be a banner day.
“You’re a natural at this, you know?” he continued. “It was fun to watch.”
“I’m surprised how much I loved it.”
He leaned closer and let his lips graze hers, softly, gently, not really a kiss so much as an exploration, as if he wanted to uncover every part of her one second at a time.
“The cast is meeting down at the beach for a bonfire,” she said.
“I know. My parents took Jolie.”
“Do you want to go?”
He shrugged. “A case could be made for staying here.”
“Or having our own picnic on the beach?”
“Or that.”
She inched up on her tiptoes and brought her mouth back to his. She tried to memorize the movement of his lips, the way they felt on hers, the way his muscles felt underneath her hands, the way she wanted that moment to go on forever.
His arms slid around her waist, drawing her closer, deepening the kiss.
She abruptly pulled away and searched his eyes. “I’m still a little scared, Hollis. What if this ends?”
He kissed her again; then, slowly, he knelt down in front of her, picked up her left hand, and smiled.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but loving you is the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve always known when it came time for me to settle down, it would be forever. I don’t want you worrying that this is only temporary or that I’m going to hurt you. I’m not. The only thing I’m going to do is love you forever, if you’ll let me.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Hollis, what are you saying?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny blue box. “I’m saying I want you to marry me. I’m saying this isn’t going to be perfect. We’re going to hit hard times. I don’t even have a job right now—”
Emily laughed as her eyes clouded over with tears of happiness.
“But we’ll figure it out together. We’ll muddle our way through the hard stuff until it turns into something else, until it becomes our story.”
“Hollis, I don’t know what to say.”
“You belong with me, Em. I hope you’ll say yes.”
She scanned his eyes, his face, looking for a reason to run, but there wasn’t one there. There was only love.
She belonged with him. With Jolie. With Nan and Jeffrey. She belonged on Nantucket or in Boston or wherever life took them. She belonged.
And that was a beautiful feeling.
She slid to her knees and squared her gaze with his, then took his face in her hands, his slight stubble rough to the touch. “Of course, yes. There’s nothing in the world I want more than to marry you.”
“Well, thank goodness,” he said. “You had me worried for a second.”
She laughed, then fell into his arms, relishing his kiss, as the ghost light flickered and her heart latched on to the promise of a future.
Hollis pulled into the circle drive in front of the Ackerman cottage, and Emily turned over the keys in her hands. Her grandmother had officially relinquished control, which meant this house was all hers. For real this time.
“You gonna add those to the rest of your keys?” he asked.
Emily nodded. “Sort of appropriate, don’t you think? That these keys will be the end of my collection? I mean, that part of my life is over.”
He looked at her. “You’re not sad about that, are you?”
She smiled. “Not even a little.”
“Good.”
“I want to go in and change; then I can meet you down on the beach if that’s okay?”
Hollis leaned over and kissed her forehead, then grazed her nose, settling fully on her lips. Seconds later and she was lost in it.
Good night, this man knew how to kiss.
He pulled back, then picked up her hand and kissed the ring he’d slid onto her finger.
Emily had never been one to wear a lot of jewelry, and Hollis must’ve known it. It was as if this ring had been made for her unique personality. A simple white-gold band with a large round diamond, encircled by a ring of smaller diamonds, it was beautiful without being flashy, and she loved the way it looked on her hand.
“I’ll meet you down there,” she said.
He nodded as she leaned over for one more kiss, then got out of his Jeep and started up the walk toward the house.
Grandma must’ve left some lights on because the entryway and living room lights both shone through the windows into the yard outside.
She pushed the door open and walked inside. She inhaled the smell of