'Close your eyes and watch your step,' he told her. Erin wasn't sure what was going on but she knew Jay had been acting a bit odd all day and she was honestly beginning to brace herself for a break up until he told her he had a surprise set up.
'Okay, just a little bit further,' Jay said as he led Erin up the stairs and through a door. Where on Earth were they she thought to herself. That morning Jay had told her that he had planned a road trip but he couldn't tell her where they were going, just that she had to pack for cold weather. He said he cleared it with Hank and they had the whole weekend to just be together.
'I think you can take the blindfold off now,' said Jay, greeting Erin with a grin on his face, feeling quite pleased with himself. It was the most beautiful place Erin had ever seen, after taking off the blindfold she was utterly speechless and anyone who knows Erin Lindsay knows that speechless doesn't happen.
Holding her hand to her mouth and looking around the room they were in, Erin couldn't quite get the words out but somehow managed to start with, 'You've really outdone yourself, Jay, this is absolutely amazing.' They were standing in the entryway of a cabin with floor to ceiling windows that looked out over a lake with glorious mountains in the background. The sun was just setting and the mixture of the sunset over the lake and snow covered grounds truly could not have been more breathtaking.
'I'm glad you like it, I can't wait to spend this time alone together,' he told her. 'We should run into town and grab some groceries, I think I'll cook dinner, what do you feel like having?' She thought about it, was Jay actually going to cook? He doesn't cook. He eats, in fact he eats a lot but he never cooks. This would be entertaining. Thinking about it, she was really looking forward to a nice steak.
They got back from the store and Jay set to work making dinner. Erin sat at the kitchen table admiring her incredibly handsome boyfriend slaving over a hot stove. She often asks herself how she got so lucky. As a kid, she never could have imagined that she would be where she is today. She was a strong woman, a great cop, had a good heart, strong friendships, and she had Hank and Jay, what more could she possibly want or need? The answer was always nothing, there was nothing else that she needed.
Lately, she had been thinking about the future a lot. They'd talked about marriage and kids before but it was always something to consider 'in the future.' Erin was starting to think that the future should be now. She wanted to bring the subject up with Jay but she was hesitant and didn't think it was ever the right time. Her goal this weekend was to direct the conversation there and see where his head and heart were too.
Erin was shaken out of her thoughts at the table by the sound of the smoke alarm. 'Um, honey, everything okay over there?' Jay grunted, shook his head and held up the pot holding the once mashed potatoes that were quite burned, 'guess I didn't add enough milk.' Erin got up laughing and walked over to Jay wrapping her arms around him, 'I really only wanted steak anyway' she said with a wink. Leaning forward he kissed her softly, God he loved her and couldn't wait to ask her to be his wife. That was the plan for this weekend, to ask this girl, the woman of his dreams to marry him. He was a bit nervous, he had to admit, what if she said no? She can't say no, can she? He had it all planned out for tomorrow evening, as long as he could wait until then, everything should go smoothly he thought, he hoped.
Erin wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for another kiss, sweet yet forceful, she just couldn't get enough of him. Pulling away she looked up into his bright ocean blue eyes and said 'Halstead, I love you today, tomorrow and always.' His knees felt a bit weak, looking back into her beautiful hazel eyes he responded with, 'Lindsay, you are my everything.' Kissing her aggressively now, lifting her up, legs wrapped around his waist, heading over to the kitchen table, they both thought….the steak can wait….