Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“Are you going to be in Nashville next week?” I ask Kate. “Did that meeting get set up?”
“Oh, yes! I am. I get there on Wednesday. When do you go back?”
“Tuesday. Why don’t you stay with me? I have a great view and lots of wine. And you can get your sweater back that I borrowed last month.”
“Sold!” she says, laughing.
Kennedy sits at a barstool and plucks a cookie off the peanut butter board that Megan is putting together.
“Dammit,” Luke says from the dining room. “Where the hell did I put it?”
“Put what?” I ask.
“I had a box in my pocket, and it’s gone.” He frowns. “It could be anywhere.”
“Do you need help?” I ask.
“I can’t see under the table. It’s too dark.”
“Here. Use my phone as a flashlight.”
I go into the dining area and hand him my phone. But instead of taking it, he takes my hand instead.
The whole family stands silently around the kitchen with big smiles. Megan gives me a sneaky thumbs-up.
Oh. My. God.
Luke takes the phone from my hand and sets it on the table. Then he gets down on one knee.
There’s no buildup. I just cry.
He gazes up at me with a sincerity that hits my heart so hard that I can’t breathe.
“First, I want to point out that I realize we have a crowd, and I know you explicitly hated the last proposal you got in front of a crowd,” he says. “But my mother would’ve killed me had she not gotten to witness this since Chase proposed in a mud puddle outside of The Wet Whistle.”
Everyone laughs, including me, through my tears.
“I love you,” he says. “I could try to add on a bunch of random phrases like more than the moon and stars or more than the universe. But none even begin to capture how I feel about you.”
“Oh, Luke. That’s so sweet,” Maggie says before getting shushed by our family.
“You don’t have to marry me soon,” he says, rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand. “And you don’t have to marry me in public. We don’t even have to get married if you don’t want to.”
“Doesn’t that defeat the point of asking her to marry you?” Gavin asks.
I sigh and look at my brother. “You’re missing the point. I want her to know I’m not pressuring her to do anything. I’m just stating my intention that I plan to be with her forever. And she can do what she wants with that information.”
“Stop talking to Gavin. Talk to me,” I say, laughing.
He clears his throat. “Right. Sorry.” He takes a small wooden box out of his pocket and opens it. The most beautiful, simplest, most perfect ring I’ve ever seen sits proudly in the center. “Laina Kelley, will you marry me?”
“I love you,” I whisper, getting a shy grin in return.
“Is that a yes?”
I laugh, shaking my finger at him. He slides the ring on just before I launch myself in his arms.
“Yes,” I say, kissing him. “Yes. I will marry you.”
Our family cheers, and Maggie pulls out bottles of champagne that she had run to the grocery store to pick up, unbeknownst to me. And I thought she was getting stuff to make lasagna.
Luke holds me tight in his arms and kisses the shell of my ear. “Mom is making dinner. Eat fast. I want to get you home.”
Home.
I want to get you home.
Doesn’t he know that home is right here, in his arms?
I take my fiancé’s face in my hands and kiss him again.
“Did you make this ring?” I ask, inspecting the craftsmanship.
“Yeah. I looked at some stores, but they all looked the same. I couldn’t sleep one night without you and got the idea to make you one myself with my blacksmith tools.” He bites his lip. “If you don’t like it, we’ll get you something else.”
I smile, shaking my head. “If I could have my choice, this is what I would’ve chosen.”
“Really?”
“Really.” I kiss the shell of his ear. “It will take your mom at least an hour to make dinner. If we act fast, we could sneak home for a quickie and be back before it’s time to eat.”
I giggle as he stands and pulls me behind him.
Guess he liked that idea.
I guarantee he’ll love what’s to come.
He doesn’t know I have a surprise of my own. It’ll just take another eight months to arrive.