Christmas at the Little Waffle Shack - Helen J. Rolfe Page 0,93

piece.’

‘What happened?’

‘Nothing bad, I promise. I asked Daniel to tell you differently because I wanted to get you here without ruining the surprise.’

The twinkly lights gave a romantic atmosphere, the heaters offered comfort, the low-playing music in the background set the mood. Lois had already had a practice run by using the barn for a lunch with the girls yesterday, she’d said, and knew this setting would be everything Harvey had wanted.

Lucy suddenly realised what must surely be happening beyond the doors and her eyes lit up. Even in the darkness Daniel didn’t miss the spark. She was close, her body almost pressed against his and threatening to buckle him at the knees, but all of them were hooked on the story unfolding inside the barn.

Harvey had taken Melissa’s coat and put it on the back of a chair and she was looking as confused as when she’d first arrived, but when he took hold of her hands something clicked. Daniel had seen a lot of emotions play out on his brother’s face lately, but adoration for Melissa hadn’t been one of them. He’d not seen them together enough to realise how strong their bond was, how much this moment meant to Harvey, how long his brother had been wanting and waiting to do this.

Harvey’s voice was strong, it didn’t waver. He was keeping it together as always. ‘Melissa, I wanted to do this here because this is the place that reminds me the most of you. Down at the cove is another, but it’s here we first kissed, here we first danced together, it’s here I realised I wanted to spend the rest of my days with you at my side.’

A gasp from Lois almost revealed their presence and they all held their breath in case either Melissa or Harvey turned around.

They couldn’t see whether Melissa was crying but Daniel wouldn’t mind betting her eyes were filled with tears. He could tell by the flush on her cheeks, the way her voice wobbled as she said his brother’s name.

It was then that Harvey got down on one knee. After their separation for so many years and her almost having a life with someone else, Daniel wasn’t surprised at the emotion inside the barn. His fingers were freezing as he steadied himself against the barn door so he wouldn’t topple into Lucy even more. The only thing keeping him warm was her being so close.

‘Melissa Drew,’ came Harvey’s voice, ‘love of my life, would you please do me the honour of becoming my wife? Will you live out your days here with me in Heritage Cove, at Tumbleweed House with Winnie and maybe even a whole bunch of kids one day?’

‘Yes, yes, yes…a thousand times yes!’ Melissa flung her arms around him.

Lois sniffed, Daniel was sure Barney did too, and when Lucy looked up at him with a smile, their eyes locked. He guessed it was hard not to be happy when something like this played out so close to you between people who were important in your life.

‘There’s no ring,’ Lois whispered to Barney as they watched Harvey twirl Melissa around in his arms.

‘Oh, there’s a ring,’ said Daniel. He and Harvey had talked about it over the last couple of days. Their grandma had left a vintage ornate floral-design ring with bead-set diamonds to their mum and she’d never got around to resizing it to wear herself. Instead, she’d kept it for either son if an engagement was ever on the horizon. Harvey had managed to have the ring resized for Melissa, having Tilly ask Melissa to help her decide which dress rings to sell in her shop, giving them the size to work with. She’d fed the information to Harvey, who had pushed on with his plan. The only stumbling block he’d had was asking Daniel if he could use the ring that was always there for either brother. Daniel had appreciated the concern but laughed that he was so way off getting married that if Melissa didn’t use it there was a danger of it never living out its full potential. He’d also had to find a jeweller who was willing to do a last-minute alteration and Daniel suspected it had been done so fast the jeweller must surely be someone well and truly caught up in the romance of a Christmas proposal.

And now, beyond the barn doors, Harvey was pushing the ring onto Melissa’s finger, their bodies pressed up as close as they could be