He gets out and comes around the car to let me out on my side. He takes my hand in his as I step out and pulls me against him, before shutting the door.
It's a cold December day and his breath plumes in the air as he says, "I love you, Evie."
I look up into his warm brown eyes and whisper back, "I love you, too."
He kisses my forehead and says softly, "I'll never, ever get tired of hearing that."
Then he pulls me gently and we walk toward the house. It's in terrible condition, garbage strewn all over the front yard, paint chipping everywhere, windows broken. Obviously it's been abandoned for quite some time.
As he pushes open the front door, and I peek inside, memories wash over me. For just a minute, I feel like a frightened young girl again, emptiness consuming me. But then Leo squeezes my hand and I look up into his love-filled eyes, and I'm okay. But why did he bring me here?
He pulls me gently again and I follow him as we climb the stairs to the second floor. I know where he's taking me now, and suddenly my heart lifts and a smile tilts the corners of my mouth. Our roof.
We climb carefully through the broken window and I rub my hands together when we step outside. He wraps his arms around me, and we simply stand there holding each other for several minutes on the very slightly slanted surface.
When he lets go of me, I move to sit down, but he stops me, saying gently, "No. Stay there. Please." I look at him in confusion, but as he drops down on one knee, I understand and a breath hitches in my throat.
My Leo reaches into his pocket, and brings out a ring box and opens it to show me the most beautiful platinum, vintage style engagement ring I've ever seen. I stare at it, mesmerized for a couple seconds before my eyes move back to his. My vision blurs as I see the emotion on his face.
"Evelyn Cruise," he says, pausing before taking a shaky breath and continuing, "I wanted to bring you here to ask you to spend your life with me because this is the place where I first knew that I'd love you forever. This is the place where I learned what it feels like to be loved. And this is the place where my lips first touched yours." He smiles up at me as I let out a half laugh/half sob and bring my hand to his cheek. He leans into it and smiles again before looking up into my eyes and saying, "Will you do me the great honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?"
Tears are streaming down my cheeks now and there is a lump so big in my throat that I can't speak. So I nod again and again, going down on my knees with Leo so that I can kiss him through my tears and my vigorous nodding. We kiss and he laughs against my mouth, and finally, I collect myself enough to laugh too. He pulls back slightly, smiling, but then going serious as he says, "I need to hear it, baby. Let me hear you say it."
"Yes, yes, yes," I whisper between more kisses. "A million yesses. Infinity yesses." I smile through my tears as he slides the ring on my finger.
I take his beautiful face in my hands and bring my mouth to his again. This kiss goes deeper, our tongues flirting, caressing. I feel the air shimmer around us and I tilt my head so that he can go deeper. He moans and pulls me closer and I revel in the heady taste of him, the feel of his body pressed against mine.
Suddenly, it registers that something cold and wet is hitting my cheeks. I break away from Leo, both of us breathing heavily. We look up at the same time and I suck in a breath when I realize it's snowing! We look back at each other and both burst into wondrous laughter. It's really snowing! Just like the first time we kissed. Only this time, we aren't saying goodbye. This time, we're starting our life together. The magical quality of the moment hits me and I start crying again, and Leo pulls me close, wiping my tears away. We hold each other for a few minutes before it occurs to me that we're standing on a roof on someone else's property.
I look up at him. "Um, Leo, we should probably go. Aren't we trespassing?"
He smiles, taking my hand and pulling me up and toward the house. "Actually, no. Come with me. I have something to show you."
I follow him back downstairs, confused. He leads me into what used to be the living room and leaning up against the wall is something under a draped sheet. He pulls the sheet off and I take it in for several seconds before clapping my hands over my mouth to keep myself from sobbing again.
It's a sign, and it says, "The Willow House," and has a beautiful Willow tree surrounded by children running and playing and reading beneath it.
"I bought this property, Evie, and the empty lot next to it," he says quietly, watching my reaction closely and bringing his arms around me. "I thought we could open a community house for kids who are in the foster care system and could use a place to come after school and on weekends. A place for them to belong that’s stable and unchanging. I was hoping you’d run it."
I gaze up into his warm brown eyes and in this moment, fall even more deeply in love with him, something I didn’t think was possible.
Nine years later
I put the last chrysanthemum in the window box and scoop dirt around it with my hands, filling it in and then arrange the ivy between the bright yellow and burgundy flowers, making sure it drapes just so. I stand back and smile, admiring the beauty of the fall plants. I brush my hands off and then gather my gardening tools together. The kids and I had spent the day planting and doing yard cleanup, and that window box was the only thing we hadn’t gotten to. I had promised them I’d finish it tonight.
I walk inside and just as I’m drying my hands off, I hear Leo’s voice calling my name. I rush to the front excitedly. "Hey, baby." He smiles when he sees me, a large pumpkin in each arm.