Deciding to be patient, Clare sat back in her chair and sipped her icy beer while she watched him take a lighter from his pants pocket and get the campfire up and roaring before her in record time. “I’m not exactly dressed for camping, you know,” she said. “With a little warning, I could have ditched this dress and grabbed some jeans and a sweatshirt. I would have been happy to get you something other than your best suit and dress shoes as well.”

Adam grabbed a beer for himself and took the seat next to her. “I don’t know.” He looked down at his own dress clothes and then pretended to appraise Clare’s, as if seeing her for the first time tonight. “I think we’re dressed perfectly for the occasion.” He met her eyes, still playful and acting weird, but a strange seriousness, an unspoken tension ran underneath every word he said, everything he was doing.

“What is going on?” she asked, holding his gaze so he couldn’t slip into another silly answer. “It’s been kind of a hard night for me, and I can’t say that all of this is exactly putting me at ease.”

In his chair, Adam looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath that filled his chest. The light from the fire danced over his features and threw half his face into shadow. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. “Okay,” he said, letting his breath out with the word. “I was going to wait until a little later in the evening, but…” He slipped out of his chair and onto one knee in front of her. His hand shook as it reached again into his pants pocket and took out a small white box.

Stunned, scared, uncertain if what she thought was maybe happening was actually happening, Clare sat speechless, watching him and waiting for whatever came next.

Adam opened the box. In its center sat a thin gold ring with a tiny chip of a diamond. “Clare Kaczanowski.” He looked up into her eyes. “I love you. I have always, my whole life, loved you. And…I know I’m leaving…soon. I can’t bear the thought of being without you…of you, maybe…” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “Clare, will you marry me?”

She stared at him. Her heart was beating so hard it made her feel like she was out of breath even though she hadn’t moved a muscle. Was he crazy? Was she? She didn’t want to lose him, but did she want this? Yes, she did, but now?