Chapter 43
“Why did you have to blindfold me? I can already tell we’re driving toward the rail house.” I laughed at Calvin. It was like he thought I wouldn’t know the road I had gone down countless times, as familiar as the veins in my own skin.
“Shush, it’s more fun this way, okay?” The giddy excitement in his voice was a sound I wanted to bathe in.
It was brighter than the sun sparkling off the lake on a hot summer’s day.
It was warmer than a blazing fire in the middle of a January snowstorm.
He was that morning moment of bliss before you first opened your eyes each day, but instead of escaping me once the call of reality hit, he lingered until I softly fell asleep every night.
He put the truck in park, and I heard him open his door so I reached for my handle, too.
“No, just wait,” he said. I heard him close his door, and moments later he was opening mine, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the cab.
As he gently led the way, I couldn’t help but recall all the other times I’d travelled through darkness before.
It felt nothing like this. This was like the comforting darkness you needed to be able to experience the beauty of the sparkling night sky, or the gorgeous Northern Lights.
This was the darkness that was necessary for Santa to visit and bring gifts.
Not all things were best seen in the light.
“Careful, watch your step,” he said as he guided me up the rail house stairs. “There we go.”
He took in a shaky breath, and it made me giggle.
“Calvin, what’s going on? You’re making me nervous.”
“Okay, okay.” He turned me around to face inside the rail house while he stood behind me and slowly untied the blindfold.
“Surprise.” His voice was whisper soft, and my breath was completely stolen from me.
He had set up the gorgeous open space inside the rail house like it was ready for a wedding, complete with benches.
They were stunning. A raw wood that had a slight charred look to them.
They were rustic and gorgeous, but they also looked solid and sturdy.
We could move them around to change layouts, host weddings indoors or outdoors, or move them completely to create the dance floor.
They were better than any bench or chair I had been able to find.
They fit the space more perfectly than anything I could have imagined.
“Calvin! Where did you find these?”
“You like them?” He was nervously wringing the blindfold in his hands as he awaited my response.
“I love them.”
“They’re what I had to pick up from Toronto. My grandpa made them, but after a while they were just taking up too much space on the farm. Since Garrett already had a storage unit there, he convinced us to ship them and store them instead of selling them.”
“Wow. They’re stunning.” As I got closer, I truly noticed how beautiful the craftsmanship of them was. The knots and lines in the wood had been preserved and showcased like each bench was its own unique work of art.
“Stella, he made them out of the wood he salvaged from the old chapel. He always wanted to create new life out of something that had been left behind or forgotten about. They were the last thing he finished before he passed.”
I whipped around to face Calvin and saw the unshed tears glistening in his eyes.
These benches were not only made by the hands of his beloved family member, but they held history. They held stories and memories, and they held love.
“Oh, Calvin. Thank you. They are so perfect.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
“There’s one more thing, Wildflower.”
He kissed my cheek and then took a step out of my embrace, reaching over to grab a guitar leaning on the side of the last row of benches.
He started playing the first notes of a song that sounded vaguely familiar, but when he started singing and I heard my name and the nickname he had given me, I knew it wasn’t a song I’d ever heard on the radio before.
It was the song he strummed when I had gotten sick at his house and he played it until I fell asleep.
It was the tune he whistled constantly—while he worked, while we walked around town.
It was my song. A song he wrote just for me.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as the song came to an end.
He set down his guitar and got down on one knee, taking a small ring box out of his pocket.
“I have lived in Love for all my life, but it wasn’t until you showed up here that I felt it.
But beyond feeling it, you have taught me I’m also deserving of it.
Your bravery and strength knows no bounds, and I am a better man when I get the opportunity to stand by your side.
So, Stella, will you do me the honour of making me not only a better man but the happiest man alive and stand by my side for the rest of our lives? ”
He opened the box he was holding and the dark emerald green of the ring shone as bright and beautiful as his hopeful eyes as they looked up at me.
“Yes, Calvin. Of course.” I didn’t even try to stop the tears. From the benches to the song to now this, I was a puddle.
He wasted no time slipping the ring on my finger and then stood up to spin me around the space, pulling me into a tight hug. As he set me down and kissed me hard, cheers and hollers filled the rail house, and I pulled away to look at what felt like the whole town of Love.
All our friends and family gathered around us, clapping.
Along with all the members of the Hart family, Teddy and Olivia were here, and so was Gloria and Simon.
Carter tagged along, too, and Cami stood by with tears in her eyes.
Even the Stewarts and the Watts were standing beside each other with huge smiles on their faces.
I looked at Calvin with confusion but was completely unable to deny my absolute delight at his shy smile.
“It’s really hard to keep a secret in a small town.”
I wouldn’t want it any other way for the rest of my life.