“Gabe,” I said softly. “This really isn’t the time, I don’t think.”
My heart was thudding as I looked down at my boyfriend, who was still kneeling, ring outstretched, smiling at me. It would have been the best proposal I could have imagined, had I not been so sure Guillaume was floating speedily deathward a few yards away. I couldn’t believe that Gabe had chosen now, of all times, to ask me the most important question in the world.
“Emma!” Guillaume shouted. I whipped around, feeling guilty that my attention had been distracted from him for a moment.
“What, Guillaume?” I shouted back. “Are you okay?”
“Did Gabe forget to tell you that I was a hot-air balloon operator for nine months the year I turned eighteen?” he yelled. “I’m still licensed, you know!”
I stared, uncomprehending. “Wait, what?”
“This is my balloon!” he yelled back. “Do you like it?”
“Your balloon?” I repeated. I stared at him for a moment. “Do you mean that you planned this whole thing?”
“Maybe!” he shouted cheerfully.
“You didn’t steal the balloon?” I asked incredulously. “You’re not about to float into the atmosphere or crash-land on the Eiffel Tower?”
“No!” Guillaume grinned. “But it was worth it to see the expression on your face! Sorry to disappoint you, Emma, but I’ve paid for these balloons, fair and square. And on top of that, I’ve even gotten permission from the French government for us to be in this airspace. It’s amazing the doors that open for you when you’re a rock star.”
“Wh . . . what?”
“Yes!” Guillaume looked triumphant. “And much as I’d like to stick around to see what my idiot brother has to say to you, I suppose I’ll leave the two of you alone. Au revoir. See you back on earth!”
With that, he turned off his burner, and his balloon began to float back toward the ground. He waved once more, blew me a kiss, and then turned his back to me. Slowly, feeling like I was in a daze, I turned around. Gabe was still kneeling in the basket, holding up the ring.
“So?” he asked softly after a moment. “Will you? Will you be my wife?”
I smiled at him, completely overtaken by emotion. I blinked a few times. Then I threw my arms around his neck and laughed. “Of course I will!” I exclaimed. I leaned back and grinned at him. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”
Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He grinned at me and took the ring out of its box. “May I?” he asked, holding it up.
I nodded, and he slipped it onto my left ring finger. It fit perfectly. We both watched for a moment as the princess-cut diamond sparkled in the late-afternoon sun.
“Felicitations.” Our balloon operator, whom I’d nearly forgotten about, congratulated us.
“Merci.” I beamed at him.
“Your accent is really getting quite good,” Gabe teased. I rolled my eyes.
“I think I still have some work to do,” I said. “I’m not French yet.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said with a sly smile. “You have the kissing part down at least.”
He touched his lips to mine, and I kissed back, feeling the breeze in my hair as our balloon began to descend. Gabe slipped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. As the sun began to set and Guillaume’s balloon drifted gently downward below us, we held each other tightly and looked over the edge of the basket as darkness fell on the City of Light.
About the Author
Six years ago, I moved to Paris on a whim, just like Emma, the main character of this novel. I didn’t speak French. I had been there only once before, on a family vacation. I had never imagined living there. It was the most impulsive thing I’d ever done, and it changed my life.
That summer was a turning point for me in terms of everything. It’s hard to explain, but I think that along with encountering delicious pastries, curious cheeses, incredible wines, and charming Frenchmen, I also somehow stumbled upon the best, most authentic version of myself. I wrote every day in the Champ de Mars or along the Seine River, I shopped with my roommate Lauren, picnicked in the park, experimented with cooking French food in our tiny kitchen (which, unbelievably, overlooked the Eiffel Tower), sampled wines beyond my wildest imagination, and fell in love with the city and its people. I started writing my first novel there, and I formed a lifelong friendship with Lauren, who is also a writer. That summer in Paris changed my life.