“It’s perfection,” she says, trapping my foot between hers. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Perfectly,” I say. “As long as I don’t look down at the street.”
“That’s the point of coming here, though.” She gives me a soft smile.
“No, see, as long as I look out toward the horizon, it’s okay. Only straight down bothers me. When the cars look like little ants…” I shake my head, trying to clear the image. “That part isn’t easy for me. But if I take the long view—” I point at the pink sky in the distance. “—it’s gorgeous. And that’s what you help me do.”
“What?”
I meet her clear gaze. “Take the long view. I was really stuck last year worrying about my troubles. I forgot for a little while what happiness looks like. But you’re good at reminding me.”
“Thank you.” Hailey blinks. “But I’m pretty sure we do the same thing for each other.”
I’m pretty sure she’s right. “All right. It’s time to move on to the gift-giving portion of this birthday dinner.”
Hailey looks over her shoulder, scanning the room. “You didn’t ask the waitstaff to sing to me, did you? Should I be worried?”
“No!” That would have been a fun idea. Next year, then. “But I have presents.” My stomach does another dip and roll. I’m terrified, but this time it’s not because of the heights. Reaching into the shopping bag, I pull out two beautifully wrapped boxes, each one about eight inches long. Jenny at Fetch helped me with this project. I owe her big.
“Okay, these look identical. But this one is heavy…” I point at a box. “And this one is light. Which do you want to open first?” I meet Hailey’s eyes, hoping she can’t tell I’m nervous.
“Hmm!” Her eyes dance. “This one.” She reaches for the lightweight box.
I quickly cover her hand with mine. “Nope, sorry. Open the heavy one first.”
Hailey laughs. “You asked! Okay, fine.” She slides the heavy box toward herself and pulls the ribbon. I smile as she lifts the top off to reveal…
“Omigod!” she squeaks, lifting the long-lost trophy from the box. “I thought this was lost forever!” She sets it on the table, stunned. “How did you find this! I called the cab company. They were so unhelpful…”
“Yeah,” I admit with a sigh. “They were. Jenny tried again. She spent hours on it. But then I just called up the Toronto Women’s Business Association and asked if we could order you a new one. I sweet-talked them into it.”
“That was so nice of you.” Joy shines in her eyes. “It can go on my new desk.”
“Exactly.” Hailey is getting Jackson’s office when he opens the Rosedale branch in November. She and Jackson timed their expansion to happen during the hockey season, so that she and I could spend a lot of the summer together before her life gets crazier during the opening. And Jenny is getting Hailey’s office, along with a promotion to location manager. Jenny reminds me of this all the time, because she knows it makes me roll my eyes.
“By ‘sweet talk,’ I assume you had to donate to the foundation,” Hailey guesses, laughing.
“Some money may have changed hands, yes.”
She gets up and moves around our table to sit beside me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you, honey. That was a really thoughtful thing to do. I don’t need the trophy, but…”
“It’s kind of cool to have it,” I finish.
“It sure is.”
“This, uh, might be cool to have, too.” I scoot the other box toward her.
“Hmm…” She lifts it and gives it a little shake. There’s no sound at all. She tugs on the ribbon, and it releases into another heap of satin on the table. Hailey opens the box to find a rather sizable roll of tissue paper. She starts unwinding it to get to the gift at the center.
I stop breathing.
It’s easy to tell when she spots the little satin pouch with the jeweler’s insignia on it, because her whole body goes still. She picks it up with shaking fingers and widens the mouth of the tiny bag, sliding the diamond ring into her palm.
“Oh, honey,” she says in a hushed tone.
“Do you like it? I mean…” I clear my throat. “Can we get married? Will you be my wife?”
When she turns to me, it’s with tears in her eyes. “Any day of the week,” she declares.
“Yeah?” I crush her to me. “That is the best news ever. It’s almost worth spinning around up here in the death needle.”
She giggles into my shirt collar.
“I mean, restaurants aren’t supposed to revolve.” I’m babbling now, but I’m so happy I might not be able to stop.
“The ring is beautiful,” she says, and I pull back to see it sitting in the center of her palm. She’s staring at it with wonder on her sweet face. “I can hardly believe this is real."
“Oh, it’s real. And if you try it on, then you have to marry me.”
She smiles down at the ring, then slowly slips it onto her finger. “What kind of wedding do you want to have?” She searches my gaze. “I don’t need it to be a big, fussy affair. For a second wedding that seems a little weird.”
“It’s not weird to celebrate when you’re finally getting something right,” I say.
“That’s a good point.”
“But we can still throw whatever kind of party you want.” I pull her in for a kiss. And then a second kiss. And one more just for luck. “Hottie?” I smile against her lips.
“Mmh?”
“I don’t even have to change your nickname.”
“What?”
“You’ll still be HTE after we’re married. I have an E, too.”
She giggles. “It was meant to be!”
It was, too. And I kiss her again just to tell her I agree.
* * *
The End