The skies darkened to that ominous almost black that rolls in just before a storm hits. The wind had been howling for hours, but suddenly it stopped. So did the sounds of the birds in the trees and the animals in the woods. The whole world stopped and fell silent and the clarity that fell upon Scarlett in that moment was so full and powerful that her body snapped.

She stood straight up, staring out the window at the growing storm with the half-folded shirt from the clean laundry basket still in her hands. She watched the clouds swirl around the treetops, heavy with the rain, hail, and heart ache that were to come.

She had been feeling uneasy for some time, but it was easy to push that feeling aside in order to focus on life’s every day routines. Every time that feeling crept up on her, she knocked it away with household chores, shopping, and laundry. If she began to feel unclean, she cleaned the three bedroom cottage she lived in with her boyfriend of fifteen years. It became spotless, but even then, that feeling wouldn’t go away and she had to find something else to busy herself with.

Her whole life felt like a deli counter where her number would never be called. She stood by, famished and bored, needing more, but never finding a way to get it. So she waited.

Scarlett met Evan during their junior year of college. Back then, they had big dreams, big hearts, and no idea how big the world beyond school was. She had wanted to be a journalist, traveling the world and reporting from the frontlines. He had wanted to be a high school football coach, raising a team from mediocrity to victory in his first year, becoming a legend.

They graduated. Evan was offered a job as an assistant coach at the high school that he went to and Scarlett took a job at the local newspaper as an editorial assistant, figuring she had to start somewhere. They lived in a small and too hot apartment over a Chinese restaurant and they were happy. They were excited to start their lives together.

She envisioned getting engaged within the year, getting married and buying a house the next, and having babies shortly thereafter. But it didn’t happen that way. Evan was a good coach, focused on his job and devoted to his team. When the head coach retired three years into Evan’s career, it was time for him to shine, and shine he did. With him behind them, the team went on to win county, state, and national championships for ten years running.

Scarlett did just fine as well. After serving her time as an assistant, she was given a weekly column to highlight the town’s events. Her writing style was so conversational and inviting that she was given a daily advice column and spearheaded the newspaper’s voyage into the digital world by creating and moderating their website and Facebook. The two of them were the town’s success story—an example to younger generations that hard work pays off and one not need move to the big city to make it big. They were small-town celebrities.

They bought a cottage that stood on the edge of fifty acres of woods and seemed happy. Even Evan thought so. But Scarlett was feeling more and more unfulfilled with each new day. At 36 years old, she didn’t have the job she dreamed of, the husband she dreamed of, nor the children she so yearned for. She began resenting Evan for never marrying her, and hating herself for sticking around for so long. She used to think it was for love, but now she wondered if the comfort and familiarity of him was what kept her around.

The skies darkened and she snapped. She left the laundry, half-folded on the couch and she went to the attic to get her suitcases. She packed up everything she owned, and by the time that Evan returned from the rained out game, soaking wet from head to toe, Scarlett was sitting calmly in the kitchen with the suitcases next to her, absently sipping a glass of water. The wind picked up, rattling the cottage.

He came through the door with his head down to protect his eyes from the hail. He pushed the door closed against the wind with an effort and relaxed as he locked it. He removed his hat, coat, and boots with his back to her. She never said a word. She didn’t know if she could. When he finally turned around, he didn’t understand why she was in the kitchen with her luggage.

“Hey, Babe, it’s crazy out there. What’s going on in here?”

She folded her hands on the table and said, “Evan, I’m leaving.”

He stared at her uncomprehending. He said, “Where are you going?”

“To my mother’s for a while, until I figure something else out.”

“For a while? Why?”

“Why? We’re not going anywhere. We’re not doing anything. We’re 36. Unmarried. No kids.”

He sat opposite her, reaching for her but not grasping her. “But we’ve been together for fifteen years.”

“Fifteen years and nothing to show for it. I wanted to be a wife, a mother. I’m nothing.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? We can fix this.”

She stood up with her fingers pressed against her temples. “Say anything? Do you hear yourself? All I do is say things. This is unfixable and has to end. I need my life to begin.”

The wind whistled violently, driving the hail harder and harder into the cottage. The lights went out. For five minutes, Scarlett and Evan didn’t move or speak. Their bodies absorbed the darkness.

He stood up and began lighting candles. He couldn’t look at her when he said, “You can’t go tonight. It’s too bad out there.”

“You’re probably right. I’ll sleep in the guest room.”

He turned to her. In the soft glow of the candlelight, she was the 21 year old girl he had fallen in love with and he didn’t understand how he could let her go. He grabbed her hands. “Please don’t go. I’m sorry. I wanted—I waited too long.”

She didn’t say anything. She released his grip and took a candle into the living room to wait out the storm.

Hours passed and they never said a word to each other. The storm raged on, flooding the town below them, snapping trees in half around them. They sat. She in the living room, he in the kitchen.

He got up and walked past her to the bedroom without a candle. He knew just where the thing was that he wanted.

He came back into the living room and stood before her as she looked out the window, not wanting to see him. He scattered rose petals on the floor behind her back. He got down on one knee with tears in his eyes.

“Scarlett.”

She turned around and saw.

“Don’t say anything. I wanted to do this so many times, but I was scared and I never knew what to say. I wanted to do this at the top of Machu Picchu ten years ago. I wanted to do this at the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa five years ago. I wanted to do this every day since then. I used to carry it in my pocket, thinking maybe I’d get the courage and ask you in the grocery store. I’m so sorry I didn’t do it then. I’m doing it now. I love you. I want you. Please.”

She felt overcome. She didn’t know what he was afraid of. She said, “Say it.”

He blinked the tears away and took a deep breath, “Scarlett Marie Hawkins, will you marry me?”

She got down on her knees and looked him in the eye. They were weeping for everything they were before and everything they were yet to be. She inched toward him, pulling him into her arms. He rested his head against her chest as she wrapped herself around him.

They sat, surrounded by rose petals, bathed in candle light for what felt like hours. Finally, she said, “I thought you’d never ask.”