Ember shook her head. “Not battered. Perfect.”
I kissed her, our lips forming smiles against each other. “See?”
“What are you doing?” she whispered against my lips.
“Let me get to it,” I answered, making her chuckle and sniff.
“Ember,” I started again. “When I said it felt like I’ve loved you for a thousand lifetimes, I meant it. But, that’s not enough for me.” I placed my index finger under her chin and lifted her face. “I want one more.”
I want one more was the only cue I’d given Regan. At that, he softly started playing a piece he and I had been working on for a couple of weeks. Ember’s eyes filled with tears as they drifted to Regan and back to me.
A little over a year before, Ember walked in on me in my studio one of the first nights she stayed at my house in Concord. It was the middle of the night and I was having trouble sleeping, as usual. I’d gone into my studio to blow off some steam. Several minutes later, at Ember’s innocent request that I play the sheet of music that was left on the piano, we were wrapped in the only song I’d ever written for that instrument. A song I’d written to encompass how I felt after my parents’ death.
Regan and I transformed it. I wanted Ember to recognize it, and she did. I could tell by the way her hands tightened in mine and tears streaked down her cheeks. I wanted her, more than anything, to see how the song transformed from the darkness that was my life then, to the happiness it was now.
Because of her.
Ember and I had played a song in rehearsal a few times that we hadn’t perfected for stage yet. I worked those measures into the middle of the song, and as Regan glided beautifully through them, Ember spoke.
“What did you do?” She smiled and cried at the same time. The absolute most beautiful sight in the world.
“I asked your father for his blessing in me asking you to marry me.” I knew she meant the song. I answered the bigger question surrounding us.
“You … you what?” Ember sniffed and looked at her father, who walked over to us and put an arm around her.
Ashby mirrored Ember’s smile-cry. “This afternoon, angel, when you girls were downtown.”
“But the lights,” she gestured up, still smiling. “This was all done before …”
“Love,” I stepped back, placing my hands in my pocket, fishing for the ring box, “I knew things were rocky with you and your dad. I knew there are and were so many things to talk about. But, I knew you two would work it out, because I believe in love. And, I know you do, too. That’s the only reason we made it this far.”
Once my fingers were securely locked around the velvet box, I slowly lowered myself to one knee, trying to ignore the increase in sniffles from the group.
“I want you to marry me, Ember—”
Ember sank to both of her knees in front of me, her shoulders softly shaking as she cried. “Yes, Bo. I’ll marry you.”
We leaned toward each other, our foreheads meeting in the middle as our tears mixed.
“You didn’t let me finish,” I teased.
“There’s more?” She laughed and cried as Regan’s song finished and we were left in the silence of anticipation.
I opened the ring box.
“It was my mother’s,” I started, cutting her off preemptively. “Well, the stone was. I had it reset. For you. For us.” My fingers felt like they’d tripled in size as I plucked the ring from its satin pillow.
I’d had the large diamond reset, nestled into a band of braided rose gold. Antique looking, and perfectly Ember.
“Your mother’s,” she whispered, her lips pursing together as she held out her hand. Her non-verbal commitment.
A slight sob escaped my mouth. “She would have loved you so much, Ember. They both would have. My sister was crazy about you …” I took a deep breath. Rather than let sorrow drown me, I let the spirits of my departed family members lift me up and hold me against the woman that I loved.
Despite being in the dirt, and surrounded by family and friends, Ember and I stayed in our private moment for a few seconds longer, breathing in the serenity we brought to each other.
Finally, Ember spoke. “Can I say yes yet?”
I slid the ring on her slender finger, watching my mother’s diamond catch the light from the tiny strands of lights hanging over us. “Almost.”
“There’s more?” She sniffed and leaned back as the ring settled into perfect placement.
“I want to do it now.”
Ember’s eyebrows pulled together. “You’ve asked me.”
“I want to marry you now. Tonight. Here. There’s nothing we could plan that could possibly be more perfect than this moment. Right here. Me. You. Our family and friends. I’ve wanted to marry you since the very second I met you, Ember. I don’t want to wait any more.”