Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
I melt into his embrace, relieved he liked the gift. He’s done so many wonderful things for me, and I wanted to give him something to show him how much I love him. Because I do love Jasper. I’ve been in love with him since the moment I met him. That’s why it hurt my heart so much to be apart from him when I left the first time.
“I have a Valentine’s Day gift for you,” he finally whispers after a long moment of silence has passed between us.
“You already got me the tree and made French toast,” I point out. Since I’ve arrived at his cabin, he hasn’t stopped spoiling me. He makes me feel like I’m worth taking care of, like I matter to someone.
He stands from the table and carries me to the couch. He sets me down gently, reverently. “It’s your turn to close your eyes now.”
I put my hands over my eyes, fighting the urge to peek through them. He leaves the room only to return a few minutes later with a book. He settles beside me on the couch, our thighs pressing. “Open it,” he whispers.
The moment I do, my eyes fill with tears. Big, fat ones roll down my cheek as I stare at the scrapbook pictures. “How did you get these?”
“Dotty went through your things and found them when I called her,” he explains, tapping the baby picture of me in the hospital right next to my birth certificate. “Every moment of your life is special because you are special. You matter. You’re my whole world now. You make my heart whole, just by existing.”
I’m sobbing now, big tears rolling silently down my cheeks.
He pulls out the ring box from his pocket and opens it to show off a glittering princess cut diamond in a gold band. It’s exactly what I would have chosen for myself. “I’m completely in love with you. Be my valentine, Thea Madison. Be my valentine today and every year for the rest of our lives.”
I hiccup softly and blot at my face with my hand. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. It’s amazing. But I’m scared, Jasper. What if we’re talking about marriage because of the baby? What if our loneliness is what’s pushing both of us toward this? Then in a few years, you realize you never really liked me. You only liked the idea of a little family and—”
He puts a finger on my lips to shush me. “I need you to see something.”
Without waiting for my answer, he scoops me up into his arms again and carries me to the room across from his bedroom.
“This is my art room,” he explains and sets me on my feet. There are so many canvases covered with sheets and dozens of cardboard boxes.
He taps a pile of three sketchbooks on the big desk in the center of the room. “These were going with me in my carry-on. Glad I left them out now. Come, look at them.” He gestures me closer and opens the sketchbook on top.
I gasp at the drawing of the woman smiling back at me. It’s me. He drew a picture of me, even capturing the tiny mole on the side of my neck.
I flip to the next page and find another drawing of me. It’s a whole sketchbook filled with drawings. In some of them, I’m smiling and laughing. In others, I’m across the room at the wedding.
“You asked me if this is just loneliness. Every single day we were apart, I sketched you at least once. Usually, a few times until I felt I got it right. This is love.” He pulls out a second sketchbook.
My breath catches in my throat when I realize it’s another book filled with drawings of me. Only this one is different. He’s in all of the sketches. On the first page, it’s me and him holding a little baby. In the next one, we’re at his cabin with the baby and a dog resting on the couch. I flip through the sketchbook realizing that he’s been mapping out our whole life together, all the things he’d hoped would happen.
I snap it closed and stare up at the mountain man whose whole heart is on display in front of me. He’s been all in since the moment we met. He’s completely in love with me.
I’m still scared, but he’s so sure of us. He believes in what we have, and his faith makes me want to be brave. “Yes. Yes, to being your Valentine and your wife. I love you so much. I can’t wait to raise babies with you right here in this cozy cabin.”
He slides the engagement ring on my finger. “I promise I’ll always take care of you. You and our little babies. I’ll make sure to spoil you day and night.”