But would he be willing to take this leap of faith, too? Not because his father ordered it, or her father encouraged it, but because he wanted to be with her forever? She watched his face, seeing no expression. He was silent.

This was a mistake. He didn’t want her. Mortified, Reena looked down, feeling her eyes well up. She squeezed them shut.

His hand suddenly left her ankle to gently open the fingers on her right hand, exposing the thirty-dollar cubic zirconia ring he’d bought her. He took it from her hand and smiled. Then, ever so slowly, he placed it on the ring finger of her left hand.

“Yes,” he whispered, still holding her hand. “I will marry you. Yes, to all of it. Niagara Falls, you sponsoring me to come back. Living here, or there, wherever. I am not on my way to falling in love with you. I am already there. And I want you to be my family, forever.”

“Yes?”

He nodded. “Yes. I love you, Reena.” And he pulled her by the arms onto his lap completely and kissed her like no one had kissed her ever before.

She finally pulled away, needing a break, even a tiny one, from the intensity. “Are you sure?” she whispered.

He took her hand in his and kissed the finger that held the ring. He smiled—a wide, incandescent smile that she could look at every day of her life.

He nodded. “Absolutely sure. This … you … are my home. But … ” He grinned, pulling her even closer. “I should come clean, there is one more thing you don’t know.” He kissed the ring on her finger again. “This cost me more than thirty dollars.”

Reena’s eyes widened. A diamond this size would be worth thousands. Thousands she didn’t want. She wanted the fake ring to celebrate their real love.

He grinned widely. “It was actually sixty dollars. Plus, I paid extra for the box.”

She laughed, wrapping her hands behind his head and pulling him in. Enough of this talking, she just wanted to kiss.

They should have gotten up off the floor to start planning. They had to figure out how to get a marriage license fast, find a wedding place in Niagara Falls and book it, and call Amira. And Reena had another idea brewing for Sunday, but it would also need a lot of planning and pulling some strings. But instead they just kissed until he finally picked her up off his lap and took her to his bedroom.

And Reena got the reverent, intense, sensual sex she expected. Apparently, that wasn’t for endings, but for beginnings.

They started planning early the next morning. A quick Google search found a Toronto-based wedding officiant who specialized in elopements in the city, so thankfully they could avoid the drive to Niagara Falls. They’d met in Toronto, and Reena wanted to get married here if possible. After taking the subway downtown to get their license at city hall, they called the officiant and arranged for her to come over late in the evening. License in hand, Reena called Amira.