The laughter explodes again.
Bryce beams.
He carefully takes her hand and slides the massive diamond ring onto her finger.
It fits perfectly.
He starts to stand.
But Charli grabs his face with both her hands before he can fully straighten.
“Yes,” she chants breathlessly. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Cabe whistles so loud that my ears ring.
Imma Jean wipes happy tears from her eyes, and Daddy gently rubs her back.
Bryce lifts Charli clean off the ground.
She wraps her legs around his waist, laughing and crying at the same time.
“Well, cowboy,” she says into his shoulder, “you’re stuck with me now.”
As soon as he sets her back on her feet, Matty, Shelby, and I crowd around them with hugs and congratulations before Grandma and Imma Jean shoo us away.
I feel Porter’s arm slide around my shoulders.
I lean into him without thinking.
He squeezes my shoulder gently.
“What do you think?” he murmurs.
I smile softly. “I think Charli just won the engagement ring lottery.”
He chuckles quietly.
Across the fire, Bryce finally sits and pulls Charli down into his lap.
She holds her hand up toward the flames, beaming proudly.
Cabe leans over to get a good look at it. “Holy hell, that thing has its own zip code.”
Porter follows me in, his boots thudding softly across the hardwood floor.
I turn halfway down the hallway and point toward the staircase. “Third door on the right,” I tell him. “That’s my room. I’ll be up soon. I just need a minute with my sisters.”
He pulls me to him and gives me a quick kiss. “Take your time.”
I nod once, then turn toward the kitchen before I can overthink the way he looks at me like I’m something precious.
The back porch light spills through the screen door, and I can hear the soft murmur of voices drifting inside.
I push the door open and step outside.
The night air wraps around me immediately, cool and soft. The moon hangs low over the pastures, casting silver light across the yard.
Charli, Shelby, and Matty are spread across the porch swing and the two rocking chairs beside it.
