how ‘alone’ we’re going to be able to get with the festival going on.”
“Oh, as I recall,” he said with a mischievous grin on his face. “You and I used to be pretty good at sneaking around.”
I tossed my head back and laughed, and then gave him a playful smack on the shoulder.
“Come on,” he said. “I know the perfect spot to go.”
We walked toward a part of the farm that we had made into a beautiful flower garden. DeShawn had started it at the beginning of our renovations by bringing in a bunch of beautiful and exquisite wildflowers. Then I enjoyed spending some time adding to it and would spend countless hours sitting among the beautiful and fragrant flowers while I was pregnant with Kordell. It was such a peaceful place and was one of my favorite new things about the farm. Sometimes, we opened it to the public, not often, though, because I liked to keep it mostly for ourselves. When we opened it up to the people, everyone complimented how much they loved the space. It was a slower pace of things, a little sanctuary where you could just go sit and be surrounded by beauty to clear your mind and inhale deeply. It was the perfect place for us to go steal a few quiet moments to ourselves now.
The closer we got to the garden, the more distant the sounds of the bustling festival faded into the background, until we could hardly hear anything at all except for the relaxing sounds of the birds coming from the garden. There were always birds and butterflies, and sometimes depending on the season, there were dragonflies and fireflies in the garden, too. I thought all of the animals and insects enjoyed the peacefulness of it there, too.
It was even one of Kordell’s favorite spots, and I would frequently bring him here with a blanket, and we would both lay on our backs and watch the clouds in the sky once he had even had an inchworm fall right down onto the tip of his nose while we were lying there. I thought that he might be startled and start to cry about it, but instead, it made him giggle and coo. That was the first indication that he would love growing up on the farm as much as I had.
When we got into the garden, DeShawn stopped walking and gently swung me around in front of him until our bodies pressed up against each other. He wrapped his arms around me, and I pulled his face down toward mine as we enjoyed a long and sensual kiss in the privacy of our little garden haven. When we slowly pulled our lips apart, the big smile on his face made me smile, too.
“I’m so happy,” he said.
It filled my heart to overflowing.
“Me too,” I said. “And I am so in love with you. Things couldn’t possibly be more perfect.”
“Well…” DeShawn said.
I cocked my head to the side and looked at him, not knowing what he thought could possibly make our lives any better than they already were right now, with our beautiful child, our happy home, and our thriving farm that was full of beauty and life. But then, as I felt my breath catch in my throat, DeShawn slowly dropped down to one knee on the ground in front of me. I watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, black-velvet box, and opened the top to reveal a brilliantly sparkling diamond ring that caught the sunlight and glimmered in a thousand different directions. I felt the happy tears sting the corners of my eyes and start to immediately roll down my cheeks as I looked down at the man that I loved more than words—the man that I had loved for my entire life and who was the father of my beautiful baby. I saw every fantasy that I had ever dreamed of all these years play out before me in one, single, glorious, and real moment as I looked into DeShawn’s dark eyes and a broad smile.
“Clara Wiley,” he said as his words filled with intense purpose. “I love you will all of my heart and soul. I always have, and I always will. Will you please make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”
“Yes,” I cried as he stood up and put the ring on my finger.
I kissed him, and he lifted me up and spun me around in the garden.