Heidi & Jarrad
Chapter III
Engagements
The Proposal
After seasons of distance, letters, and tides that always led them back to one another, Heidi and Jarrad began to dream quietly of a future beyond the sea.
For a long while, Jarrad had carried a secret close to his heart. Through every voyage and every letter, he had known there was only one life he wished to live—the one beside her.
One day, the two wandered hand in hand along the beach as waves curled softly against the shore.
Jarrad paused suddenly and smiled. In his hands was a little camera and tripod he had brought along for the day.
“Let’s take a self portrait together,” he said softly.
Laughing, Heidi carefully placed the camera upon the tripod and hurried back to his side before the timer began to count down. But just as she reached him, Jarrad gently took her hands and stepped back. Then, beneath the endless sky and the whispering sea, he lowered himself onto one knee.
For a moment, the world stood still.
Jarrad looked up at her with the same kind eyes that had first found her among the lavender fields and asked her to spend forever beside him.
Tears shimmered in Heidi’s eyes as she covered her smile with trembling hands.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Always yes.”
The waves applauded softly against the shore as Jarrad slipped the ring onto her hand, and together they fell into each other’s arms.
And there upon the beach, with the camera quietly capturing the moment they would treasure forever, Heidi and Jarrad danced barefoot along the shoreline as newly engaged lovers—laughing, dreaming, and holding tightly to the beautiful life waiting ahead of them.
