21. Olivia
OLIVIA
Three months later…
Guests float beneath a wash of twinkling lights. My designer boots click against the old wood. The open house for the barn venue has been a major success. More people showed up than we planned.
“Looks like a success already,” Serena beams, her arms full of freshly cut flowers.
“I hear you’re the one to thank for all this,” one of the women says, gesturing at the space around us.
“It’s a team effort, but I’m proud of what we’ve done.” My gaze drifts across the room, to where Ace stands.
I see my dreams taking shape in the nods of the visitors, each handshake a promise, each interested glance another step toward securing the venue’s reputation.
“You two have really outdone yourselves,” one man says, clapping Ace on the back as I walk up.
“All credit to Olivia. I’m just the extra pair of hands. Never doubted she could do it.”
I take his hand and take him somewhere quieter, wanting just a moment alone with him. He reaches into his jacket, withdrawing a small, velvet-lined box. He opens it, revealing a ring.
“I can’t wait any longer. You have completely disrupted my life. Showed me that I deserve everything I want. And that’s you. Our future. Olivia, will you marry me?”
Ace’s eyes are as steady as his voice when he steps closer. “Been waiting a long time for this.”
I don’t move. He is the whole world. I take his hand: the way his hands still bear the calluses of hard work despite the expensive cut of his jacket This is Ace, solid and complex, and this is our moment, stripped of pretense.
When he opens the box, the ring gleams. It’s exquisite, the design echoing both a cherished family heirloom and something sleekly modern, the perfect union of past and present.
“Olivia,” he says again, and there is a rawness to his voice, as if each word risks shattering the careful composure he wears like a shield. “Will you marry me?”
Ace stands before me, offering not just the ring but his entire heart. How is this real?
“Yes, of course. Yes!”
He takes my hand and slips the ring onto her finger. “Took you long enough.”
Ace laughs. “You weren’t the only busy one, you know.”
Ace’s arm closes around me, pulling me closer. The ring glimmers, and I’m in awe.
“Feels a little more real now, doesn’t it?” Ace murmurs against my hair.
“More real than anything I ever imagined.”