Ten Years Later
Lila was ten when Amina got engaged.
The proposal happened on a Saturday in early spring. Noah had taken Amina to the overlook behind the old high school — the same place they had gone on their third date years earlier. He had gotten down on one knee with the entire town apparently in on the secret, because half of Willow Creek seemed to know about it before Amina even called us.
She called that evening, her voice shaking in a way we hadn’t heard in years.
“He asked,” she said, the second Elias answered the phone. “Noah asked me to marry him. I said yes.”
Elias had gone very still, the phone pressed to his ear. I watched his face carefully.
“Are you happy?” he asked quietly.
There was a pause on the other end.
“I am,” Amina said. Her voice was thick. “I really am. B
