Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Julia pulled her car into Cooper’s driveway and let out a bear-like yawn. She covered her mouth with her mitten demurely, but the way she let out a bear-like noise while yawning was decidedly unladylike.
It had been a long day at work, and she was feeling tired and a little sleepy. Cooper had invited her over for takeout and a movie, and she was excited about getting to cuddle with the man she loved and maybe drift off to sleep on the couch. She’d tried to look nice for the date, since it was one of her ways of making Cooper feel special, but the pants and sweater she’d chosen for the evening were both on the comfy side. She had a feeling that she’d be taking out her gold hoop earrings before they were half an hour into whatever they decided to watch.
She got out of her car and walked up to Cooper’s house. She noticed that the salt on his sidewalk hadn’t been swept away even though it had been warm enough for all ice to melt off the concrete for quite a while and they didn’t have snow in the forecast for another week or more.
Don’t be too fussy, Julia, she reminded herself with a chuckle. After all, you can’t expect Cooper to be quite as tidy and well-planned as you are.
She smiled, determined to be more forgiving with her boyfriend. She thought about how upset she’d gotten over the coffee grounds in the sink and shook her head. That was the kind of issue that, if they were married, would probably be solved by one simple conversation.
If we were married, we would ? —
The moment Julia opened the front door of Cooper’s house, her thought broke off as she gasped. There were red rose petals strewn across the floor in a swirling pathway. The golden, flickering flames of candles which lined the rose petal path gave the scene a hushed, almost sacred atmosphere.
Holding her breath, Julia began to follow the path made by the petals. They led her to the backyard of Cooper’s house, where a beautifully set table and chairs waited. Beside the table were two heaters, making the impromptu dining area warm enough despite the winter cold. Candles flickered on the table, lighting up a gorgeous bouquet of red roses. A couple of covered silver dishes sat next to the plates, and she guessed that there was some kind of delicious meal under them.
Cooper stood next to the table, wearing a suit jacket over a nice sweater and smiling at her as if he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Cooper,” she stammered, totally in shock. “You… you did all this?”
He nodded, and came forward to give her a huge hug. She folded into his arms, feeling as though she couldn’t quite breathe from excitement. He kissed her, and she was conscious of the stars glittering majestically overhead before she closed her eyes.
“I have something to show you,” Cooper whispered. He took her hand in his and led her over to a raised flower bed in the left side of the backyard. He’d surrounded it with fairy lights, and it looked like some kind of enchanted place. In the dirt of the garden, he’d placed little wooden signs with the names of all the vegetables and herbs that she’d been talking about planting. He’d followed the design they’d come up with together perfectly, and tears sprang into her eyes.
She knew she was crying about more than just the garden. She’d begun to wonder if Cooper really was going to propose after all, but it was becoming clear that this was the moment. She pressed her hand against her pounding heart and blinked back tears as Cooper got down on one knee.
“Julia Owens,” he said, his voice soft and his grin huge. “I know we both want to garden, and we want to garden together. I want to garden here, forever, with you. I want to put down roots with you, and tend what we’ve planted all our days, until it’s as big and unshakable as that oak tree.” He paused and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. He took a deep breath. “Will you marry me?” He opened the box, revealing a glittering diamond engagement ring.
Julia couldn’t control her tears anymore. They ran down her cheeks like two miniature rivers—but she wasn’t sobbing, she was laughing. “Yes.” She held onto Cooper’s hands as if he was anchoring her to the world. “Yes, Cooper, I would love to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He stood up and they stood there hugging each other for what felt like almost a minute. Julia closed her eyes as she laid her head against his shoulder, smelling his slightly musky cologne and thinking about the fact that she was going to get to spend the rest of her life with him. She felt as though she was in a total daze, but she’d never been happier in her entire life.
He took the engagement ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. It gleamed in the glow from the fairy lights, and Julia bit her lip, amazed by how beautiful it was.
“My manicure was perfect a couple of days ago.” She laughed, noticing that her beautiful blue fingernails looked a little shabby after all the work she’d been putting them through. “But now it’s chipped. Alexis will be so disappointed—she tried so hard to get me to have perfect nails in case you proposed.”
Cooper grinned as he heard that Julia’s family had been suspecting the proposal. “Alexis will be just fine. The man you’re going to marry thinks that you look absolutely perfect.”
A happy flush painted her cheeks, and the two of them shared a loving kiss.
“You want to eat?” he asked her. “I’ve made some chicken alfredo and a couple of salads. Nothing too fancy, but I didn’t want to cook anything for us that I might mess up.”
She took his hand as they walked over to the table together. “It sounds incredible,” she assured him. “I can’t wait to eat what you made me.”
As if to echo the sentiment, her stomach growled loudly and they both laughed. They sat down across from each other and began to eat. The food was no longer hot, but it was fairly warm. Julia wasn’t disappointed—after all, it had been out in the winter cold for a while, and no covered dish could work miracles.
She glanced up at Cooper as she started to eat the pasta, smiling at him with all her might. In addition to being lukewarm, the pasta had clearly been made by throwing together noodles, slightly rubbery chicken, and a jar of pasta sauce. It wasn’t a great meal—but her love for Cooper and her excitement over their engagement made it taste incredible.
She thought about all of the little things she’d been getting frustrated about lately. She knew those weren’t going to go away, but she felt okay about facing them with her partner.
All the gritty realities of life, she thought. We’ll have big trials to face, and little trials too. Things like fingernails, socks, toes, and coffee grounds won’t always be in order, but I know I want to embrace all of those things with Cooper.
“I love you, sweetheart,” Cooper said, reaching across the table to hold her hand.
“I love you too.” She squeezed his hand, feeling her heart flood with happiness and anticipation.
At that moment, Julia’s phone began to ring in her pocket. At first, she wanted to ignore it, but Cooper gestured to her coat pocket.
“It’s okay, you can answer it.”
“Okay. Thanks, sweetheart.” She always liked to answer her phone because of how close she was to all her family members, and she appreciated the way Cooper was being respectful of that. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. It was Hazel calling, and Julia had a flash of intuition that told her that the call was about something important.
“Hey, Hazel!” She immediately wanted to blurt out that she’d just gotten engaged, and that Cooper had set up the absolutely most romantic setting for his proposal, but as soon as she heard her sister speak, she knew that something was definitely wrong.
“Hey, Julia. I need you to come over to Mom’s right away.”
Julia froze. “Is everyone okay?”
“No one’s hurt, nothing like that,” Hazel assured her hastily. “It’s just—well, it’s about the pub. The rest of us are over here at Mom’s.”
“The pub?” Julia echoed. The Lighthouse Grill meant a great deal to her and her family. If it was in trouble in any way, she wanted to rush to its rescue the same way she would rush to rescue one of her family members.
“Yeah. I can explain more when you get here. I hate to break up your date—Mom said you were going over there for takeout and a movie.”
Julia couldn’t help smiling. She’d gotten a lot more than takeout and a movie, she thought, looking down at the gorgeous diamond glittering on her finger.
“I can come over. I’ll be there soon.”
“Thanks, Julia. I feel like we really need your input here. Talk to you soon. Bye!”
“Bye, Hazel.”
“Is everything okay?” Cooper asked as soon as Julia set her phone down, sounding concerned.
“No one’s hurt,” Julia assured him. “But it sounds like something’s up with the pub and there’s some kind of emergency family meeting being held. I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but I guess I need to go back to my mom’s place to talk with them about it.”
Cooper nodded. “I understand.” He smiled at her. “It would have ended up getting too cold out here probably anyway.”
She shook her head, grinning at him. “This is the most amazing set-up. A girl couldn’t ask for a more romantic proposal.”
They both stood up and he wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t wait until the next time I see you. I can’t wait to tell everyone that we’re engaged, and that I am the luckiest man in the world.”
“I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” she said, holding onto him tightly.
He shook his head. “I’m worried I’m going to end up disappointing you.”
“You won’t,” she assured him, squeezing his hand tightly. “I’m sure you’ll end up frustrating me.” She laughed. “But I know you aren’t perfect. Thank goodness—if you were, you would never put up with all my quirks and faults.”
“What quirks and faults?” He grinned at her, bringing his face close to hers for a kiss.
“Mm, you’re in for a rude awakening,” she teased.
They shared another warm kiss, and then Julia pulled away.
“I’ll see you soon,” she told him, feeling as dreamy and starry-eyed as a teenager.
“See you soon! Let me know what happens?”
“I will!” She gave him one more kiss and then hurried away. She knew that if she didn’t force herself to leave at that moment, she might not be able to tear herself away at all.