Holly and Max met on Bumble while he was visiting San Francisco for work. Max arrived at their first date with a suitcase because he had a flight to catch that evening. Not exactly romantic, but, as it turned out, a fairly accurate preview of the next two years. There was almost always a suitcase involved.

Before he left, Max asked if he could see her again. He said he would come back in exactly three weeks. Holly said perhaps. Three weeks later, he flew from Kentucky to San Francisco for their second date.

Max had decided they should go bouldering. Holly is terrified of heights and, rather than mention this, secretly took a lesson beforehand. They climbed, ate burgers, and then wandered around the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of Fine Arts until two in the morning, talking about everything and nothing in particular.

The next two years involved a lot of planes. They divided their time between Miami and Max’s family farm in Kentucky, with stretches in Spain, Hawaii and Los Angeles, and increasingly long stints in New York. Eventually, New York stuck.

 

They bought a fixer-upper in Brooklyn Heights and brought home Goose, who has since become something of a local celebrity, despite being a complete menace with a habit of climbing onto the table to steal food when no one is looking. He is, naturally, being considered in the kitchen renovation plans, with a designated spot to sit and plot his next theft while Holly cooks.

Then, in the Scottish Highlands near Braemar, Max led Holly to a meadow of thistles and foxgloves beside a stream and asked her to marry him.

 

This time, Holly did not say perhaps.