Page 102 of Within Striking Distance
Blake squeezes my hand as if knowing where my mind had wandered to.
“Did Mamie like it too?” Tinsley asks.
“She loved it,” I tell my daughter. “She used to say the sea healed everything.”
Blake slips his arm around my waist. “They were wise, your parents.”
I swallow down the emotion clogging my throat, and lean into him, revelling in the way I fit against him. He’s my rock. My anchor. The speed at which I fell for him no longer worries me, because he’s proven time and time again that he’s nothing like my ex-husband.
“Teach me how to say Merry Christmas,” Tinsley says, bouncing on her toes beside us.
I tuck a stray curl under her beanie. “Joyeux Noël.”
She tries to repeat it, her tongue stumbling over the unfamiliar sounds.
Blake grins. “Joyeux Noël,” he repeats, his accent unmistakably Australian.
I laugh. “Not bad.”
Snow begins to fall, soft flakes catching in Tinsley’s hair. She gasps and tries to catch them in her gloved hands.
Blake’s lips brush over my temple before he steps away.
I stare out over the water, sending a quiet message to my parents that while my path back here was rocky, I’m finally at peace with where my life has ended up.
I have a resilient daughter, a man who loves me, and a stepson who will fight for his little sister’s happiness.
When Blake calls my name, I turn, expecting to see him and Tinsley waiting for me to make the trek back to my aunt’s house.
Instead, he’s a few steps behind me, down on one knee on the cold stone of the harbour.
For a second, my brain refuses to catch up.
He looks nervous, with one hand braced on his thigh while the other holds a small velvet box. His eyes lock on mine, steady but vulnerable.
Tinsley beams up at me from his side, her hand resting on his forearm. Warmth spreads through me at the close bond they’ve formed.
“Juliet Beaumont,” Blake says with a shaky breath, using my maiden name. “I know we haven’t had the easiest road to here, but from the moment I kissed you, my life changed for the better. You’ve given me the strength to make peace with my demons and believe in my future. A future that I want with you and Tinsley. This is forever for me, pixie. I’m all in. Will you marry me?”
He lifts the lid off the box, and my eyes drift from his face to the delicate, white-gold filigree ring with three small diamonds set into the lace-like detailing. One for each of us. Me. Him. Tinsley.
When I return my gaze to his face, he’s looking at me like I’m the only person in the world.
“Mama,” Tinsley urges, “say yes.”
He chuckles nervously. “What she said.”
I’m frozen to the spot, unable to look away from this perfect man. Snow settles in his hair, his cheeks red from the cold. My heart pounds against my ribcage as I watch them share a look.
“I think you broke Mama,” Tinsley whispers loudly.
Blake’s unsure expression turns to one of concern. “Juliet?—”
“Yes,” I blurt out, finally finding my voice. Relief floods his features as I throw myself into his arms and kiss him long and hard. “Yes, I’ll marry you. This is forever for me, striker. I love you.”
“Yay,” Tinsley cheers as I pull back and hold out a shaky hand for Blake to slip the ring onto my finger. She barrels into us, knocking Blake off balance, and we all go tumbling to the ground with laughter.
I feel no uncertainty in this moment with Blake, despite the parallels with my previous marriage. Where Edward used my grief over my parents’ deaths to coerce me into a marriage where he could control me, Blake has spent the last nine months showing me that love doesn’t come with fear attached.
