Jane's Harmony (Jane's Melody #2) Read Free

away. When she saw the scene before her, she clapped a hand over her mouth, as if to keep her heart from leaping out.
    A path of white rose petals lined by candles burning in crystal urns led to a table covered with white linen and topped with a vase of white roses. And beside the table stood Caleb, freshly shaven with his hair slicked back, wearing a suit and tie. She’d never seen him in a suit before, and the silhouette he cut standing there in the candlelight, together with the roses and the rooftop table for two, made her eyes well up with tears of joy until the entire scene blurred together into one gorgeous and shimmering vision of something she might have dreamed. It wasn’t until she blinked the tears away that she noticed Jeremy standing off to the side with his electric violin cradled beneath his chin, the bow ready on the strings. They seemed to be waiting for her, so she pulled herself together and walked the rose-petal path toward Caleb.
    When she reached him, she opened her mouth to speak, but he pressed a finger to her lips. Then he took her hand in his and knelt before her. Jane felt a tear run down her cheek to the tip of her nose as she looked at him there. He smiled, and she noticed that his eyes were wet too. They were still for several moments, him on his knees looking up, her standing and looking down. There was a silent promise in that pose and in his eyes that wasn’t lost on Jane, an intimate gesture of the position he wished for her in his life. A covenant to always place her abovehimself in all things from now until forever if she would only accept him, here, now, as he was, however he would be, together in joint harness wherever this ride might lead.
    He had hardly asked, “Will you marry me?” before Jane nodded yes and pulled him up, kissing him and running her fingers through his thick hair. She could have kissed him there forever, but the electric violin began to play, and she remembered they were not alone on the roof.
    She pulled free and smoothed his hair back with her hands, feeling slightly embarrassed. Caleb smiled his charming smile, and then he held up the blue felt box and opened it to present her with the ring—the ring he had worked so hard for all those long afternoons at Mrs. Hawthorne’s place. He lifted Jane’s hand to slip it onto her finger. It fit so well that she knew he’d had it sized. She took his hand in hers, interlaced their fingers, and held them up together to look at the yellow diamond, sparkling in the candlelight. The rooftop and the city seemed to fall away, the sirens and street noise fading, until only she and Caleb were standing there among the stars, floating on the sounds of an electric violin, their entwined forms cutting from the firmament a new constellation dedicated to love.
    Jane was still lost in the dream of it all when Caleb pulled out her chair. She sat, and he uncorked a bottle of sparkling cider and filled their glasses.
    “I hope it’s a good year,” she joked, remembering his saying it once at dinner.
    He just smiled and stepped away from the table.
    “Aren’t you going to join me?” she asked.
    He reappeared with a serving platter. “Yes, but I’m also your server,” he said. “The friend I had lined up couldn’t make it.”
    “Well, at least the music made it.”
    “Isn’t Jeremy great?”
    “Yes. I’ve never heard anything like it, and I love it.”
    Jeremy seemed to have heard them because his smile stretched a little wider and he played a little louder. After seeing that everything was set, Caleb joined Jane at the table and held up his flute of cider to toast.
    “To love,” he said.
    “Okay,” Jane replied. “To love. And to me becoming Mrs. Caleb Cummings.”
    “You sure?” he asked.
    “Hell yes.”
    “Not about marrying me,” he clarified. “About taking my name. Because it’s fine if you want to keep yours, or even hyphenate them. McKinney-Cummings sounds nice.”
    Jane laughed so hard, cider