“The best,” I whisper, wondering if life will ever get better than this moment. I can’t imagine it does.
This is the peak. The thing I dreamed about but wasn’t sure would ever happen.
A child of my own and two more I love as if they were.
A family of my own.
And a man who loves me.
22
RYDER
“Close your eyes.”
Gracie stares up at me with her eyebrow cocked. “What’s going on?”
I shake my head as I take her hands in mine. “It’s a surprise.”
“I hate surprises,” she grumbles before finally complying. “If you scare me, I’m going…”
I squeeze her hands. “I’m not going to scare you, love. Let go a little bit and trust me.”
She raises her chin, her face soft even if her eyes are sealed shut. “I do trust you.”
“Good,” I tell her, pulling her forward, careful to make sure she doesn’t trip. “We’re almost there.”
“This is silly, Ryder. I’ve been to the falls a hundred times.”
“Shush.”
She jerks her head back but keeps her eyes closed. “Shush? I’ll give you shush.”
I’ve spent a month planning this day, working with her mother and our friends to pull this off. I even had her brothers in on it. The hardest part was keeping everyone quiet. There isn’t much that happens around here without the entire town knowing every single detail.
We walk past the ice cream shop, standing at the top of the stairway down to the falls, where our closest friends and family are waiting. “Open your eyes, Gracie.”
Her eyes flutter open, and a moment passes before she can get them to focus with the bright sun overhead. “What is this?” she asks as she takes a step forward to look over the railing. It takes her a second to spot her entire family waiting at the landing near the water’s edge. “Ryder?”
I get down on one knee, doing something I wanted to do a year ago but didn’t. Gracie made it clear that she wasn’t ready to get married back then. But now we have a child together, we live together, and are married in every sense of the word except one.
Gracie turns slightly, her eyes searching for me before her gaze drops to where I’m kneeling. “Ryder?” she whispers.
“Gracie, I’ve never loved another person the way I love you. You’ve brought color back into my world, making every day full of light and life. I can’t imagine spending a single day without you by my side. I love you, Gracie. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Tears form in her eyes, and for the briefest of moments, I worry she’ll turn me down. Weirder shit has happened to people. Maybe she still isn’t ready and I am pushing the envelope with this elaborate plan.
EPILOGUE
RYDER
“I’m proud of you, man,”Austin says, adjusting my crooked tie.
I’m a mess. A bigger mess than I was when I married Elizabeth. I was too stupid and naïve back then to be nervous, but everything with Gracie is different.
“Why are you proud?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at my friend.
“You didn’t give up. But then again, you never do.”
