up and she put her hands on either side of his face, tilting her head to the side like all of the Lindstroms, admiring her ring. “It looks like a star.”
He smiled at her the way he would smile at her forever, like no woman walking on the earth had ever been, or would ever be, loved as much as Jenny Lindstrom Kelley.
“‘An ever-fixed mark.’”
“Shakespeare,” she murmured with wonder. Then she smiled. “I love you, Sam. I’m going to love you for the rest of my life.”
He smiled and put his arms around her, lifting her off the ground and lightly swinging her around before leaning back to look at her beloved face. As he lowered his head to kiss her, Jenny had one final thought before she gave herself totally to Sam, and it was the same one she had the first time she ever saw him, on the day he walked into the courthouse four weeks ago:
Finally, here was Sam, the man she was going to marry.