I reached into my coat pocket.
Her expression changed.
“Alex?”
I took out the ring box.
“I can’t promise that life with me will always be easy. I can’t promise that everyone will understand us, or that we won’t have difficult days, or that I’ll always know the right thing to say.”
She laughed through her tears.
“That last one is particularly unlikely.”
“I know.”
I opened the box.
“But I can promise that I’ll listen. I’ll tell you the truth. I’ll respect the life you’ve built, and I’ll never ask you to make yourself smaller to make room for me.”
I lowered myself onto one knee.
“Karen Mercer, I love you. Will you marry me?”
She covered her mouth with both hands.
For several seconds, she couldn’t speak.
Then she shook her head, laughing and crying at the same time.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“Yes?”
She grabbed my face.
