Chapter 9
“Of course.”
Chocolate cake had been her favorite since childhood.
Adrian had always ordered vanilla because he preferred it.
They sat beneath a maple tree.
For a while, they simply watched the water.
Then Nathan turned toward her.
“Claire, can I tell you something?”
“Anything.”
He took her hand.
“I used to think success meant building something no one could take away.”
She smiled.
“That sounds like you.”
“I spent years competing with men like Adrian. Bigger companies. Better deals. More money.”
He shook his head.
“Then I met you.”
Claire's heart began beating faster.
“And you made me realize the best things in life aren't things you win.”
He reached into his jacket.
Claire stopped breathing.
Nathan lowered himself onto one knee.
But before he opened the ring box, he said something she would remember for the rest of her life.
“Claire Whitmore, I will never ask you to put your dreams aside so I can chase mine.”
Her eyes filled.
“I won't promise we'll never argue or disappoint each other. We will. We're human.”
He smiled.
“But I promise that when life gets difficult, I won't treat loving you like an inconvenience.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a delicate oval diamond surrounded by tiny emeralds.
Beautiful.
But Claire barely saw it.
Nathan continued.
“I don't want you to marry me because you've waited long enough. I don't want you to marry me because you think it's time.”
His voice trembled.
“I want you to marry me only if the life we build together feels like one you would freely choose, every single day.”
Tears streamed down Claire's face.
“Will you marry me?”
She covered her mouth.
For one heartbeat, she remembered the woman standing in Adrian's office with a seating chart in her hands.
The woman who believed patience meant love.
The woman who kept making herself smaller so a man would eventually make room for her.
Then she looked at Nathan.
A man who had never asked her to shrink.
Who celebrated her promotions.
Who knew her grandmother's favorite flowers.
Who stayed when things were difficult.
Who never made her feel foolish for needing reassurance.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Nathan's eyes widened.
Claire laughed through her tears.
“Yes!”
He stood and pulled her into his arms.
She kissed him beneath the falling autumn leaves.
And this time, when a man promised her a future, she didn't feel afraid of believing him.