With a giggle, I asked, “Are we there yet?”
“Almost.”
Coming to a stop, I waited patiently for Grayson to take off the blindfold so I could see where we were. The only thing I knew for sure was we were outside.
“Ready?”
With a nod of my head, I laughed and said, “Yes! I want to see where we are.”
He was standing behind me as he placed one hand on my hip while pulling the blindfold off with the other. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust but when they did, I took in a breath of air. “Oh my, Grayson that is a beautiful view.”
“Yes it is.”
I slowly shook my head as tears built in my eyes. It was in that moment that it really hit me. I loved Texas. I wanted to be in Texas, near my family and friends. But I wanted Grayson more than anything and Colorado was his home.
“Meagan?” Grayson whispered against my neck.
“Yeah?” I managed to say without letting out the sobs I was desperately holding back.
“Turn around.”
I didn’t want to pull my eyes from the view. The Llano River meandered below us as a slight wind blew my curls around. The blue sky touching the green valley was almost more beautiful than the snow-covered Rocky Mountains.
“Meg?” Grayson said as he put pressure on my hip for me to turn.
When I turned around, I saw everyone standing behind Grayson. My jaw trembled as I looked at the people I loved so much. My father and mother stood up front with huge smiles on their faces. Grams and Gramps were even there standing next to Gunner and Ellie.
My head slowly shook as I looked back to Grayson. “I don’t understand.”
Taking my hand in his, Grayson’s eyes teared up. “Meg, I found us the perfect place to get married.”
My eyes widened. We hadn’t really talked about where we would get married.
“Oh . . . I think it would be a perfect place to get married too,” I said.
Grayson cleared his throat as his blue eyes pierced mine and held me for the longest time. “I also think it would be the perfect place to raise our family.”
I frantically nodded my head as I cried and said, “I think so . . . wait. What?”
“Can’t you just imagine a house sitting right here, overlooking that view?”
Tears streamed down my face as I silently cursed my stupid hormones.
“A house?”
“And I was thinking, with all the land we could have a camp for kids who are bullied or come from underprivileged homes.”
My eyes searched everyone’s faces behind Grayson and all I saw were smiles and tears. My mother was crying like a baby and my father looked happy as a clam.
“A camp?” I asked as I sobbed. “Wait. What . . . are . . . you saying?”
“I’m saying that if you want to make this our home, I want that too.”
My body shook as I tried to contain all the emotions I was feeling. “But . . . but what about your job? Gray, you worked so hard and . . . and . . . I won’t let you give that up!”
His hands cupped my face as he kissed my tears away. “I love you, Meagan Atwood. Haven’t you figured it out yet, the only place I need to be is by your side.”
My lips trembled. “Your mom? What about your mom? You’ve always depended on each other and you’ll be thousands of miles away from each other.”