any way you cut it, I’m from the wrong side of the tracks. It’s ridiculous to think about me and a Bellamy, for Chrissake. I didn’t see how you and I would ever connect. We come from totally different worlds.”
She held her breath. Was he saying they were incompatible, that love wasn’t enough? “Julian—”
“Hang on, I’m getting to the point. Where we come from doesn’t have to matter. I’m not going to worry about what other people will say, the color of our skin and what our kids might look like. What matters is … it’s us. Our hopes and dreams and what we want our lives to be.”
He kissed her swiftly, his warm lips lingering against hers, his breath gusting over her cheek. “Whew,” he said. “That’s, like, the longest speech I’ve ever given. Sorry if I rambled.”
She could listen to him talk like that forever. “You didn’t ramble.”
“I’ve been practicing what I wanted to say. In my head. God, don’t think I was walking around campus, spouting stuff about hopes and dreams. But I meant every word.” With that, he got up and grabbed the picnic bag, bringing it to the steps of the gazebo, built some years ago for her grandparents’ golden anniversary. She followed, still entranced by the things he’d said. There was no one around. The gazebo was broadcasting music from somewhere. She recognized the old classic, “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton.
“Whoa,” she said. “Is someone here?”
“We are now.” Julian set down the bag. Turning to face her, he paused for what felt like a full minute and studied her face. She did the same, seeing love and pain in the yearning in his eyes.
“Thanks for coming here with me,” he said at last, bending down to kiss her again.
“Thanks for bringing me,” she said, feeling drunk from the taste of him. “It’s been an awesome day.”
“We’re just getting started.” He took out a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
When he uncorked the champagne with a loud thwok, Daisy felt a surge of excitement. “Julian?”
“Hang on,” he said, putting his arm around her. “You okay?”
“I’m kind of shaking.” The Eric Clapton song was perfect, romantic and true. He was a guy from an older generation, but his music told the stories in her own heart.
She didn’t drink the champagne. She was too nervous; she might upchuck on herself and ruin everything.
“I wanted to say this here because I know it’s a special place to you.”
She nodded. “Sacred ground. To the Bellamy family, anyway.”
“I’m glad I got to meet your grandparents on their fiftieth anniversary. I’d never met anyone who’d been married that long.”
It had been the most special of days, not only for her grandparents but for all the Bellamys. Daisy had been in enormous emotional pain that summer, yet she could still appreciate the wonder of a love that had endured for half a century.
“It gave me hope,” she said.
“It gave me a dream.” He took both her hands in his and turned to face her. “I want what they have, Daisy. I was a kid back then, we both were. We’re adults now, and the dream hasn’t changed, not for me anyway. It’s only grown stronger.”
His kiss was gentle, searching, full of yearning. She felt so emotional, she thought she might fly into a million pieces.
“All those places we flew over today,” he said, “they mean something to me because of what we shared there.”
“They’re special to me, too,” she said, her throat aching with the words.
He nodded, swallowed hard, as if gathering his thoughts. “I have to go away soon. I have a job to do, a duty … it’s what I signed up for. Life is unpredictable, so I have to do this while I have the chance.”
“Do what?” Somewhere in her heart she knew already, and her pulse raced almost out of control.
“My service in the air force is not forever. I’m saving ‘forever’ for you, Daisy. I don’t want to live my life without you.”
With that, he sank down on one knee before her.
Everything stopped. Time, breath, reality, the world on its axis. Even the wind seemed to quiet. She could feel the sweet air on her skin, and birdsong rang in her ears, mingling with the music from the hidden speakers. At the center of it all was Julian, looking at her with love shining from the deepest part of him.
She wanted to say something, she didn’t know what, but her voice felt trapped, frozen in her throat. She wasn’t able to utter a sound, which was probably a good thing, because for some inexplicable reason, she hovered on the verge of tears. She couldn’t believe this moment was happening to her.
“Daisy Bellamy, I’ve loved you since our first summer at Willow Lake,” he said. “I swear, I’ll never stop. Will you marry me?”
Though this was something she’d dreamed of, fantasized about, hoped for in a secret place in her heart, she was unprepared for the emotion that jolted through her, almost violent in its intensity. Will you marry me?
Her thoughts reeled. She knew she should think about all the reasons she couldn’t be with him, the dangers and drawbacks of giving herself and her young son to a man like Julian. Charlie needed security and stability. She needed … she needed … The tears fell and her heart spoke before her brain could object. “I would love to marry you, Julian Gastineaux. With all my heart, I would love it.”
He laughed aloud and took a ring from his pocket, a simple diamond solitaire on a slender gold band. “They knew your size at Palmquist’s,” he said, slipping in on her finger.
For a split second, she flashed on a memory of Logan’s Christmas Eve proposal, that humiliating night she could never quite get out of her head. Logan had gone to the same jeweler.
“It’s perfect,” she said, distancing herself from that memory. “It fits perfectly.”
“Really?” He stood and picked her up with him, as though she were as light as air.
“Really,” she said, kissing him and brimming over with a happiness so intense, it felt like a kind of pain.
He set her down, and they held each other for a long time. She pressed her cheek to his chest and listened to the throb of his heart. The past few minutes had changed her life. She was going to marry this man. It was unbelievable.
“I didn’t know I’d be asking you today. I’ve been waiting for the right time. When you told me you loved me, I figured it was a sign.”
She pressed her cheek against his chest, listening to the powerful throb of his heart. This was not the conversation she thought they would be having today. This was … a dream come true. “I couldn’t keep it in any longer.”
“I know what I’m asking, because of my job,” he said. “But I also know we’re going to make this work, I swear.”
“Yes,” she said and kissed him again, feeling giddy with elation.
She set her camera on timer and leapt into the frame with him, eager to mark this precious, precious day with a picture together. The viewfinder showed them on the dock with their arms around each other, the late-afternoon sun suffusing the scene with a golden glow. In her professional life, Daisy had taken many photos that were technically superior and more sophisticated than this shot. But never, ever had she captured a more joyous moment.
A sense of wonder held the world at bay and kept reality from intruding. For now, she savored the sweetness of knowing their love had a future. How could a feeling this powerful be wrong? It was a palpable thing. Nothing could stand in their way.
Seven