Page 29 of Rock Hard in Hollow Peak
A laugh comes out of me that is also a sob.
"You are the bravest person I know," he says. "Not because you're never afraid — because you're afraid of the right things and you do them anyway. You built a life here that made this place feel like ours instead of just mine. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He pauses. His voice is rough. "You're my everything, Poppy."
I cannot speak.
"Will you marry me?" he says.
Stevie bleats.
"That's a yes from her," I say.
"Poppy.” He sounds pained.
"Yes," I say. "Gibb. Yes. Obviously yes. A million times yes."
He slides the ring onto my finger and stands, lifting me into his arms and I squeal as ground falls away from my feet. “You have to stop doing that,” I say.
“Never.” He kisses me in the clearing in the May light, one hand in my hair, Stevie poking at his jacket for treats, the mountain enormous and quiet above us.
I was abandoned here once, but Gibb found me and then I found myself. Now we have a life together, precious and simple and I know happy endings really do exist.
THE END
