First the girls, then Marlene, then a half-dozen more. People he’d grown up with. People who had pulled him through the hardest years of his life. The people who’d brought casseroles, and fixed fences, and picked up the girls from school when he couldn’t manage it all on his own.
They were neighbors. Friends. Family.
They gathered around the orchard, filling the space. Every single one of them was smiling. Every single one was holding their breath.
And for Ethan, who had spent so long thinking struggle and success and love had to be kept private, it meant everything that they were here and that they were witnessing this.
That they were his people, and they were her people now too.
Honey dropped to her knees and took his face in her hands, laughing through tears. “You tricked me.”
“I did,” Ethan said, voice shaking.
“I would love to,” she said, and applause rolled through the crowd.
He slid the ring onto her finger with trembling hands, his heart so full he thought it might split open with joy. Around them, the town erupted. Someone whistled and the kids cheered loudest of all. Juniper dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. Even Trent raised his glass and called out, “Bout time!”
A swirl of flower petals rained down from somewhere above, caught on a breeze that smelled faintly of clover and cake.
“You know what I wish?” she whispered.
He brushed a petal from her cheek. “Tell me.”
“For you to kiss me again.”
“As you wish, Mrs. Hale.”
