Chapter 20 Saffron #2
The gates of Los Caballeros appeared ahead, and I turned in and followed the familiar road to the main house. Lights glowed in the downstairs windows. Someone was awake, most likely Lucia, as I’d anticipated.
I parked, cut the engine, then sat there for several seconds, trying to steady my breathing.
I saw movement on the porch from the corner of my eye—Snapper coming out the door. My heart stopped, then started again, faster than before.
It was five-thirty in the morning on Christmas yet he was standing outside, watching me.
I climbed out of my truck and walked toward him. Each step felt monumental. The cold air bit at my exposed skin, and my breath clouded in front of my face. The horizon was starting to lighten now. Dawn was coming.
“Saffron?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” I stopped near the bottom of the porch steps and looked up at him. “You?”
“Me either.”
We stared at each other. Neither of us moved.
“Can I come up?” I asked.
“Of course.”
I climbed the steps, but maintained distance between us even though everything in me wanted to throw myself into his arms and bury my face against his chest and tell him I was sorry for everything.
“I need to explain why I reacted the way I did.”
“Okay.”
“As you know, Isabel came to see me a few weeks ago.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “She suggested I ask Felicity about your relationship with her.”
Snapper’s eyes scrunched. “Saffron, Felicity and I—”
“I know. Isabel lied.” As hard as it was, I forced myself to continue. “When I heard the two of you talking, that’s what I thought it was about.”
“I was never involved with Felicity. Not ever. Not even close. There’s never been anyone but you, Saff. Not in any way that mattered.”
“I know. Felicity told me what you were really talking about.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “But regardless, I should have asked instead of assuming. I should have let you explain instead of telling you to leave.”
He took a step toward me. Then stopped.
“I know about your arrangement with the bank.” I watched his expression shift. Guilt flickered across his face before he steeled it and looked away.
“I was going to tell you. After the auction. After everything was resolved.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Because you would have refused my help. And even if you didn’t, your father would have. And then, you would have felt obligated to me. Like you owed me something.” His jaw clenched. “I wanted you to choose me because you wanted to, not because you felt like you had to.”
My heart broke and mended at the same time. “Snapper—”
“I know I handled it wrong, but I couldn’t just sit by and watch your family’s legacy disappear.”
I stepped closer and reached up and cupped his face with both hands. “You were trying to protect me. Protect my family.”
His eyes met mine. “I…I care about you, Saffron.”
“I know. I care about you too. I was just too scared to admit it. Too scared to need you as much as I do.”
“And now?”
“I’m done being scared.” I rose up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. “I’m so sorry. For not trusting you. For telling you to leave. For not letting you explain.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
I looked him in the eyes. “You’re forgiven. For everything.”
He put his arms around me and gathered me close enough that our bodies were flush. “Do you mean that?”
“Absolutely.”
“At Thanksgiving,” he began, “I tried to tell you something.”
“I remember.” I said barely above a whisper. “I stopped you. I wasn’t ready to hear it.”
“Are you ready now?”
“I am.”
His thumbs traced along my cheekbones. “I love you, Saffron Hope. I’ve loved you for so long I don’t remember what it felt like not to love you.”
The words washed over me and through me, filling the hollow places inside me that I hadn’t known were empty.
“I love you too. I have for so long. I was just too stubborn to admit it.”
His mouth moved warm against mine with a kiss that was gentle, deep, emotional, and healing. When we broke apart, both of us had tears in our eyes.
“I was going to wait,” Snapper said. “Until after the auction. Until everything was resolved and you could breathe again.”
“Wait for what?”
He reached into his pocket and took out a small box.
“Snapper?”
He opened it.
The ring inside stole what little breath I had left.
Even in the weak dawn light, it caught every ray and threw it back transformed.
The center stone was larger than anything I would have chosen for myself—but it didn’t look ostentatious.
It looked right. The band was what made fresh tears flood my eyes.
Delicate vines wrapped around the stone and intertwined with each other.
Grapevines. Our heritage. Our livelihood. Our story etched in precious metal.
My hands flew to my mouth, and my trembling fingers pressed against my lips as if I could hold in the sob that wanted to escape.
Snapper got down on one knee on his mother’s porch.
“Saffron Hope.” His voice was steady even though his hands weren’t.
“I’ve loved you since before I knew what love meant.
You’re my best friend. My partner. The woman I want to spend forever with.
” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“You challenge me,” he continued. “You inspire me. You make me want to be better. You call me out on my shit, and you steal food off my plate, and you sing off-key without caring who hears.”
A laugh escaped me.
“You’re stubborn and independent, and you’d rather break than bend. You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and refuse to let anyone help. You work yourself to exhaustion and then get up the next morning and do it all over again because that’s who you are.”
More tears. My vision blurred, but I could still see him. Still see the ring. Still see this moment crystallizing into memory.
“I can’t imagine my life without you in it.
I don’t want to imagine it. I want to wake up next to you every morning.
I want to make wine with you. I want to watch you become an aunt to a dozen more nieces and nephews and a mother to our children.
I want to fight with you and make up with you and grow old with you. ”
He paused and swallowed hard.
“I want to be the person you turn to when everything falls apart. The one you reach for when you’re scared. The one you celebrate with when things go right. I want to be your partner in every way. For the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” My answer burst out of me. “Yes. Yes, absolutely yes.”
His smile transformed his whole face. Relief and joy and love all mixed together in an expression so beautiful it made my chest ache.
I held out my left hand when he removed the ring from the box. Snapper steadied my hand with his and slid the band onto my finger.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered, then fell to my knees and kissed him. It felt deeper this time. We were engaged. We were getting married. We were promising each other forever on Christmas morning while the sun rose and the world woke up around us.
His hands tangled in my hair. Mine gripped his shoulders. We kissed like we could communicate everything we felt through touch alone. Like words weren’t enough to hold the enormity of what we’d just promised each other.
When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
“Merry Christmas,” I whispered against his mouth.
“Best Christmas ever.” He wrapped his arms around me. “Though I have to say, this isn’t how I imagined proposing.”
“No?”
“I had a whole plan. Dinner at the Stonehouse. Candles. Music. Romance.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “This was much better.”
I laughed. “Your mom is going to lose her mind.”
“She’s going to cry tears of happiness all day long.”
“Your brothers are going to give you so much shit.”
“Worth it.” He leaned away enough to look at me. “You’re worth everything, Saff.”
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
“We should probably go inside,” he said, standing then holding out his hand to help me up. “Before my family sees us out here and starts asking questions.”
“Too late for that.”
He followed my gaze to the window. Lucia was there, watching us with her hands pressed to her mouth. Even from this distance, I could see tears on her cheeks.
When we walked inside, Lucia rushed to meet us. “Mijo! Mija!” She pulled us both into a hug that squeezed the air from my lungs. “You’re engaged! Oh my God, you’re engaged!”
“Ma, we just—”
“I know! I have eyes, Salazar.” She grabbed my left hand and studied the ring. “It’s beautiful. It’s perfect. You’re perfect together.” She hugged me again. “Welcome to the family, mija. Welcome home.”
“What’s going on?” Brix asked, coming around the corner. His eyes landed on my hand, and his face broke into a huge grin. “No way.”
“Yes way.” Snapper held me tight against his side. “Saffron said yes.”
Soon, the kitchen was crowded with the rest of his family. There were shouts of congratulations, hugs, and tears. Even Snapper’s nieces and nephews crowded around us, and Coco tugged on my sleeve. “Does this mean you’re getting married?”
“It does.”
She bounced on her toes. “Can I be a flower girl?”
I hugged her hard. “Of course you can.”
Neva stared at the ring with wide eyes. “Pretty.”
“Very pretty,” I agreed.
Bit stepped forward, and when his eyes landed on my ring, his face split into a huge smile. “It’s about damn time.”
“Shut up,” Snapper said, but he was grinning too.
“Eberly owes me fifty bucks. I said you’d propose by Christmas. She said New Year’s.”
Snapper’s brow furrowed. “You were betting on us?”
“Everyone was betting on you two.” Bit embraced me. “Welcome to the family, Saffron. Fair warning—we’re loud and obnoxious, and we’re in each other’s business all the time.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The sound of a vehicle approaching made everyone go still. Lucia raced to the window and gasped. “Thank the Lord, it’s Rascon.”
“Give me a minute?” Snapper asked.
“Of course.”
Lucia motioned for me to stand next to her, and we watched as the two brothers held onto each other for several seconds.
Then, the two came inside. Kick looked terrible.
Like he hadn’t slept in days. His clothes were rumpled, his hair was a mess, and his eyes were red—but he was smiling.
His eyes dropped to my left hand. “Holy shit. You’re engaged. ”
“As of about twenty minutes ago.”
“Congratulations,” he said, hugging me. “Take care of my brother. He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot.”
“Hey,” Snapper protested.
“It’s true, and you know it.”
The tension broke, and everyone laughed first, then took turns embracing him.
Snapper stepped closer and whispered in my ear. “You okay?”
“I’m perfect.” I turned and kissed him. “Absolutely perfect.”
And for the first time in months, I meant it.