Page 120 of The Challenge

“No, you don’t.” Evan smirked. “Watch.”

Effie giggled.

I tickled her side. “Are you in on this?”

She kicked her legs excitedly and shrugged.

Then some captions appeared at the bottom of the screen.

You were always there.

And I was clueless.

Until I wasn’t.

The home movie then switched to footage taken in later years, depicting moments where Evan had been looking at me, ones where I hadn’t noticed. I couldn’t believe I’d ever been oblivious when it came to him. But in these scenes, I seemed to have no clue that his attention was on me.

I laughed when at one point in the video, my mother was calling for Evan in the background, but he didn’t hear her because he was watching me relay a story to my sister. His eyes were on me and only me with a huge smile on his face. After my mother yelled louder, Evan eventually blinked and got up to help her.

Wow.

This footage was a gift. Not only could I see with my own eyes that Evan had always had feelings for me, but I was able to hear my mother’s voice again. I cherished every single frame. All of it.

I kept watching, and the screen went to black with just a caption.

I thought I lost you. But the universe simply put our story on pause.

Then the video paused…before a new snippet popped up. It was a recent video Evan had taken of Effie and me out on the swing in the backyard. We’d been in the midst of a deep conversation.

Then another caption.

I had no idea that the best was yet to come.

Evan appeared on the screen. He was in the yard of our house, and Effie must’ve been filming because I could hear her giggling.

The video zoomed in to a close-up of a neon pink sticky note. He placed it over his chest. I squinted to read the words written in black Sharpie.

Marry me.

My hand flew to my mouth, and the video faded to black. I turned away from the television to find Evan down on one knee in our living room. He was holding a small ring box.

He looked up at me. “I always knew you were the best thing to happen to me. But I never imagined you’d come back into my life and become the best thing that ever happened to my little girl. I hadn’t realized how dark our lives had been until you came and lit everything up. We love you so much. I’ve messed up a lot over the years, and I haven’t been perfect when it comes to you, Chloe. But what I can assure you is that I love you perfectly.” His hand shook a little as he opened the box. “Will you marry me?”

I looked into his beautiful, glistening brown eyes for several seconds before glancing down at the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. It had a large pear-shaped diamond with two smaller round diamonds diagonally placed on each side. It was unique because the side diamonds were two different sizes.

Evan stood. “Your mother left her diamond to Fawn, as you know. But your sister wanted you to have it as thanks for taking care of her. So, I took that small round stone and had it mounted with the big diamond. The other stone is the diamond my grandmother left to my mother. Mom used to wear it on her right hand before she died. I kept it all these years. Our moms brought us together, so it’s only fitting that this ring represents them surrounding us.”

Effie spun in a circle and looked like she was bursting with excitement, even if she was trying to be quiet, as if Evan had trained her for this moment.

“I can’t believe the thought you put into this,” I finally said. “It’s the most stunning ring I’ve ever laid eyes on.” I covered my mouth again and must’ve been staring down a bit too long.

“Well, what is your answer?” Effie interrupted, breaking her quiet streak.

I shook my head. “Oh my gosh. It was such an instant yes that I was sure I answered. But maybe I only did that in my head.” I looked up at Evan and shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

He pulled me close before placing the ring on my finger. It fit perfectly—just like his love for me.

“Yay!” Effie cheered. “This is the best day ever!”