“Afraid not. Come on, I need your help with this. Might as well bring the kids too.”
She groans, but unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car.
I let Felix out of the backseat and he bounds straight up the stairs to our apartment, wagging his tail at the top while he waits for us.
With Oscar’s backpack on, I follow Kelsey, my boots crunching the snow underneath me with each step. I’ve learned following her up the steps is always one of my favorite views, one I’ve missed every single night I was in Seattle. Three or four nights here, with her, was never enough. Now, we’ll finally get to be together with no countdown until my next flight.
“So what all do you need to grab here? I want to get back to the guesthouse and head over to TJ’s. Grace finally agreed to start watching Housewives. We were goingto start season one tonight while you make dinner. Speaking of, you better have dinner ready before tonight’s episode comes on. We're not missing it,” she says over her shoulder before stopping at the top of the snowy steps.
“We won’t miss it. Also, sorry in advance…” I stop behind her on the landing at the top of the steps, which feels very cramped with the two of us and Felix. “I didn’t need to grab anything.”
“So then why did you drag me out of my moment of bliss in the car and into the cold?” She cocks a hip out and gives me a skeptical look.
I grin and tilt my head to the door. “The contractor finished a week early. So welcome home, I guess?”
She looks like she’s about to burst with joy. “You’re serious? Why are you just now telling me?”
“I guess that’s one of the perks of using TJ’s contractor. He wanted to keep him happy.” I step toward her and take her gloved hands in mine. A tuft of her bangs stick out from under her beanie, with a cute puffy ball on top. It’s adorable, but it also draws my eyes to hers. I can see the excitement there, which is exactly why I wanted to get back so soon.
We remodeled the upstairs to open up the two apartments. The idea of having a nicer, more spacious place was great, but it was just as much about building something for us to have together—to make ours. “And I didn’t tell you because I wanted to see your reaction in person. I wanted to be here the first time we get to step into our new home. I wanted to share this memory with you.”
Her eyes sparkle up at me and her mouth lifts into a little smirk. “Pretty and sappy. I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you.”
I lean down and press a kiss to her lips. She lets out a hungry little hum, a sound I didn’t realize how much I craved until just now.
“Love you too.”
She smiles and it scrunches her face, highlighting her rosy cheeks from the cool winter air. “Can we go inside now? It’s close to below zero out.”
“Yeah. Just one second.” I fumble in my pocket for the keys and step up to the door and unlock it.
Felix rushes in and Kelsey tries to follow, but I don’t let her. Instead I grab her by the waist, lifting her clean off her feet. She squeals when I hook my elbow under her knees so she’s cradled in my arms. She furrows her brows and slaps me on the chest. “What are you doing? Let me go inside! I want to see it! It’s been months.”
“It’s bad luck for you to walk over the threshold into your new home. What kind of unofficially diagnosed hero-complex-having boyfriend would I be if I didn’t carry you in?”
She laughs and I step through the door with her in my arms.
I set her down inside the entryway and she immediately spins away from me, looking at the remodeled space. I can’t help but smile because I know how excited she was about doing this and living here. I’ve had no greater joy than being able to give her this.
She walks toward the kitchen island and I take Oscar’s pack off and let her loose.
“You know, I’m pretty sure that whole threshold-bad-luck-tradition is just for newlyweds and brides.”
A contemplative hum rumbles up my chest as I walk up behind her. “Yeah, I think you’re right. That’s why I was planning on doing something about that.”
“What?” She turns around and her eyes drop to me, kneeling in front of her, in the place I want to build our life together.
I hold out the ring I’ve been hiding for weeks and counting the seconds until I could give it to her. “I’ve wantedto ask you this for weeks, Kelsey. Every minute I spent away from you, it felt like this ring was burning a hole in my pocket. It’s been a constant reminder that this is where I want to be for the rest of my life—right here with you. Every night I was alone, it made me that much surer that I wanted to end each of my days and start each of my mornings with you in my arms.”
She looks down at me and I can see those eyes sparkling for a different reason now. She kneels and I think the anticipation for her to say anything might actually kill me. “Was there a question somewhere in there?”
I grin. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” She holds her hand out and I slip on the ring. “I’ll marry you.”
“Good because I’ve been holding onto that long enough I can’t return it and I don’t think I can pull off diamonds.”
She rolls her eyes, still smiling. “Dork.”
Her smile is so bright and I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anything in my life. It doesn’t matter that Gloria’s managed to get its first star a month ago, even with me splitting time between here and Seattle. It doesn’t matter that my protege, Jade was listed as one of America’s hot new chefs to watch.
Ever since the first night, making Kelsey Rivers smile has been, and will always be, the highest honor I could ever earn.