Everett snorts. “He couldn’t get a woman to even look at him before Tessa. Lord knows how he was able to win her over.”
I often wonder about some of my choices and letting these assholes tag along with me while I went ring shopping is one of those.
“Shut up, all of you. Each one of you married out of your league.”
“Won’t argue with that,” Miles says.
“I’m not married yet,” Everett notes.
“You’re engaged, and Violet is way better than you deserve,” I remind him.
Today is really the only day I could sneak off, since I plan to propose before the derby this weekend. We had our Ultimate Frisbee tournament out of state this weekend and Tessa is swamped with work, so she thankfully couldn’t come.
I would have asked for the girls’ opinions, but Ainsley said she’d rather chew nails than come, Violet is definitely nottraveling with a newborn, and Penelope was all too happy to stay back since none of the other girls were going.
So I’m stuck with these morons since we carpooled.
“I’m very aware, which is why I love her to the point of madness and treat her like a damn queen,” Everett acknowledges.
Lachlan snorts. “We all got lucky.”
“We did,” I agree.
No one more than me. I never thought at my age I’d find someone I wanted to settle down with. I was resigned to living alone, being the eternal bachelor because it just made sense. I had loved, lost, and then just got so set in my ways that it wasn’t even something I gave a shit about.
Until Tessa.
The sales attendant returns to the case where I’ve been eyeing this one ring. It’s a pear shaped, two-and-a- half carat diamond solitaire with peridots lining the band. It’s different, beautiful, and it just so happens that peridots are her birthstone.
More than that, it seems perfectly Tessa.
“Is there one you like?”
“Yes, that one.” I point to the ring that I keep going back to.
“This is a special piece,” she says. “It was designed by our in-house jeweler whose favorite color is green. It’s one of a kind.”
“Just like the girl I hope will accept it.”
She smiles, and the guys make a variety of noises from laughs to gagging sounds.
“I apologize for them—they’re all infants.”
“He’d know since he could be our dad,” Lachlan, I think, says from behind me.
“Fuck off,” I mutter and return to the saleswoman. “This one will be perfect.”
I pay for it and then the four of us head out. Miles drives the three hours it takes to get back to Ember Falls, and we drop offEverett and Lachlan. When it’s just the two of us, Miles clears this throat.
“Did you know, I always thought the two of us were the most likely to be bachelors out of the group?”
I turn my head to look at him. “You thought Everett would find someone?”
He chuckles. “He was a wild card, but he at least seemed to want a family at some point. Lachlan was a goner from the beginning, but you and I, we were different. Well, that was until I met Penny. Everything changed after that.”
The fact that the man who hates coffee went to Prose & Perk every single day just to see her said it all. Penelope and Miles are truly perfect for each other, and I’m so glad they battled their demons and found a way together.
“I get that. It’s like the two of us found our person and knew pretty quick.”
