Page 169 of Flirty Fall Fling

He sets me down and takes my scarred hand in his.

“It’s one of your aunt’s diamonds in a new setting,” he says as the ring settles on my finger. “She gave it to Doris Jean, just for this moment.”

The fire pops. For a second, neither of us moves.

“She saved this for me?” I ask.

“For years. Your aunt told her the love of your life would come to Pine Haven and that Doris Jean would know when she met him.” He turns my hand, and the stone sparkles. “She said she knew the moment I arrived in town.”

My aunt never met him.

The tears start all over again, and Jamie holds me through it.

“I love you,” I say.

He kisses the top of my head. “I love you, sweetheart.”

I sit back and hold both of his hands in mine.

“You said I find it hard to speak my truths, so here they are. I saw your grounds the first day you walked into my shop, and it scared me so much that I hid. The no falling in love rule was never about you. It was about me because I knew you were different. I spent every moment with you pretending you were only temporary, but nothing about you ever was.” My voice cracks, and I let it. “You’re my one true love, Jameson Cross. I think I knew before you did.”

He kisses the love line on my palm.

“This has been the best fall of my life,” he admits.

Through the window, the snow comes down over the yard where we once howled at a thinning moon like two fools who had thirty days and thought that was it.

“We should call everyone,” I say and then stop.

Winter will scream. Josie will cry. Doris Jean will make sure the entire town knows I said yes. Congratulations casseroles will be dropped by for a week, and I’ll love every second of it.

“Actually, tonight is ours. Just ours. We’ll share ourselves with everyone later. Not like our phones will work here anyway.”

“Love that for us,” he says.

Neither of us can stop smiling.

“When do you want to get married?” I ask.

“Yesterday.” He kisses my cold nose. “But I’ll settle for tomorrow or whenever you’re ready. There’s time.”

We make out on the couch and hold each other. My head finds the place on his chest that’s always been mine, even back when I pretended that wasn’t the case. His heart rate steadies under my ear as I think about everything that’s happened.

The tabloids will say it was witchcraft. My friends will say it was fate. Maybe they’re both right.

On my left hand, two rings catch the last of the light. The mood ring sits violet on my pointer finger, a promise kept, just like his. Two fingers down, my aunt’s diamond sits on a beautiful band.

The fling was supposed to end on November first. It did. But we traded it all for this.

Snow keeps falling, and the coals settle. As he runs his fingers through my hair, he falls asleep. Reading him used to be my job. Now it’s a hobby. When the fire dies down, I add more wood to it. Before going back to him, I look out the window.

A blanket of white has reached the porch. The Mustang looks like a hill in the yard. No plow will touch the switchbacks for days.

“Blaire?” he whispers.

I turn to him and smile. “We’re snowed in,” I say with a smirk. “I manifested this.”

“Which part?” Jamie stretches out on the couch, arms behind his head.