Jack was not, on the whole, a romantic. If anything, he was a pragmatist. He’d sailed through medical school and forwarded his career by being practical and intelligent and level headed in a crisis. Although he took risks from time to time, he took them out of a desire to help people, not out of a naive sort of hope. He’d rather try and fail than sit back and live with the consequences of doing nothing.
That said, Kate had always been good at making him question himself. He knew that she deserved romance. She deserved a lot of things and, although Jack did his best to provide them, the only thing he could offer unconditionally – without indecision or uncertainty – was love. He didn’t decide to propose on a whim. He’d spent a lot of time weighing up the pros and cons and attempting to interpret how she would react.
When Kate stepped out of the car, he caught sight of the look on her face and knew that he’d made the right decision.