She wondered if she would see him, out there among the sea of faces.
Was he calling her name?
Was he shouting like the others?
If she closed her eyes and listened, would she hear him?
And then it was time, it was her moment to step back out on the stage and take her bows. Her heart thundered, doing its best to challenge the audience for who could be loudest. The crowd, already cheering, exploded in a cacophony of praise as she stepped onto the stage with Giuseppe.
A smile stretched across her face.
Wide and full, just like her heart.
She scanned the audience, ever hopeful to find Harry, but couldn’t see him.
She took her bow and stepped back, waited for the traditional bouquet of flowers to be given to her so she could take her next bow, but nothing happened. Instead, her director stepped onto the stage and held out his hands.
“Thank you,” he said into a microphone.
Willow was just as confused as the audience. The end of a performance was as ritualized as everything else in the ballet world. A hush fell on the theater, dancers and musicians and spectators alike confused by the break in tradition.
“I promise I’m not here to take up more of your time, and I promise that you’re going to love what’s coming next as much as you loved tonight’s show.”
The director kept speaking but Willow couldn’t hear anything he said, because there, standing in the wings looking so handsome in his suit, was Harry.
He saw her see him, and smiled broadly, blew her a kiss and winked and then, for no reason that she could understand, the director announced his name and he stepped onto the stage and took the microphone.
“None of you know me,” he said, striding to the middle of the stage toward Willow. “Well, one of you knows me.” He reached for her hand and pulled her away from the rest of the dancers. “I think you guys all fell in love with Willow Tamran tonight.” Harry smiled at the nameless people who’d grown totally still in the theater. “I know I would have if I wasn’t already there. This woman has my heart. And just when I thought I didn’t have any more love to give her, I came here and watched her dance like she just did and somehow…” He choked back the emotion that threatened to steal his voice and closed his eyes. “Somehow, I fell even further in love with her. And even though I had this all planned weeks ago, watching her dance like she just did only solidified for me that this was what I want. I knew, from the very first moment I saw her, like Romeo knew when he saw Juliet, that this was the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.”
Willow gasped along with the audience as she understood what was happening. Until that point, Harry had been addressing the people watching. But then, he turned to his Juliet as he dropped down on one knee. He wrestled with the microphone as he reached into his pocket and couldn’t for the life of him get his hand out.
He turned to the audience again. “Nothing personal, but this moment is really just for us anyway.” Harry sat the microphone down and pulled a small black box out of his pocket.
Willow’s hands shook and she was crying again. If people thought words like triumphant and exultant were appropriate before, she couldn’t imagine what words they would choose now.
“Willow,” he said, looking straight through her eyes into her soul. “I can’t live a life that doesn’t have you in it. I would cross heaven and earth for you. Buy a million plane rides for you. Move my small-town ass to the big city for you. Whatever it is I have to do to make sure there’s truly nothing between us, you better believe I’m going to do it. Marry me, Willow. Make me the happiest man in the world and say you will.”
She was nodding before he even finished speaking, tears streaming down her face. Harry opened the box and the diamond sparkled under the stagelights as if he’d captured a star just for her. Unsure, she reached her trembling hand out toward him and he took it and kissed it before sliding the ring onto her finger.
The audience erupted into applause. Cheering and screaming and calling her name. Harry stood, beaming, and she threw herself into his arms. He picked her up and spun her around and the whole theater—dancers and audience alike—went wild.
“I’m probably getting makeup and sweat all over your gorgeous suit,” she said as he put her down.
“I don’t care.” Harry cupped her face and kissed her. “Say it so I can hear it,” he said when he pulled away. “Tell me you’re gonna be my wife.”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll be your wife!”
Harry gave Willow the most wonderful smile, one that said he loved her and he was hers. Forever.
After several moments, he bent to pick up the microphone from the ground. “She said yes!” he cried and the audience cheered. The curtain came down and he and Willow were surrounded by a throng of dancers and well-wishers, so many people it would have been easy to get separated by all the hugs and congratulatory pats on the back.
But no matter how many awkward handshakes he accepted and one-armed hugs she had to give; Harry kept his arm wrapped firmly around Willow’s shoulders.
Careful to remain true to his word and keep her at his side—from that point forward, there would be nothing between them.
Epilogue
Willow
“Have I mentioned how glad I am that I never have to miss this again?” Juliet leaned on the counter in Lilah’s kitchen, a wide smile gracing her pretty face.
Willow glanced around, careful to make sure Harry’s sister wasn’t in earshot. “You say that like we used
