Ice
An extra epilogue to Summer Secrets, inspired by picture 21 from CWE#3 at Jix.
“Brr, it’s cold,” Liv pronounced, her breath puffing out into white clouds in front of her lips. “Why, exactly, are we here?”
Brian squeezed her gloved hand and smiled. “I’ve always enjoyed walking through the Preserve in the snow. I thought you might like to see what it’s like out here in winter.”
She glanced around. “Okay, so it’s pretty. Can we go back soon? Please?”
He shook his head. “I have a place in mind.”
They lapsed into silence, each listening to the crunch of their footsteps. Overhead, glimpses of blue peeked between the snow-crusted branches of the trees. Brian admired the tint of pink to Liv’s cheeks and the way her short, dark hair framed her face beneath the fur-trimmed hood of her coat. She glanced across at him every so often, a faint smile on her lips.
“Where does this path go?” Liv wondered, as Brian led them off the main trail.
“Eventually?” He shrugged. “It depends which fork you take. Either you meander all over the place until you meet back up with the trail we just left, or you come out on Glen Road, opposite Lytell’s Store. But I’m not intending to go that far.”
“Oh, aren’t you?” she muttered with a shiver. “Well, that’s a relief. I’d probably freeze before then.”
Brian stopped short. “If you’re really not enjoying this…”
She kissed him, hard, stopping him from saying anything else. “Don’t listen to me. You’re right: it’s absolutely beautiful. But I’m also looking forward to getting back inside where it’s warm.”
“I won’t keep you out too long,” he promised, then kissed her again.
They followed the path a short distance further until it emerged into a small clearing. Liv turned in a circle, then tipped her head back to gaze up at the towering trees, bare of leaves but clothed in wintry white.
Smiling, she tried to turn back to Brian, to tell him how enchanting she found this secret place of his, only to find that he appeared to have disappeared. Her gaze travelled down and she found him, down on one knee and holding out a diamond ring.
“Boring and conventional, I know,” he told her, with a twinkle in his eye. “But, since I’m asking you to marry me – and I am staid, boring, conventional and unimaginative – I thought it fitting.”
“You are not!” Liv countered, laughing. “And yes; of course, yes.”
She pulled him to his feet so that they could seal the deal with a kiss. Some minutes later, she pulled back to give the ring some more attention.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, as the weak sunlight caught the facets, shining brighter than the ice and snow around them. “I love it. And I love you, Brian, so much.”
“I’ll put it on your finger as soon as we’re back inside,” he promised. “I love you, Liv. I hope we’ll be very happy together.”
She smiled agreement, then cast an agonised glance back the way they had come. “Just how long do you think it will take to get back?”
Tucking the ring box back safely into his pocket, he began to lead her across the clearing. “I didn’t mention it earlier, but there’s another place this path goes. If we take the second fork, it will take us on a short-cut to Ten Acres.”
Understanding dawned on her face. Since Brian was house-sitting for Jim and Trixie, Ten Acres would be the closest place the two of them could be alone.
“Then, what are we waiting for?” she wondered. As they walked, a thought occurred to her. “What would you have done if it hadn’t been a day like today? What if there’d been sleet? Or a thaw? Would you have waited for another day?”
His shoulders rolled in a shrug. “I had some contingencies in mind. And no, I wouldn’t have waited. The location and the weather were a bonus, but not a central part of the plan.”
She smiled up a him and tugged his hand to speed up. Soon, they emerged onto the Frayne land and Brian let them into the house. Liv breathed a sigh, closing her eyes in the sudden heat.
“I think I need you to warm me up, Brian,” she told him, as she shimmied out of her coat. “Quickly. Before I catch cold.”
She dumped coat, gloves, scarf and boots all over the floor, to Brian’s amusement. As he carefully hung up his own coat, she caught him by the front of his sweater.
“I said, quickly,” she reminded him.
He took out the ring box once more. “First, I need to rectify something.”
She watched him slide the ring onto her finger, then kissed him. Slowly. Full of promise.
“We can clean up this mess later,” she whispered. “Right now, there are more important things to do.”
And when she walked away, he followed.
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