Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for the confrontation.  With one giant step, she stopped right in the middle of the doorway and stopped in her tracks. 

The only lights on in the lower level of JC’s house were in the formal living room.  The room was aglow with dozens of candles.  He didn’t use this room very often so Lisa was surprised by the beauty of it.  The furniture had all been shifted until the focus was only on JC. 

Kneeling in the middle of the room. 

Lisa was so stunned that she forgot her anger.  The letter crumbled in her hand before she let it fall unnoticed to the floor. 

“Jace – what is going on?”  Lisa asked as she took a small step in the room. 

“I think that I may have a solution to your eviction notice.”

“And what is that?”  Lisa forced out over the lump in her throat. 

JC motioned for her to move closer and she did so on shaky legs, taking the hand he held out to her.  His warm fingers wrapped around tightly around hers.  A tremor betrayed his nerves. 

He let out a shaky breath before he began to speak. 

“Lisa, when you came into my life so many years ago, I had no idea that one day you would become so important to my life.  Back then, I just thought of you as Kelly’s friend, but in reality you were so much more than that.  You traveled with us and put up with our crazy lives.  There was always a smile on your face and you helped all of us stay grounded.  I wanted you around me again so when Kelly called and said you might be interested in taking the job, I jumped at the chance to be around you again, even though I couldn’t have told you why.” 

He paused for a moment to bite his lip nervously, never taking his gaze away from hers.  “I have already begged your forgiveness for what came next and that is now behind us.  My accident was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.  It made me stop and really look at my life, but still I didn’t realize what you meant to me.  I was too stubborn for that.  There are no words to express how blessed I am that you stayed by my side through that ordeal.  But I still didn’t know what a precious jewel you were.  It took you leaving me, shutting me out of your life before Kelly made me question my feelings for you.”

He pulled out a handkerchief from inside his suit jacket and handed it to Lisa, where she immediately dabbed at her streaming eyes.  He cleared his throat, his own eyes glassy in the dim light. 

“These past few months have been the best in my life; seeing you everyday; loving you with all my heart and soul.  I don’t need anything else in my life as long as you are in it.”  JC brought Lisa’s hand to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to her knuckles. 

“Lisa, I will love you for the rest of my life and beyond.  I don’t want to spend another day apart from you.  Will you be the mother of my children, be by my side forever, laugh with me, cry with me, yell at me…Lisa…will you marry me?”

Sobbing now, Lisa choked out a yes, while nodding her head.  Not even giving JC a chance to pull out the ring, she tugged him to his feet and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. 

Exultant, JC wrapped his own arms around her back, like a band of steel molding her to his body.  He leaned back and lifted her feet off the ground where she immediately bent her legs at the knees, kicking a shoe off behind her. 

Trying to gain some semblance of control, Lisa inhaled the familiar spice of his cologne.  He knew how much she like that fragrance.  JC turned his head and pressed tender kisses in her hair and down her shoulder.  Lisa finally pulled her head back far enough that she could search out JC’s lips.  Each tasted the saltiness of the others tears on their lips as the tender kiss continued. 

Lisa felt as if this was the first kiss she had ever experienced.  JC had never kissed her so tenderly yet forcefully before.  It was as if he was tattooing his name all over her heart and soul.  Her heartbeat sped up and she would swear it was calling his name. 

Desperately needing oxygen, she gasped in a breath as they separated, resting their foreheads together, sharing the air between them as they smiled excitedly at each other.  JC slowly lowered Lisa back to the floor, where she struggled to gain her footing, just now realizing that she only had one shoe on. 

JC licked his lips, still tasting her lip balm.  It suddenly occurred to him that he had a small box resting in his pocket.  “Let’s sit down,” JC suggested, needing to get off his unsteady legs.  With a hand at the small of Lisa’s back, he guided her over to the soft couch.  Just before sitting down, he pulled the velvet covered box out and held it in his warm palm. 

“I almost forgot this, but I need to let the world know that you are forever taken.”  JC paused before opening it, suddenly insecure.  “Lisa, if you don’t like the ring for any reason, we can take it back and get one that you like.”

With one hand, Lisa covered the box in his hand, stopping him from opening it.  With the other, she lifted it to JC’s face, cupping his cheek in her hand, smoothing her thumb over his freshly shaved jaw.  “Jace, I know that Kelly probably told you everything so what did she say that I wanted when you proposed?”

Chuckling, he conceded that he had asked.  “She said that you wanted it to be a surprise and that if I knew and loved you enough to ask you to marry me then I would know exactly what kind of ring you wanted.”

“Exactly,” she said.  “I don’t even need a ring, I just need you.”

“Well, I need you to have a ring so that everyone knows you are mine.”  With his eyes on hers, he lifted the lid with one hand.  Only glancing down once, he placed the ring on her third finger, guiding it down until it was snug against her hand. 

“Beautiful.”  Lisa whispered. 

“You haven’t even looked at it yet.”  JC protested. 

“I don’t need to and I wasn’t talking about the ring…you are beautiful – your heart, your soul, you…I love you, Josh.”

JC captured her lips with his.  “Forever, Lisa, forever.”

After she wrapped him in a hug, she looked over his shoulder at her outstretched hand.  Breaking away from his lips, she gasped in shock.  This ring that JC had given her was the exact ring she had always dreamed of one day having on her finger. 

The astounding fact, though, was that she had never shared with another soul what the ring would look like.  JC had to really know and love her to have picked those jewels and that design. 

True soul mates…