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“After all these years, you still make me burn,” he drawls. “I will love you for the rest of my life until the day I die. You are the reason for everything. Every line I sing, every note I play is about you. It was always you.” He shakes me a little and I smile. “I know I’m a testy son of a bitch, a fucking asshole half of the time. But, Al, you make me want to be a better man.” He brushes his thumb over my cheek.

I grin. “You’re my asshole.” I giggle when he groans.

“You’re not mad I bought Grandpa’s house for us?”

I shake my head, holding him to me. “No, I love it.”

He takes my head between his hands and kisses me. I let my hands drop and I smile, my mouth trembling when he reaches out and caresses my cheek with his palm.

“If I could take away all your hurt, I would. Always. Like you whispered to me when you kissed me goodbye in California,” he says.

I brush my hands through his hair, those dark eyes taking my breath away. He reaches out and wipes the tears from my cheeks. “You heard?”

“I did. Always. That’s what I want to give you again,” he says, taking a ring out of his pocket. I see his hands shaking a little when he holds my hand as he gets down on one knee. “Will you marry me, Allie?” His deep voice is thick with emotion, and I gasp.