I was so excited I felt like I was going to pee. “You’re serious?”
“Completely,” he said. “It’s more than I wanted to spend for land, but after seeing it, I had to. It’s the perfect place for...well, for us.”
My heart rose into my throat. “Oh my God. You’re serious?”
He smiled a prideful smile. “I’ll have to do some serious saving to fund building the perfect house on it, but yeah. This is ours.”
I released Hank’s leash and tackled Michael. Together, on the place where one day we’d have a home, we rolled until we were covered in sand while the puppy looked at us like we were nothing but fools.
And the unthinkable happened.
I fell even more in love with Michael.
Evening soon came, and after we ate dinner, we stood on the veranda and faced the ocean.
I inhaled the sweet scent of the beach. “I love this place. It’s going to be impossible to get me to leave tomorrow.”
He smiled. “One day you won’t have to leave.”
“Sounds like a dream.”
He took a drink of his beer and gazed out at the ocean. “My dream? My dream is standing beside me. I just had to find the perfect place for the perfect woman. And now, we have it.”
It was the perfect vacation with the perfect man. My imperfectly fucked-up life had somehow drifted into the perfect dream, leaving me breathless, head over heels in love, and grateful.
“I fucking love you,” I said.
While staring out at the darkening horizon, he grinned. “I fucking love you.”
The island we were on was between San Pedro, Belize, and Belize City. Michael had insisted that we stay on the side of the island that faced west, so we could enjoy the sunsets. As the sun prepared to set I grew sad knowing that it was our last night on the island.
“This is beautiful,” I said, tossing my head toward the sunset. “If there’s a way we could...”
I wanted one more day. Just one. But the beauty of it all caused the words to escape me. He knew what I meant. To be with Michael permanently on the island would be my dream come true.
He walked into the house and soon returned, grabbing my hand in his as he stepped on the veranda. “Come on. The sun’s about to set. Our last sunset here. Let’s spend it on the beach.”
“Hank?” I asked.
“Leave him here.”
Barefoot, we walked to the beach hand-in-hand. We both waded out to where the ocean met the land, and walked along the edge of the water. I closed my eyes and allowed the soft waves to wash along the tops of my feet as I followed Michael, holding his hand the entire way.
“Open your eyes,” he said.
He placed his hands lightly against my upper arms and turned me to face the sunset. His hands fell to my waist. We swayed back and forth in the warm breeze while my feet slowly sank into the wet sand.
“Watch the sunset,” he said.
“I am. I can’t help it.”
I gazed over his shoulder and watched in amazement as the pinks, purples, oranges and yellows melted into the wet horizon.
“Tell me when it’s the most beautiful. When it’s perfect,” he said.
I got lost in the moment. I stared out over the ocean while the sound of the waves came ashore. In a moment, the colors of the sunset blended with the few clouds that had gathered out along the horizon, making the entire horizon seem as if a child had painted it with finger paint. The sky slowly started to darken, leaving only a slight reflection on the water, and the bright colors in the sky.
I peered over his shoulder and smiled so much it hurt. “Now,” I said.
He released my shoulders and lowered himself to one knee.
I looked down at him as if he were foolish for not turning around and enjoying what I believed to be most beautiful sight on earth.
“I love you, Terra.”
“I love you too.” My eyes shot out to the horizon. “Get up. Look at this. You’re going to miss it.”
“Terra?”
The colors were magnificent. The time was perfect. “Look,” I said. “It’s the perfect time. Right now.”
“Terra Wilson.”
My eyes fell from the horizon to Michael. “Yes?”
With his back to the sunset, he glanced over his shoulder and met my gaze. “A life with you in it is as beautiful as that perfect sunset. Before it’s gone, answer me this.”
“Okay.”
He fumbled with his shorts and pulled out something sparkly. “Terra, complete this beautiful moment, and say yes.”
Oh my God.
“Will you marry me?”
You can’t tell him.
Not now.
I’d dreamt of the time coming since I was a little girl. My mouth went dry. My head spun in circles. I shifted my eyes from the ring to him, to the horizon, and back. My eyes welled with tears.