She’d been mostly stoic as he spoke, but she inhaled sharply as he mentioned their future children, and her eyes suddenly swam with tears.
“I love you,” he said, staring deeply into her eyes, which told him that all his worries were for naught. “My life was a shell until you let me love you. I didn’t know what love was—not between a man and a woman, not the ‘I’d do anything including die to keep you safe and for the privilege of loving you forever’ sort of love. And without you, I might have lived my life in a constant, manic struggle for peace and happiness. Instead, you’ve delivered them to me. You are my peace; you are my happiness. You are my goddess in librarian’s clothing, my childhood crush, my beloved woman. And this place—this magical place—is where we began. And so I love it. And I never, ever want to leave it.”
Tears ran down her cheeks in rivulets now, and he reached up and swiped them away.
“No half measures, remember?”
She nodded, sniffling softly, and smiled at him through her tears.
“I think you should know my intentions, Margaret Story.” He lowered his voice, nailing her with his eyes. “Not long from now, I’m going to ask you to be my wife.”
Her head fell forward against his chest with a quiet sob, and Cameron pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly, resting his lips on her sun-warmed, satiny-soft hair.
“But until then, I was sort of hoping you’d take me on as a roommate and a business partner.”
Her shoulders trembled, and Cameron wondered if this was all too much. Honestly, he hadn’t intended to tell her about his plans to propose. Fuck, had it been too much? Was she freaking out? You can freak out, but don’t check out. Please don’t check out, Meggie.
“Baby?” he said softly, stroking her back. “I move at the speed of light. If you need some time to think it over, that’s totally understandable. We can . . .”
She leaned back, and he realized that what he had assumed were tears was actually a mixture of tears and laughter. Her eyes were shiny but joyful as she looked up at him and nodded.
“Yes.”
“To which part?”
“To all of it. To a place we love, and to a business we can share, and to a future we’re going to build together. Yes to all of it, Cam.”
And Cameron Winslow, who never, ever did things in half measures, cupped Margaret Story’s face in his hands and kissed her to seal the deal.
EPILOGUE
Six weeks later
Once Margaret had a regular contractor come and reconstruct her pantry, it didn’t take more than three weeks to sell her apartment, and she happily moved some of her belongings to Cameron’s place, which they’d decided to keep for evenings they wanted to spend in the city, and she put the rest in storage. They lived in the cottage for now because the house Cameron was having built at The Five Sisters was still under construction. But he was determined to have it finished in time for their Christmas wedding, and knowing Cameron, it would be ready with time to spare.
Speaking of Margaret’s Cameron, he proposed last weekend, on the first official day of fall, which was also the day the tasting room was officially completed. As he led her from the cottage to the new building blindfolded, she inhaled deeply, the strong, fresh smell of new lumber flooding her senses. When Cameron removed the blindfold, she found that the entire room was roped in white lights, and he was down on one knee before her.
She gasped, knowing, of course, that this day was coming, but not expecting it quite so soon.
Cameron reached for her hand while holding an open ring box in his other palm. The ring, made of yellow gold, with leaves and vines woven into the metalwork, held a large diamond in its center, with two emeralds flanking it like leaves. Tears filled Margaret’s eyes because it was so perfectly and thoughtfully chosen. Looking up from the beautiful ring, she allowed her eyes to be seized and held by his.
“Margaret Story. My Meggie.” He gulped softly, an uncharacteristic nervousness making him pause, and she loved him all the more for it. “You’re the woman of my dreams. Always have been. Always will be. All I want, for the rest of my life, is to be with you. If you’ll marry me, I promise we’ll make beautiful wines and beautiful babies and a beautiful life together, and I will protect you and love you until my dying breath. Be my wife?”
She was barely able to choke out “Yes!” she was so overcome with love for him.