Her head bobbed three times in quick succession. “Yes.”
He jumped to his feet. “Yes?”
She nodded as he picked her up and swung her around. That was how Becca, Hayden and Charlie found them, spinning in a circle in the living room.
Becca closed the door behind them. “What’s going on?”
“She said yes,” Owen shouted.
Charlie started to cry.
“Oh, no no no,” Kerry gasped, tossing the ring box to Owen as she reached for the little guy. “Come here. It’s okay.”
She got him out of his winter bunting bag, then handed him to Owen, who had arms big enough to hold them both. He wrapped Kerry in one arm and cradled Charlie in the other, and beamed at his daughter over both of their heads.
Becca clapped her hands together, then looked at Hayden.
It wouldn’t be long before that kid did some ring shopping of his own. Owen didn’t know how he felt about that, exactly, but it was nothing like how he’d worried a year earlier. It would sort itself out, that was for sure. And he’d be happy for the little moments in between, like how Hayden gazed back at Becca, and then stepped forward to take Charlie, who had chosen the most inopportune time to need a diaper change.
“He knows the number one job of a dad, at least,” Owen said quietly to Becca as she gave him a hug.
“Stop.” She poked him in the belly.
“Probably never,” he chuckled in her ear. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Dad.” She turned to Kerry. “Does this mean we get to start planning a wedding? I can get you a good deal at the country club…”
Epilogue
August
Their wedding was notat the country club. They put off the planning too long, not because they didn’t want to get married, but because none of the options Becca suggested to them felt right—and then all the dates filled up.
Owen and Kerry didn’t mind in the least. Over the spring, they had collected all the pieces they needed to make a wedding happen. But while Adam was away at school, and Hayden was playing hockey every weekend, there was no time when everyone would be available to celebrate together.
So they waited. And then the perfect opportunity presented itself—Nashville star-turned-Pine Harbour local Liana Hansen announced she was pregnant, and instead of touring, she would headline a weekend of concerts right in Pine Harbour. It would be called County Country, and she hoped to make it an annual event.
The whole town got involved. Permits were issued to turn Main Street into a walking mall. Farmers’ fields were turned into camping venues, and Owen was tapped to coordinate the safety committee.
He volun-told Matt Foster to handle it instead. And then he went home and asked Kerry how she felt about maybe not having a wedding reception, but having their first dance in the middle of a street party instead.
She loved it.
They exchanged vows in the same church Owen’s parents got married in, then led a parade of friends and family to Mac’s for burgers before dancing the night away on Main Street. Everyone who mattered made it. Kerry’s parents drove up, and were very polite to each other. Adam arrived shortly before the ceremony, but he stayed until the next day.
The accelerated program was no joke, he reported, but he was in the final days of it. “I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for good. Graduation’s around the corner.”
The next morning, they had everyone over for brunch in their backyard before they took off on their honeymoon—an entire week completely unplugged. They left their pagers and cell phones on the kitchen counter and drove to the city for two nights. They slept on thousand-thread-count sheets, ate at five-star restaurants, and had wild monkey sex against the dark windows, overlooking the glittering metropolis below.
Then they got extra-large lattes for the road, piled into Owen’s truck, and headed north again, to a camp site they had to hike out to. They didn’t pass a single soul on the way, and as soon as their tent was set up, Owen stripped down to nothing.
“Come on,” he said, peeling her out of her clothes. “We’re going skinny dipping. It’s not just my wish list we’re checking off on this trip.”
She scrambled out of her clothes and chased after him, splashing into the cold lake water. He caught her in his arms and pulled her close to warm her up.
She wiped damp tendrils of hair off his forehead. “You didn’t forget.”
“I keep many lists in that book you gave me. Things my wife wants to do.”
