by Tracy Wolff
Harrison grinned. “I’ve spoken to the director about you. Seeing as I’m sitting on the board now and all, I have some pull there.”
Gracie grinned back. “So then I guess I really can kiss that position goodbye, since you know the first thing I’d do is rally for art and music classes to be mandatory and for the uniforms to be eighty-sixed.”
Harrison’s grin grew broader. “You should be getting a call this week, actually. You could really shake things up there. Get ’em while they’re young and teach them about the stuff that’s really important. Not that I told the director that part. I just told her you’re exactly the kind of teacher that place needs. And hey, you’ll have an ally on the board.”
Gracie chuckled. “Thanks, Harrison.” Then she sobered. “Of course, that means I’ll be moving to New York. Will that be a problem? For us, I mean?”
Now his expression turned confused. “How could that possibly be a problem for us? We’d finally both be in the same place at the same time for more than a few days.”
She shrugged. “I know, but we haven’t—”
“Of course, apartments are crazy expensive in Manhattan,” he interjected. “Living there on a teacher’s salary would be impossible.”
Ah. So. Evidently, that “taking things to the next level” discussion was still on hold for a while, since anything she would be able to afford in New York was probably still going to land her in another state like Connecticut or New Jersey. Still, they’d at least be closer.
“Yeah, crazy expensive,” he reiterated. “So it would probably be better if you move in with me.”
Oh. Okay. So maybe they were going to talk about it?
“Or we could look for a new place together,” he continued.
Wow. Really going to talk about it. At least, they would be, if Gracie wanted to jump in. At the moment, though, she wasn’t sure what to say. Harrison clearly was, though.
“But you know,” he said, “the school where you’ll be working is pretty traditional. For now, anyway. They might frown on one of their kindergarten teachers living in sin.”
So then maybe they weren’t going to talk about it. Or take it to the next level. Never mind.
Harrison sighed with resignation. “So it might be best if you just marry me.”
Before Gracie could say a word—he’d just skipped every level there was!—he withdrew a small velvet box from inside his coat and opened it. Nestled inside was a diamond ring. An old diamond ring. A modest diamond ring. An absolutely beautiful diamond ring. It was probably about a third of a carat, mounted on a white gold, filigreed setting, and it was dazzling amid the falling snow.
“It was my grandmother’s,” he said. “I found it in one of the shoe boxes where my dad stowed stuff. The minute I saw it, I thought of you. If anyone could make this represent happy memories instead of sad ones, it’s you.”
That, finally, made Gracie break her silence. “You told me you finished going through your dad’s things back in October.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“So you’ve been thinking about giving me this since then?”
“No, I found this in August. But you were so busy with school and my dad’s estate, I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
Overwhelm her? He’d overwhelmed her the minute she saw him.
He smiled again, a little less certainly this time. “So what do you say, Gracie? Will you marry me? Or should I have asked you sooner?”
Well, he could have asked her sooner, she supposed. But it was never too late for something like this. Then again, with Harry’s money no longer a strain on her time, and with her starting a new job in a few months, and with Harrison just looking so gorgeous and being so wonderful...
“Your timing is perfect,” she said.
Just like you, she thought.
“Just like you,” he said.
“Just like us,” she amended.
He smiled at that. As he removed the ring from the box, Gracie tugged the glove off her left hand. And when he slipped it over her third finger, it was... Well, it was perfect, too.
“I love you, Gracie Sumner,” he said softly, pressing his forehead against hers.
“I love you, Harrison Sage,” she replied.
As the snow continued to swirl around them, and as he covered her mouth with his, Gracie couldn’t help thinking she’d been wrong about the clinic for which they’d just broken ground. It wasn’t the last recipient of all that Harry left behind. Because she’d just received the last—and best—part of that herself.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460386767
Only on His Terms
Copyright © 2015 by Elizabeth Bevarly
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ISBN-13: 9781460392765
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