“Four. Fi?—”
“Will you marry me, you giant pain in my ass?” he asks.
“—ve.”
My eyes grow as wide as saucers. I swear my heart skips a beat. I stare at a thin gold band he holds and wonder if this is real.
“I mean it,” he says, cutting the distance between us.
“Wha … Did you justproposeto me?”
“He did,” Kennedy says. “You should say yes.”
I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “What’s going on here?”
“What’s going on here is that I can’t let you leave,” Chase says. “Kennedy and I can’t let you leave us.”
“We love you,” Kennedy says.
Tears fill my eyes, and my bottom lip trembles. A flock of geese flies overhead, calling to one another.
My breathing is ragged, but I’m afraid to reach for Chase. Instead, I pull Kennedy toward me, and she buries her head in my chest.
My gaze falls on Chase and his bright green eyes. The way my soul calms when I look at him is remarkable. It’s amazing how the situation between us remains, I think, yet just being close to him feels right. It doesn’t feel over between us. I don’t know if it could ever feel that way with him and me.
“What are you doing?” I whisper to him.
Chase smiles shyly. “I love you, Megan.”
My heart jumps so wildly that I take a step back. Startled, Kennedy pushes away from me. My sneaker hits a mud puddle, and the sole doesn’t grip the wet surface. It slips, sending me flailing through the air. I land on my back with a huge, noisy splash.
Chase runs to me and takes my hand, pulling me to my feet. Kennedy watches, unsure of what to do. Gavin, the prick, laughs.
I blow dirty hair out of my face and feel the muddy water drip down my forehead.
“Are you okay?” Chase asks.
His voice brings me back to the present, and I can only do one thing—I laugh.
I laugh not because it’s funny or because I’m embarrassed. I don’t laugh because mud finally got the best of me.
I laugh because my heart slowly melds back together.
“One day, you’ll wake up and realize that a piece of your heart resides outside your body. You’ll feel a draw to that place no matter where you are in the world. You’ll only feel whole and content when you’re there—and that will be your home. That’s where things make sense. That’s where you’re meant to be.”
I get it now. I understand what my mom was saying.
Peachwood Falls is where my life makes sense. I’ve only ever felt like myself, with intense peace and contentment, in the walls of Chase Marshall’s home. I’ve never been drawn to a place like I am in Chase’s arms.
I suppose that’s why nowhere else has ever worked out. I belonged here with this beautiful man, his adorable daughter, and his goofy brothers.
Maybe I had to go through everything in my life to prepare me for this moment—I don’t know. But I’m absolutely positive that I’m supposed to be here.
My heart is here.
Chase gets down on one knee.
“You’re in the mud puddle,” I say, grinning so hard my face hurts.
