Clara laughed.
He stared.
Then slowly smiled.
"Well."
She waited.
He looked toward the chair he'd been repairing.
Then toward his enormous hands.
For a moment, he seemed uncertain what to do with either.
Finally, he lowered himself onto one knee.
Clara gasped.
He looked up.
His expression was serious.
Almost painfully sincere.
"Clara Whitmore."
Her eyes filled.
He swallowed.
"I'm not an easy man."
She smiled through tears.
"I've noticed."
He gave a nervous laugh.
Then continued.
"I've got a ranch that needs more work than I can finish. A dog that eats boots. Scars that ache when the weather changes. And a history I can't make disappear."
Clara began crying softly.
Caleb took her hand.
He looked directly into her eyes.
"But I can promise I'll tell you the truth, even when I'm afraid."
Her lips trembled.
"I can promise I'll listen when you disagree with me."
He smiled faintly.
"Though I may be slow about it."
Clara laughed through tears.
Then he continued.
"And I can promise that as long as I'm able, I'll come home to you."
For a moment, his voice broke.
He swallowed.
Then whispered, "Will you marry me?"
Clara didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Caleb closed his eyes.
For a moment, he seemed overwhelmed.
Then she laughed.
"Caleb, look at me."
He opened his eyes.
She smiled.
"Yes."
He stood.
Lifted her into his arms again.
And kissed her while Trouble barked from beside the stove, apparently convinced that the entire celebration required his participation.
Clara laughed against Caleb's lips.
He laughed too.
And the cabin that had once held little more than grief and silence filled with a happiness neither had expected to find.
The ring Caleb gave Clara had belonged to his mother.
It was a narrow band of gold, plain except for a delicate pattern engraved along its edge.
He kept it wrapped in linen inside a small wooden box.
For years, the box remained in the bottom drawer of his bedroom chest, untouched.
He hadn't believed he'd ever need it.
Now he placed it on the kitchen table and watched Clara open it.
She stared.
For a moment, her breath caught.
"Caleb."
He looked almost embarrassed.
"It's not fashionable."
She lifted the ring.
The gold caught the afternoon light.
"It's beautiful."
He swallowed.
"My father gave it to my mother when they married."
Clara looked toward him.
His expression softened.
"After she died, Thomas said I ought to keep it."
For a moment, grief passed across his face.
Then he smiled faintly.
"He said one day I'd meet a woman stubborn enough to put up with me."