“She probably won’t.”
“I suspected that.”
He took my hand.
“But I know what I want to keep choosing.”
My breath caught.
“You.”
His thumb moved across my knuckles.
“Mia, in whatever place she chooses to give me in her life.”
My tears finally fell.
“The family we’ve become. The family we may still become. Your memories of Daniel. Mine of my mother. The complicated, unfinished parts of us.”
Then he smiled.
“I don’t want a perfect life with you, Julia.”
“Good.”
“I want the real one.”
That was when he knelt.
He opened the box.
The ring was beautiful.
Simple.
Elegant.
Exactly the kind I would have chosen.
“Julia Bennett, will you marry me?”
From somewhere in the courtyard, Mia yelled, “SAY YES!”
I burst into laughter.
Adrian looked toward the doors.
“I explicitly asked Rachel to keep her farther away.”
“She has excellent projection.”
“Apparently.”
