Epilogue – next October
“Where are we?” Savannah asked, turning her head from side to side even though the blindfold prevented her from seeing anything. She strained her ears but heard nothing beyond the tick of the truck’s engine as it began to cool.
Drew’s chuckle drifted from the other side of the cab. “I didn’t tell you the other seventy-nine times you asked, so what makes you think I’m going to tell you now?” he quipped.
“Listen, I know we’re mortal enemies today, but I really don’t think you should leave me in the middle of nowhere,” she reasoned.
“Hmm, that is an idea . . .” he said thoughtfully.
“Andrew!”
He laughed, and she heard his door pop open. “You’ll just have to wait and see, now, won’t you?” he teased.
Savannah huffed impatiently as his door closed, and she felt the new silence in the truck press in around her.
She racked her mind for why Drew had taken her away from game-day prep.
October was a big month for them; there was the Tennessee–Alabama football game, of course, but their one-year anniversary was also coming up.
Maybe Drew was doing something special for that?
They’d agreed to wait until after his harvest work was over, but he was pretty good at sneaking in surprises for her whenever he had a spare moment.
The silence stretched on, and Savannah sat up straighter in her seat. What was he doing? And where were they? She itched to pull the blindfold down and peek around it, but she resisted. Whatever this was had clearly taken some planning on his part, and she’d hate to be the one who ruined it.
Finally, her door opened, and she jumped.
“Twitchy today, aren’t we?” he teased “Wonder why that is?”
“Oh, no reason,” she claimed. “I’m with my wonderful boyfriend who loves me and takes care of me and would never let anything bad happen to me . . .”
Drew chuckled and helped her climb down from the cab. “But today, all bets are off,” he whispered near her ear.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, not only from his words but from his proximity. She could feel the extra heat radiating from his body, and he smelled like the soap she often stole from his shower.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “Follow me.”
Savannah wrapped her free hand around his forearm and followed blindly. After a short walk away from the truck—she was trying to remember where it was, just in case—Drew stopped.
“Alright,” he said. “Are you ready?”
Was Savannah imagining it, or did he sound . . . nervous?
She nodded slowly, though she wasn’t sure what she needed to be ready for. A light breeze lifted the ends of her hair as Drew let go of her hand and moved behind her. Then he tugged at the knot he’d made in the cloth around her eyes. After a few moments, it fell away.
And she stared.
They were standing at the edge of a hayfield—no, in the middle of a hayfield where a ring had been cleared around the towering oak tree a few yards in front of them.
Savannah’s gaze was immediately drawn up into the sweeping branches, now full of beautiful autumn-colored leaves.
It was gorgeous, but she felt her brow furrow in confusion. Why had he—
Then she saw it: at the base of the tree was a large noticeboard with a vinyl banner tacked across the top. “Tanner’s Treehouse: Coming Soon!” she read aloud. A slow smile stretched across her face, and she walked up to read the other pages that were secured beneath the sign.
A business registration. A building permit. A small business loan approval. Then, a sketched blueprint of a treehouse. A proposed maze layout. A list of possible concessions suppliers.
Everything he needed to start a brand-new adventure was right there in front of her.
“You’re gonna do it,” she said in amazement. Then, she shouted. “You’re gonna do it!” She whirled around and stopped, every word she’d meant to say vanishing in an instant.
Drew was standing silently behind her with a tiny gold band pinched between his fingers.
The diamond on it winked in the sunshine, and Savannah stared at him in shock, at a complete loss for words for maybe the first time in her life.
Of course, she’d known this would happen sometime—they’d talked about it more than once—but if he’d been hoping to surprise her, he’d certainly succeeded.
Moments passed in silence, and Savannah finally regained control of her mouth. “Andrew Tanner!” she blurted impatiently. “This would be a good time to say something!”
He cleared his throat sheepishly, and his mouth tipped up in a hesitant smile. “This is for you,” he said simply. Then he swept his free arm outward, as if gesturing to the board and everything around them. “This is all for you. Will you do it with me?”
Savannah felt the smile in every part of her body as it stretched across her face, but somehow, she couldn’t answer. It was like the balloon inside her chest was holding back the words that wanted to escape.
“Savannah?” Drew prompted, stepping a little closer. “Will you marry me?”
Then, she started laughing—the happy sort of laugh that comes with seeing a dream come true—and she launched herself at him. “Well, it sure took you long enough.”