Leah slid her arm around Danny’s waist as she pressed her cheek against his chest and inhaled his scent.

Those little wonders in life, the tiny miracles, they never ceased to amaze her. They were everywhere, overlooked too often because people were preoccupied with the minutiae of everyday life, or because the miracles themselves were too discreet to be recognized. But to see them at work was one of the most humbling things Leah had ever experienced.

Because there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that the day she met Danny, the stars had aligned just for her.

“Do you believe in fate?” she asked softly.

Danny took a slow sip of wine. “I don’t know. To an extent, maybe. Why, do you?”

“I never really did before, but now…I don’t know. It’s kind of hard not to.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, tilting his head to look down at her.

Leah dropped her eyes, watching the light glint off her bracelet as she spun it around her wrist. “I’ve had this bracelet for almost fifteen years,” she said, looking up at him. “And never once has the clasp failed. And I’ve had it back for over four months now, and it hasn’t happened since.”

He held her eyes for a moment before he smiled, looking down as he ran the tip of his finger over the bracelet, and then he pulled her into his side and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

“Can I give you your birthday present now?” he asked into her hair.

Leah smiled. “Did you get me a Slap Chop?”

He burst out laughing before he released her and stood from the couch. “You already have one.”

“I know,” she said, “but you can never have too many of those.”

Danny grinned. “Maybe for Christmas, then,” he said with a laugh as he turned and walked toward Leah’s bedroom, and her smile fell.

Because he wouldn’t be there for Christmas.

She wasn’t even sure how many Christmases she’d have to endure without him, and the thought made her throat feel like someone had clamped their fist around it.

Stop it, she warned herself. Stop it right now. Not tonight.

Danny walked back into the living room then, and she could see that he held a small rectangular box in his hand as he sat back on the couch beside her.

“Happy birthday,” he said, holding it out for her.

Her breath hitched as she looked down at the box. She had thought he’d gotten her something silly—a little trinket they would laugh about—but it was clear to her that there was jewelry inside that box.

“Danny,” she said, her shoulders dropping, “you shouldn’t have—”

“I wanted to,” he said, cutting her off.

Her eyes met his before she took a tiny breath, and then she reached for the box. She lifted the lid hesitantly, the hinge creaking slightly as it opened.

Lying on the black satin inside was a necklace; the chain was white gold and glittered with every movement of Leah’s trembling hand, but her eye was immediately drawn to the pendant hanging from it. It was a large, clear stone, perfectly round. She lifted her finger and cautiously touched the end of it, the tiny movement causing a prism of sparkles to flicker within the stone.

“Is this…” She trailed off as she looked up at him.

“Is this what?”

“A diamond?” she asked, looking back down at the shimmering pendant.

“Yes.”

Her hand came up to cup her mouth. “Oh my God,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Danny.”

“Do you like it?”

She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find her voice. “It’s…incredible,” she stammered.

He smiled at her, and she reached down and touched the pendant again. “It’s too much,” she said, and he shook his head.

“It’s perfect.”

She lifted her eyes to his, and his dimples started to appear. “Can I see it on you?”

Leah held the box out to him, still beyond words, and Danny leaned forward and removed the necklace before undoing the clasp, holding an end in each hand as he wrapped it around her neck. Her hand came to the pendant, holding it against her skin as he fastened the clasp behind her.

He leaned back and looked at the necklace on her, his smile broadening as he took her hand and pulled her off the couch. Danny walked her over to the mirror on the opposite wall and turned her so that she was facing it. The diamond glittered against her skin, the bright stone a sharp contrast to her deep-blue V-neck sweater.

“See?” he said from behind her. “Perfect.”

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and Leah leaned back into his embrace, closing her eyes as one of his arms snaked around her waist. A few seconds later, she felt his other hand come up to the necklace, taking the pendant between his fingers.

Danny brought his lips to her ear. “When this is over, I’m going to put one of these on your finger.”

Her eyes flipped open, finding his in the mirror.

“We’ll get through this, Leah,” he said, his eyes on hers. “And then I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I promise.”

Leah turned slowly in his arms, placing her hands on his chest as she stared up at him. Danny’s arms tightened around her waist, holding her against him as his eyes searched hers.

Her heart was thundering in her chest, and her body felt too small to contain the emotions reeling through it at breakneck speed.

“I am so completely and utterly in love with you,” she whispered, her voice measured, wanting him to feel the magnitude behind the simple, inadequate words.

He smiled down at her. “Then you know exactly how I feel.”

Her eyes fell closed as she dropped her forehead to his chest and slid her arms around his back, and Leah felt him press his lips against the crown of her head.

“Are you ready to go to bed?” he asked, and she nodded gently.

Danny ran his hand over the back of her hair before he released her, and Leah turned to the coffee table, grabbing their empty wine glasses. Danny took them from her, and a few seconds later, she heard the sounds of him putting them in the dishwasher as she made her way back over to the table, blowing out the candles and collecting their dirty dishes. She brought them into the kitchen and rinsed them before loading them in behind the wine glasses, and by the time she made her way back to her bedroom, Danny was already there, lighting the last of several candles he had lined up along her bedside tables.

Leah leaned against the doorframe. “You thought of everything.”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I tried,” he said before he blew out the match, and Leah pushed off the door as she walked toward him.

Danny turned, his expression growing serious as she closed the distance between them. As soon as she reached him, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.

Their lips parted and met over and over in soft, worshipful kisses, and he splayed his hands over her back, pulling her with him as he backed them toward the bed.

Danny broke the kiss as he sat down on the mattress, and Leah immediately crawled onto his lap and straddled his thighs, cradling the back of his head as she leaned down to kiss him. Danny groaned softly as his hands slid under her sweater, running them up the length of her back.

She reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt, and he removed his mouth from hers just long enough to allow her to pull it up and over his head. And then her hands were everywhere, memorizing the contours of his body. His skin was warm and smooth, the hard muscles flexing and contracting as he moved, and her hands slid along the tops of his shoulders and down over his biceps. They bulged beneath her touch as he gripped the hem of her sweater and started tugging it upward.

As soon as it was off, he brought one hand to the back of her head and wrapped his other arm securely around her lower back, twisting his body and laying her down on the bed before positioning himself above her.