“No, I want the world to know what I have to say to you,” he said, taking her hand into his.
She glanced over and found her father and Claudine standing together. The pair waved and gave her the thumbs-up. They had to be in on this. She’d never in a million years thought her father and Cal would come to New York. That alone was a monumental feat.
Who could have guessed that she’d experience not one but two life-changing moments today?
“You were right when you said that I only wanted part of you—the Farm to Mabel part, the part that lived in our hometown,” he began. “I was stubborn and bullheaded, and I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”
“And what’s that?” she asked.
Those stormy blue eyes of his welled with such love it took her breath away.
“My home is wherever you are, Mabel,” he said.
She closed her eyes and sighed. Coated with strawberry juice and days spent under the sun, his heartfelt words hung in the summer air.
She met his gaze. “Then you’ll be happy to know that I want to go back to Elverna. I can be happy there, Cal.”
She expected the man to jump with joy, but he didn’t. In fact, he had quite the opposite reaction. He went all stupid, broody farmer and shook his head.
“But I can’t,” he replied somberly.
He can’t?
She scoffed. “What do you mean?”
He handed her the envelope. “Open it.”
She lifted the flap, then gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”
He nodded as his broody farmer expression melted away.
She pinned him with her gaze. She’d only been gone a few days. It usually took weeks or longer to get a passport issued. “How did you get it so quickly?”
“It doesn’t hurt when the governor of your state offers to cut through red tape,” he replied with a sly grin.
Slowly, she opened the cover and saw Cal’s picture—Cal’s passport picture.
“Now we each have one.” He reached into the envelope and removed two pieces of paper. “And we’ll need these for where we’re going.” He glanced at Lucce. “Nonstop from New York. Nice work.”
A weak smile bloomed on the man’s face, but she couldn’t focus on the creep.
“We’re going to Paris,” she whispered, hardly able to believe that she was looking at tickets for her and Cal to fly across the ocean. But a pang in her chest held her back. “I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable doing. I know how you feel about big cities, Cal.”
“The city wasn’t the problem,” he answered. “Betty Young helped me see that.”
“Betty Young helped you?” she parried back.
“Betty, her sisters, our zodiac signs, and casserole allowed me to see things more clearly.”
Had he lost his mind?
“Are you feeling okay, Cal?”
He chuckled. “Betty helped me understand that it isn’t my job to protect you or to save you. It’s to love you.”
She caressed his cheek as tenderness and gratitude welled in her chest. He understood. He truly understood her.
“If it wasn’t for you, Elverna would be in bad shape.” He smiled, and it echoed the warmth in his voice. “You saved me, Mabel. You saved me from myself. And you saved the town. And now, if that wasn’t enough, I get to be the man who takes you to Paris.”
She leaned in. “We can afford that?”
He gave her his best broody farmer face. “You said it before. I’m a loaded farmer now.”
This man!
She stared at the paper with the words Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport printed in bold lettering. “Cal, thank you! It’s more than I ever dreamed possible.”
“There’s more,” he added, and her jaw dropped.
“More? Did you bring Cal the Goat?” she teased.
He laughed. “No, your cranky goat is safe and sound in his pen back in Elverna.”
“Then what could it be?” she asked.
“Your necklace,” he supplied.
She pressed her hand to the hollow of her neck, so ready to have the M back where it belonged.
“I added something to it,” Cal began with a tremble to his voice. “You’ll have to let me know what you think.”
He reached into his pocket and removed the delicate chain with not only the M charm but something else glinting in the light.
She stared at it as it sparkled and glinted, catching the sun at every angle. “Is that what I think it is?”
His cheeks grew pink. “It’s a couple of carats, but definitely not the kind you eat.”
“No, it most certainly isn’t,” she replied, staring at the diamond ring in Cal’s palm.
“It’s a pink diamond to match your shoes,” he said shyly.
A large pink center stone surrounded by a circle of white diamonds winked at her. She couldn’t have picked out a more beautiful ring herself.
Cal tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “I love every part of you, Mabel. Your heart. Your smile. The way you light up a room. I never should have run away that day. I’ve regretted not making you mine a million times over. That ends now if you’ll have me,” he finished, taking a knee.
Gasps and coos sprinkled the air. She’d pictured this moment, but not in her wildest dreams did a proposal from Cal go down at a farmers’ market in New York City surrounded by a crowd of fans. Then her thoughts went to Jamie—the brother she’d asked for guidance. The memory of a man she turned to when she needed to find her way.
Show me the path forward, big brother.
She glanced at her father. The man nodded—that barely detectable movement that spoke volumes.
“You better say yes, Mabel, or I’m going after that farm porn for myself,” came a woman’s voice from somewhere in the crowd.
“Yeah! Horny housewives love hot farmers for life,” yelled another woman.
Mabel smiled down at Cal through her tears. “Yes, Mr. Horn of Plenty, I will marry you, Cal, the broodiest of broody farmers.”
“That’s one hell of a yes,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
“What did you expect?” she tossed back.
He slid the ring onto her finger, then came to his feet and fastened the necklace, and everything fell into place. Her life. Her work. Her love. Her dreams. They converged in the promise of this ring and the M resting in the hollow of her neck.
He removed her hat.
“What did you do that for?” she asked.
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d like to kiss my fiancée now if that’s all right with you.”
She pushed onto her tiptoes, and he cupped her face in his hands as the crowd broke into applause.
“Are you okay with life in the spotlight?” she whispered against his lips.
He stroked her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “It’s a small price to pay if it means the world knows that you’re mine. It’s always been you, Mabel. It always will be.”
“This will ruin your street cred with the cougar moms,” she teased.
He shrugged, apropos of her father, and bit back a grin. “What’s done is done,” he said before sealing the promise of their life together with a kiss.