Callie takes the lead, heading out on the main trail behind the barn.
“So, since this is a date, do we have to ask each other awkward get-to-know-you questions?” I tease.
“Oh, come on! We’re well past a first date. This is like our one hundredth date,” Callie quips.
“What do you do on a one hundredth date then?”
“I don’t know. Y’all tell me. I’m the single one here.”
Not for long,I think. But I know better than to say that out loud. Callie just might bite my head off for a remark like that.
“I don’t think Rhett and I have made it to a one hundredth date,” Olivia says. “In a little over a year of being together, that would require us to go out almost every three and a half days. Do you think you and Jax have been on one hundred dates, Lo?”
“Practically? No. In my heart? It feels like we’ve been on a million. I know it’s silly, but it feels like we know each other on a soul-deep level.”
“Barf,” Callie mutters, but she’s smiling so wide.
We make a turn onto the trail that leads up to my spot. I didn’t think anyone else knew this trail was here besides Jax.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“I’m just exploring,” Callie says over her shoulder. “I promise I won’t get us lost.”
Silence descends over us as we crest up the hill, taking in the sunset painting the horizon brilliant oranges and reds. It looks like the sky goes on forever. I get so wrapped up inthe painted cotton candy clouds to our right that I don’t even notice what’s happening in front of me until we stop, right where my spot is.
Instead of my usual fallen tree bench, there’s an actual bench in its spot, and Jax is waiting on it. I look to Callie and Olivia, and neither of them are any good at hiding their overflowing joy right now. My stomach does a million cartwheels as it hits me what is about to happen.
“Don’t leave him hanging. We’ll watch Lucky,” Callie says, her words barely above a whisper, like she’s afraid of ruining the moment.
I slip off Lucky and meet Jax at the bench. He immediately takes both my hands in his, his smile lighting up his face. “Hi, Freckles.”
“Hi.” My heart pounds like a million horses in my chest, and my stomach flutters as if a swarm of butterflies was released inside it.
When Jax gets down on one knee and says my name, all of those nerves melt away. It’s just us, finally getting our happy ending. We earned this. After fighting so hard to both be better, we grew and learned to accept ourselves. We learned our past doesn’t define us, and we allowed love in. It’s all been so worth it.
Jax’s voice shakes as he looks up at me. “From the moment you walked into my life, I knew you and I were meant to be. We connected on a level I couldn’t even comprehend at the time, but I still knew that whenever I was with you, I felt on top of the world. I felt like a better version of myself, one who was strong, brave, and capable. These past eleven months have been some of the most challenging yet most beautiful months of my life. You have pushed me to be open and to face my demons. You showed me I’m worthy of love, even when I’m a complete mess.” He chuckles. “And you helped me learn the storms will come, but I don’t need to fear them. I just need to find someone who will dance in the rain with me. I’ve found that person in you, and I don’t want to let you go. I know ten months together isn’t that long, but I’ve waited long enough to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m all in.”
He takes my hand. “I can’t guarantee I won’t make mistakes along the way, but I can promise you I’m going to do my best every day to continue to show up for you, to help you never carry too much weight on your own, to show you how beautiful you are inside and out, and to make you feel loved. I love you so damn much.”
He flicks open the velvet box in his hand to reveal a ring with a gold band and an elegant white diamond in the center. “Will you please spend the rest of your life with me? Will you please have babies with me and take care of this ranch with me and keep creaming me at Uno, even when we’re old and gray?”
My laughter is ragged as tears stream down my cheeks, and I nod. “Yes. Yes, I will. I want you by my side through it all.”
He slides the ring on my finger, stands up, and presses his hands to my cheeks as his lips meet mine. We both do a beautiful dance of taking and giving, trying to show each other how much this commitment means to us.
Rhett and Charlie come out from behind a tree, and Mom, Dad, Carol, and Aimee come from behind us. I don’t know how I missed all of them, or the fact that six horses were missing from the barn earlier, but I don’t care because I’m surrounded by all the people I love for one of the most special moments of my life.
It’s crazy how a year ago, it felt like my life was over. My fiancé left me. I was drowning in work and desperatelytrying to find a way to keep the ranch afloat on my own, but it turns out uprooting my whole life was exactly what I needed to grow and find my place in the world. Because now I have all these wonderful people surrounding me. I’ve learned how to love myself and fight for what I’m worth, and I’ve somehow managed to fall in love again.
Bonus Epilogue
Six Years Later
Jax
“Ouch!”My three-year-old tugs away from me while I try to braid her blonde hair. She scrunches her nose at me, and it’s crazy how much she looks just like her mother.
“You’re the one who asked for French braids.” I shrug. “I’m still learning how to do them. I could’ve done a flawless normal braid.”
