Chapter 35 #2
He pulled something from his pocket, a small velvet box that made my breath catch and my brain stutter.
Oh my God. “Connor—”
“Let me say this first,” his voice was steady but his hands shook slightly.
“Harper, yesterday was the worst day of my life.
Having you taken from our home, finding you in that basement with Morgan holding a knife to your throat, watching her push you down those stairs.
Every second of it was pure hell because I couldn't imagine a world where you weren't in it.”
Tears were already streaming down my face, fast and unstoppable.
“I've loved you for years,” Connor continued, his voice thick with emotion.
“Loved you from a distance when I had no right.
Loved you through every threat and every nightmare of the past few months.
And yesterday made me realize that I can't waste another second not telling you—not showing you—exactly how much you mean to me.”
He opened the box, revealing a ring that made me gasp. A simple white gold band with a single diamond, not huge, not flashy, but perfect. Absolutely perfect.
“Harper Walsh, will you marry me? Not because you're pregnant with my baby, though I love that baby with everything I am.
Not because you need protection or security, though I'll spend the rest of my life keeping you safe.
But because I love you. Because you're my best friend and my future and the person I want to wake up next to every day for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
I was sobbing now, ugly-crying, unable to speak through the emotion clogging my throat, so I just nodded frantically.
“Is that a yes?” Connor's smile was tentative, hopeful, beautiful.
“Yes.” The word came out choked, broken. “Connor, yes. Yes, I'll marry you. Yes to everything.”
He slipped the ring onto my finger, a perfect fit, like it had been made for me and then he was on the couch beside me, careful of my injuries, kissing me with such tenderness it made my heart ache in the best possible way.
“I love you,” he whispered against my lips. “God, Harper, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” I pulled back to look at the ring on my finger, watching it catch the fading sunlight like a promise. “When did you—how did you—”
“I bought it the day after we found out about the baby,” Connor said, his voice soft. “I went to the jeweler in Jackson Hole while you were napping. I was just waiting for the right moment to ask.”
“The day after?” My voice came out wondering, awed. “Connor, that was so fast. You were sure?”
“I've never been more sure of anything in my life.” His hand cupped my face with infinite gentleness.
“Harper, I knew I wanted to spend my life with you.
I wanted to make it official, the baby just made me realize I couldn't wait anymore or waste time being cautious when life is so fragile and unpredictable it can be stolen in an instant.”
“It is unpredictable,” I agreed, thinking of yesterday. Of how close we'd come to losing everything. How close I'd come to never seeing this moment.
“Which is why I'm not waiting anymore. Why I'm not letting fear, timing, or anything else stop me from claiming you as mine.” His thumb brushed across my cheekbone.
“You're going to be my wife, Harper. The mother of my children.
My partner in everything. And I can't wait to start that future with you.”
We sat there as the sun set completely, tangled together on the couch, my new engagement ring catching the lamplight, both of us holding each other and our unborn baby, and marveled that we'd survived to see this moment.
Outside, I could hear Felix and Denny doing evening barn chores with the distant sound of horses in the pastures.
“What happens now?” I asked quietly. “With Morgan still out there. With Victor Ashford and his organization. With all of it.”
“Now?” Connor's arms tightened around me. “Now we heal. We rest. We let the FBI and law enforcement do their jobs while we focus on you and the baby. And when you're ready, when you're healed and strong, we start planning our wedding.”
“Our wedding.” The words felt surreal after everything, like something from someone else's life. “Connor, I don't even know if I can think about happy things right now with everything that's happened.”
“Then we wait until you can. Harper, there's no timeline here.
No pressure. We'll get married when you're ready.
Whether that's next month or next year. But I needed you to know.
I needed you to have this ring as a promise that no matter what happens, no matter what threats come our way, I'm not going anywhere.
You're mine and I'm yours and that's permanent.”
“Permanent,” I echoed, the word feeling like a lifeline in dark water. “I like the sound of that.”
“Good. Because you're stuck with me now. No take-backs.”
“I think I can live with that.”
We stayed like that as darkness fell completely, both of us healing in our own ways. Both of us choosing hope over fear. Choosing love over trauma. Choosing to believe in a future where monsters didn't win and good people got their happy endings.
It wouldn't be easy, I knew that. The nightmares would come, the fear would linger and the trauma would take time to heal if it ever fully did. But I wasn't alone. I had Connor, our baby and a ring on my finger with a promise for forever. And somehow, impossibly, that was enough.
Eat that, Morgan. I won.