I looked up and our gazes met across the table. The sparkle was gone from his eyes, he was perfectly serious.
“I love your ranch,” I said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Would you really love living in one place for the rest of your life?” he asked. “I can’t give up the ranch, I can’t leave it.”
“I know,” I said, quietly.
We were both silent. I wondered if he felt, like I did, that we had come to a crossroads in our relationship. Either we’d accept what we couldn’t change about the other, or we’d have to stop seeing one another.
My heart clenched at the thought of giving Clint up, but I knew that we could make each other entirely miserable if we wanted each other to be people we truly weren’t.
Our waitress marched up with two steaming plates of breakfast, then, and put them down in front of each of us.
“You want regular syrup, or sugar-free?” she asked me.
I requested regular, and thanked her, and she left, returning quickly with the slightly-sticky container of cheap syrup.
“Anything else?” she asked, and we both shook our heads.
We ate for a few minutes without speaking.
Finally, I put my fork down and looked at Clint. I didn’t hide behind my water, my look was steady.
“This might be ridiculous, we’ve only known each other for six months, but I’d rather change my life, and have you in it, than keep my life the same and give you up,” I said. “I wasn’t exactly blissfully happy alone, and I’ve never liked or respected a man as much as I like and respect you.”
I took a deep breath as he slowly lowered his own fork.
“I want you,” I said, simply. “I want you, and the ranch, and Brandon and Will, and kids. I don’t think I want ten kids, but I think, in a fe
w years, I’d be more than ready for one or two. I still don’t know if I want to be a stay-at-home mother, but I know that I want to live with you and be yours.”
I hardly blinked as I stared at him, waiting for his reaction.
Clint reached across the table with his now-free hand and took mine. He stroked my fingers with his strong thumb, and I shivered. His touch ignited my body like nothing else.
“Six months isn’t a long time,” he started, slowly. “We both know that.”
My heart sank.
“It’s long enough, though, to make me feel pretty confident about you,” he said. “I’ve never met a woman who could keep my interest for more than a few weeks before. You’re smart, you’re kind, you make me laugh, you put up with my bad moods.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. His moodiness had gotten no better, and I didn’t exactly harbor hopes that it would.
An answering grin spread across his face, a crooked smile that melted my heart.
He reached his free hand into his pocket and hesitated.
“I don’t think we’ve solved this,” he said, plainly. “If you and I stay together, we’ll both have to change, and compromise, and give up things we thought we’d have forever.”
He pulled his hand out of his jacket. It was holding a small black box.
Clint’s smile turned a little sheepish, and there was a nervous glint in his eye. “I’ve never thought that I’d propose to a woman after only a few months. Will you spend the rest of your life with me to show me all the other things I never thought I’d do?”
As he spoke, he flipped the box open. There was a small ring nestled in the velvet, a white gold band with three small diamonds.
I gasped. It was so cliche, but I couldn't help myself. The ring was lovely, old-fashioned, and I suspected immediately that it had belonged to his mother.
His grip tightened on my hand.