Marcus escorted Valerie to his car and helped her in. Marcus smiled at Valerie. “I can hardly believe you are here sitting next to me.”
Valerie reached over and squeezed his arm. “I’m here. I have been counting the minutes. There were a lot of them. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too. We are going to see about you staying permanently.” Marcus pulled into a park and stopped the car. He turned in his seat and, unbuckling his and Valerie’s seat belts, took her hand.
“This is not how I thought about doing this, but I can’t wait any longer,” he paused and looked deeply into her eyes. “Valerie Mason, I love you deeply and forever. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. The ring box, when opened, showed a beautiful engagement ri
