Page 67 of Yule Know It When You See It

“Theo—” He starts, removing a dark blue satin box from his pocket and holding it between us.

Tears immediately well up and surge down my cheeks, and I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth. “Yes,” I yell, laughing and crying because I didn’t let him finish.

Axel chuckles and hangs his head. “I’m ecstatic over your eagerness, but can I finish? Had this little speech prepared and—”

I kneel on the ground with him, running the lapels of his flannel through my fingers, sniffling, and trying to keep it together. “Yes. Please, yes. Go ahead.”

“Despite how irritated I was being late for my first day of a new job because of this fiery redhead, I can truly say when I saw those emerald eyes smiling at me through the crack of the elevator doors, something sparked in me.” The pad of his index finger rubs against the satin box. “I thought of a dozen different reasons for it, but now I know with every fiber of my being that spark was my heart telling my brain…that’syour forever. And don’t let her get away.”

I’m in utter, blissful tears and doing nothing to stop them now. I don’t even care that I’m probably making the “ugly crying face.”

“So, I don’t want to let you slip away, Romance.” Axel opens the box, revealing a snowflake comprised of numerous tiny diamonds, a bigger one making up the center, and tiny sapphires bordering the design. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, Theo?”

I’ve already said the word, but now it holds so much more impact, and I shout to the nothingness surrounding us, “Yes,” so loudly it probably startles the polar bears in Svalbard. I cup his face in both hands and kiss each of his blonde eyebrows, the bridge of his nose, both cheeks, and finally land on his mouth. Grinning, he slips the ring onto my shaky finger, and I hold it up, astonished at how the aurora borealis sends rainbow shimmers bouncing off each stone.

“Theodora Nord,” I whisper, my voice quivering from the excitement, nerves, and happiness. “I like the sound of that.”

Axel answers with a radiant smile and sits by me on the grass near the firepit, grabbing my legs and draping them over his lap. He wraps his arms around me, letting me lay on his chest. And during this night ofJul, under the starry Norwegian skies, with the northern lights twinkling in joy over our union, I’ve become thefuture—Mrs. Viking.