“Like you.”
She didn’t know what to say to that but felt herself flush with pleasure.
Ben set the box aside and took one of her hands in his.
“As I said—this isn’t a game.” All teasing was gone from his voice, and the tender expression he’d worn earlier was back.
“Ben?” What’re we doing here?
“Once, I told you your name should be Tiara, because you were—”
“A spoiled princess,” she whispered, ashamed by the memory.
“It was an awful thing for me to say,” he hurried on. “But I still think you should have a tiara, because as you’ve discovered this year, you are a daughter of God—a princess who stands to inherit all the many blessings He has in store.”
Tara felt tears building behind her eyes. Her embarrassment fled, replaced by a rush of love for Ben, the one who really deserved a crown, the one who’d been named after a noble king and exemplified so many of the characteristics of his namesake.
“If it wasn’t for you, I might never have discovered that,” she said.
Ben gave her a wry smile. “I remain astonished that, in spite of me, you did.”
She laughed then pressed her lips together to quiet her nerves.
“Tara, will you accept this tiara from me and consent to be my princess, my bride?” He paused, searching her face for an answer. “My wife.”
Your wife? She tried but couldn’t find her voice to ask the question, to be certain he was real, that he’d just asked her to marry him. Moments like this only happened to people like Jane. Good, deserving people who wore flannel nightgowns and were always honest and never longed for a drink and hadn’t done all the hundreds of awful things—
“You want to marry me?” Tara blurted.
“There’s no one else around here.” Ben’s smile was wide as he looked around the room.
“But I’m so—flawed.” And though she’d been baptized just yesterday, though she’d been washed clean, she knew that what she said was true. Her thoughts weren’t always pure—or even charitable. She was still impatient and temperamental. She’d probably mourn the loss of her old wardrobe the rest of her life. She didn’t think she could handle being a mom to half a dozen kids—maybe not even one. She wasn’t wife material.
“I love your imperfection,” Ben said. “It matches my own.”
She snorted. “You don’t come close.”
He took the tiara from her hands and placed it on the piano.
“You don’t know,” he said, quietly serious again.
But she did. She knew all that Ellen had confided to her during that long ride to Denver. Ben had problems too. Like her, his past was full of pain and difficulty. Those things had haunted him before, and someday they might again. But that didn’t matter to her, not in the least. If there ever was another time in the future when Ben was sick or hurting, she wanted to be there for him.
“I do know,” she said. “Ellen told me everything. About your mom and your engagement . . . All of it.” She stopped, aware of the pain filtering through his eyes.
“I see.” He stepped back in a weary, defeated sort of way.
“Wait,” Tara said. “What, exactly, do you see—besides me and all my imperfections that you love?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a family history of—instability. It’s asking a lot—too much—for someone else to live with that. It’s probably for the best if I face up to that and am content to spend my life living with pigs.”
Tara poked a finger at his chest. “Don’t go comparing me to a pig.”
“Don’t mess with me, Tara. I was serious about this—about us. I wanted to tell you everything about my past. I wanted to take it slow, for both our sakes.”
“Wanted? What’s not to want now? I am serious about us. You didn’t give me a chance to say so, to say yes.” She paused, willing him to look at her.
Ben picked up the tiara and held it in his hands, his fingers running over the curls and curves and pieces of glass. “You were right. This one is real.” His thumb brushed over a princess cut diamond in the center of the tiara. “I picked it out for you, but I didn’t want to put it in a ring yet.” He met Tara’s surprised gaze. “I knew we both still needed some time. But I wanted you to know, I wanted us to start—”
Tara reached out, touching both the stone and his hand. “It’s beautiful.” She blinked back tears and prayed for the right thing to say, to make this better. Only I could botch what should have been the perfect proposal.
“I would be honored to be your wife, Ben. If you can love me, in spite of knowing me when I was at my worst, then I think I should be allowed to love you, even though I’ve heard about the hardest part of your life.” She paused, waiting for him to acknowledge her acceptance of his past, to say something romantic or to kiss her. He did neither.
Tara tried again. “Ben, we’re not going to be like your parents or the Warners—or even Jane and Peter. I’m high maintenance, and you may have to deal with anxiety or depression sometimes, but we can be us with each other. And we can be happy. I know it.”
A corner of his mouth lifted, and Ben looked up at her, nodding his head slightly. “Yeah. I know it too.” He raised the tiara, and she bent forward so he could place it on her head. Then he stepped back to look at her.
“Even more beautiful on you.”
Tara reached for him, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him close, covering his lips with hers. But her kiss was soft and gentle and sweet, just like that first kiss he’d given her on the mountain. She felt the magic again, much more than the chemistry between them, but all the deep, abiding love he felt for her and she for him.
When their kiss ended, Tara’s cheeks were wet with tears, and she kept her arms around Ben, hugging him tight. “When did you first think you loved me?”
“Um—at the barn dance?”
“It took you that long?” She reached up, pretending to take off the tiara.
“When you ran over my foot.” He grabbed her hand, stopping her. “I’d wondered before then—when I couldn’t get you off my mind for months. And then, when I saw you in my kitchen, it all came to the surface. But when you ran over my foot and didn’t yell at me for it, I said to myself, ‘Ben, this woman has changed. You’d better not let her go this time.’”
“I first loved you when I kissed you in the moving truck,” Tara said.
“Why then?”
“It was the first time I cared about you,” Tara said. “I didn’t realize it until months later, but I kissed you because I knew what you’d be facing that weekend with your ex, and I wanted to give you a boost of confidence before you went into the lions’ den.”
“Barely a convert and talking in parables already,” Ben said. “Amazing.” He pulled her to him again, resting his chin on top of her head.
Tara closed her eyes, reliving a similar moment from eleven months earlier. It had opened her eyes and heart to possibilities she’d never before considered. How happy she was now, how grateful for her newfound knowledge and understanding, how in love with Ben. Modern-day miracles, indeed.
And oh, how she thanked her lucky stars.
Epilogue
Thirteen Months Later
Jane closed the door of the nursery and tiptoed down the hall. It had taken her almost a year and a half, but she finally had the twins’ nap schedules coordinated. The hour they slept in the afternoon allowed her to have some time alone with Maddie when she came home from school each day.
Grabbing a sweater from the back of a chair, Jane headed toward the front door. She went outside and down the walk to wait for Maddie’s bus. She opened the gate and walked to the mailbox. While she waited each day, she sorted through the mail, a particularly enjoyable task during the past few weeks, with friends’ Christmas cards arriving daily.
As she stood by the gate, she shuffled through the envelopes, setting aside bills and ads to look through later. The second-to-last envelope—with a return add
ress from Ohio—brought a smile to her face. Jane turned it over and tore it open then pulled a photo card out. She laughed at the faces staring up at her.
Ben, in overalls and holding a pitchfork, was doing his best to look somber but couldn’t entirely hide the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Beside him, Tara wore a high-collared, old fashioned dress that Jane would have bet a million bucks two years ago that Tara wouldn’t ever touch, let alone wear. Her face attempted equal somberness, but she too betrayed a hint of amusement. A large wooden picture frame bordered the couple, as if they were a painting on the wall.
A small caption at the bottom confirmed Jane’s suspicions.
American Gothic: a Whitmore Halloween Production
On the side of the card, in the space reserved for holiday greetings, there was one word.
JOY.
About the Author
Michele Holmes spent her childhood and youth in Arizona and northern California—often with her head in a book instead of out enjoying the sunshine. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for twenty-three years, and they live in Utah, having traded the beach for the mountains.
Michele graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in elementary education—something that has come in handy with her five children, all of whom require food, transportation, or help with their homework the moment she sits down at her computer. In spite of all the interruptions, Michele is busy at work, with more story ideas in her head than she will likely ever have time to write.
Michele’s first published novel, Counting Stars, won the 2007 Whitney Award for best romance. The companion novel, a romantic suspense titled All the Stars in Heaven was a 2009 Whitney finalist. My Lucky Stars continues the series. Michele also enjoys writing historical romance. Her first, Captive Heart, was published by Covenant in 2011 and is a Whitney finalist.
To learn more about Michele’s writing, please visit her website at michelepaigeholmes.com You may also contact her via Covenant email at [email protected] or through USPS mail at Covenant Communications, Inc. P.O. Box 416 American Fork, UT 84003-0416.
OTHER BOOKS AND AUDIO BOOKS
BY Michele Paige Holmes:
Counting Stars Series:
Counting Stars
All the Stars in Heaven
My Lucky Stars
Other Books:
Captive Heart
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Winter
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Spring
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Summer
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Autumn
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Epilogue
About the Author
OTHER BOOKS AND AUDIO BOOKS
My Lucky Stars Page 30