It didn’t take them long to get to their house. Over the past eight weeks Delilah had slowly been redecorating, adding her taste and flair to build their own home. It had been the house he lived in with Claire, but he’d long ago packed up any of her personal belongings. It had brought tears to his eyes when Delilah had found a photo of her and framed it, hanging it up in the living room.
It didn’t take them long to strip off their coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. Delilah hurried over to the laptop and booted it up. It only took a moment until she was logging onto the California Department of Education, and a second later, her test results came up.
Tears rushed into her eyes. The air felt heavy, and she panted a little to drag some into her lungs. All she could do was sit and stare at the screen.
Two large hands landed on her shoulders, and she jumped a little. She flashed a look at Caleb who watched her with warm, loving eyes.
“What does it say, sweetheart?”
Suddenly, she couldn’t contain her happiness. She jumped from the chair and hugged him tightly. Caleb wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck.
“I passed,” she whispered.
He smiled into her neck. “Congratulations. You’ve worked so hard that I’m humbled by you, Delilah. You’re amazing.”
She pulled back, cupped his face and leaned down to kiss him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving me love. For giving me strength. You know, I’ve been thinking about my past, and I think I’ve thought of a way to help others who may be in my situation.”
“Oh?”
“I want to write about it,” she said. “I don’t want to write a book, but I thought starting a blog would be easier to communicate with people. Maybe move into other social media platforms as I learn the best way to reach people.”
“Is that what you were talking to Paden about?”
She nodded. “He was making some suggestions. Even offered to help me get it off the ground.”
Caleb wrapped his arms around her. “I think that’s a brilliant idea.”
Then he pushed her away and dropped to one knee. “Will you marry me, Delilah?”
“What?” she asked, shock heavy in her voice.
“I planned on this romantic dinner, going down on my knees and spouting some poetry at you.”
“Then what happened?”
He gave a sheepish grin. “I’m a little impatient. I just love you so damn much.”
Her fingers sunk in his hair, and she pulled his head back just enough, so he stared her in the eye. “Yes, Caleb, I’ll marry you. I love you too and I love our home. Our happy ever after is just starting.”
THE END
Once Upon a Love Story Page 12