Three Months Later

I park at the Saguaro National Park, and Jasalie beats me out of the car as usual.

“I was planning to open your door for you,” I say as I catch her already starting down the desert trail walk.

“I can hold my own door,” she teases me.

Jasalie and I moved into the house in Malibu a week ago. Her business is booming, and with more clients than she can sculpt for, she’s well on her way to making more money than she ever dreamed possible. She won’t have to manage Theresa’s gallery for her much longer. In a few months, she’ll focus just on sculpting so that in a year or so, with the sales of her sculptures, she plans to open up her own gallery in L.A. I always believed in her, and I love seeing her dreams come true.

I’ve had this trip planned for a while now. I didn’t want to take Jasalie back to Tucson before she was ready, but I knew what I was going to do when we finally returned here.

As soon as we reach the U-turn in the trail, I drop down on one knee. Jasalie’s mouth opens as she stares down at me.

“Dylan Wild, what are you doing?”

I pull out the little box from my pocket and open the cover. She gasps when she sees the diamond sparkling in the bright summer sun.

“Jasalie Gordon, I love you more than I could ever have imagined loving someone. I want to spend the rest of our lives together. You make me a better and happier man in every way, and…” I nearly choke up. “Will you marry me?”

She’s on her knees then, too, and her arms are around my neck.

“Yes,” she says softly into my ear. “I’ll marry you. I love you, Dylan.”

I put my mouth on hers and kiss her for a long time. When I pull back, I say, “I have one more surprise.”

From my other pocket, I produce a business card, which I hand to her. She looks at it.

“A realtor in Montana?”

I nod. “How about we buy a house together for a wedding present? We’ll live there in the off-season, and eventually you could open a second gallery in Montana if you wanted.”

She gasps again. “Oh, my God, buying a home together is a perfect present. That’s the best gift ever.”

That’s the only thing I disagree with her on. Because the best gift ever is her. It’s always been her. She’s become my home just as much as I’m hers. And life is pretty fucking perfect.