Moving On

Chapter 20 - Part 1

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, of course." She turned to him, kissing his shoulder.

He led her to the picnic mat he'd prepared by the lake. On the picnic mat lay a bouquet of pink tulips and a basket of food. He kept his eyes on her, grinning when she gasped.

"This is ... really sweet. I don't know what to say ..." She looked at the flowers, the candles, and the food he'd prepared.

Hooking his finger under her chin, he tipped her head up and leaned in to kiss her. His kiss was tender but intimate. Then drawing in a deep breath, Tyler broke away from their kiss, his face inches away from hers. "Let's eat."

She sat while Tyler took out the food from the basket. She picked up the flowers and took a deep breath. "Thanks, Ty, and happy birthday." She leaned across and gave him a peck on the lips.

He grinned and pushed a muffin toward her.

She ate two muffins and waited eagerly for the sun to rise.

When a tinge of pink and yellow started to emerge in the distant horizon, Tyler asked, "Do you know why I dragged you out here to watch the sunrise today?"

She continued to gaze at the emerging light while she shook her head. She had thought there was no particular reason except to let her see the beautiful sight.

"I want to start a new year, a new day with you as my fiancée."

She blinked and turned to look at Tyler, seeing him down on one knee, holding a black box in his hand.

She took in a ragged breath and her heart sped. "Ty ..."

"Kate Mitchell, will you marry me?"

She broke into a smile, and her fingers splayed across her lips. "This is crazy."

"I know we've only known each other for a couple of months, but—"

She took her fingers off her lips. "This is crazy because I know we've only known each other for a short while, but all I can think of is saying yes."

Tyler sighed, relieved, and broke into a brilliant grin himself.

"Yes, yes, and yes," she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

He took out his mother's ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. Then he pulled her into another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Wiping her tears away, he kissed the corner of her eye before he continued. "There's something else." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet pouch. "I didn't want to give you something that cost me nothing, so I took out the original diamonds and replaced them with new ones. Since you already have a necklace, I set the original diamonds into a bracelet." He poured out the bracelet and, lifting her hand, clasped it around her wrist.

She looked at her new bracelet and ring. "I love you," she whispered and leaned onto his chest.

He held her close and kissed her hair. "You're everything I need and more."

They idled the morning away in front of the lake, lying next to each other, basking in the sun while she wriggled her finger in the sunlight, smiling as she stared at her ring.

She only sat up when she heard the cars driving up to the cabin. "They're here." She bounced up and ran toward the two cars pulling up.

The moment Evelyn got out of the car, Kate threw her arms around her.

"What got you so excited?"

"I said yes."

"You said yes?" It took Evelyn a fraction of a second to comprehend her statement. Evelyn immediately stepped out of the embrace and lifted Kate's hand. "You said yes!" Evelyn screamed and hugged her tightly.

"Said yes to what?" Marianne asked as she stepped out of the car.

Kate let go of Evelyn, but all she could do was smile.

"My proposal," Tyler stated.

Marianne's eyes widened. She half ran over and took Kate's hand in hers. "It's real! Oh, I'm so happy," Marianne said, clasping Kate's hand.

The guys all gave Tyler a pat on the back before Joseph said, "Marianne, Kate's the one who got engaged; you're behaving as if you are."

Marianne tried to scowl at Joseph, but she couldn't get the smile off her face. "I've already stopped by the grocery store in town, but I'll need more food. We'll have a feast tonight. In celebration of Ty's birthday and your engagement!"

"Good job, Ty," Ryan said.

Kate laughed and returned to Tyler's side.

"Happy birthday, Ty!" Dan exclaimed, and the rest of the guys echoed their good wishes.

"This place is gorgeous! If Lydia were here, I'd ask you to get married this weekend." Evelyn said as she pulled Kate away from Tyler. "I want her to tell me everything, so you guys go in for lunch first."

"I'm coming along," Marianne said. "You boys settle your own lunch and bring back more ingredients for me." She rattled off a list of food for them to get and caught up with Evelyn and Kate.

"All right," Dan said as the guys turned back to the cars.

"I'll stay in the house," Tyler said.

"Oh, please. Go! We'll be fine. I'm here and Marianne's here. No one can get to Kate, I promise," Evelyn said.

"Go, you should eat something."

Tyler took a step closer. "All right, but stay by the lake and don't go wandering around."

Kate nodded as Evelyn began to pull her toward the lake, waving her hand to shoo Tyler away.

Evelyn and Marianne pressed her for every single detail about the proposal, and they chatted until the guys returned from lunch.

Again, she stared at the glistening ring. She waited for some form of distress to surface in her heart.

This was by far the craziest thing she'd ever done, but everything felt so right. It felt as though everything was meant to be.

She looked up as Dan and Tyler came strolling over.

"Hungry?" Tyler asked, pulling her up to her feet.

She nodded.

"Happy birthday, Tyler. And congrats." Evelyn smiled at him. "But nothing changes. If you ever hurt her, I'll still hunt you down."

"You won't believe the grin he had on his face. He actually spoke to a sales clerk at the grocery store; he was actually polite," Dan told Evelyn and Marianne as they walked ahead of them.

"We'll go horseback riding later," Tyler said, slowing their pace further.

"All of us? Eve can't ride."

"Dan will take care of that. The rest already had basic lessons, so it looks like you're stuck with me."

"Oh, the horror! Being stuck with a polite man."

He laughed and pulled her close, draping his arm over her shoulders. "Find a place where there's joy ..." He left the sentence trailing, smiling to himself.

"And the joy will burn out the pain." She looked up at him. "Joseph Campbell."

"Pretty and smart." He grinned, then stopped walking. "You are my joy," he whispered in his deep voice, leaning in to kiss her.

When she got back to the cabin, she tried calling Lydia on the phone, but it kept going to her voicemail. She sighed, understanding why Evelyn was always so frustrated with her whenever she didn't pick up her call.

"You can call again later. If you're worried, we can head back tonight or tomorrow morning," Tyler said.

"No. It's your birthday, and you have wanted to come here for quite a while. We'll stay as planned."

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