Page 97 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

All three chickens have come out to see what the noise is, and they’re staring at us. Maybe they think they’re going to be fed, I don’t know. I’m going to have to learn all there is about taking care of chickens.

Coming to stand behind me, Tyler wraps his arms around me and nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. “I think you’re perfect.”

Spinning, I throw my arms over his shoulders and kiss him. Warm full lips, strong hands pulling me in, and the most wonderful man to ever exist.

“Best surprise ever,” I whisper against his lips.

“Yeah, you are,” he whispers back to me.

Epilogue

Tyler

It’s been nine months since Lily showed up uninvited on my doorstep, six months since I told her I loved her, and ten minutes since I changed our lives forever.

The expression when you know you know, well, I’ve known for a while now that I wanted her to be mine forever, and it was time to make it official.

“You’re FaceTiming me. This is weird,” Lance says, while walking through his house. “Also, where are you?”

It’s the first weekend in April, and Lily and I decided to spend the day on the water and then on our favorite island. We’ve made the trip out here many times—we’ve picnicked, we’ve napped under the pine trees, and we’ve visited with what we’re now calling our flamingoes.

In being a Good Samaritan, I reached out to the local zoo and asked them about diet and feeding these two. They told us that they were fine finding food on their own, which I obviously knew, but if I wanted to bring them something, I could purchase specialized pellets from them. They also contacted the college, where our two friends have become a bit of a research project. Do I feel like we’ve lost a little bit of our secret spot? Yes. But the science lover in me is excited for the students who will get to study them.

“The beach. Remember when I told you that one day I was going to call in that really big favor?”

“Yeah?” he says slowly and skeptically, his brows pulling down.

“Barbecue.”

It feels so strange using our code word that I have a bit of adrenaline racing through me.

His eyes widen, almost with an edge of panic, but then Lily slides up next to me and holds up her left hand. A hand that’s adorned with a large rectangular flawless diamond set in platinum. She’s smiling from ear to ear, her cheeks are pink, and her hair is pulled up but messy from me running my fingers through it, and she’s never looked more beautiful. Meanwhile, Lance’s jaw drops.

“No fucking way.” He drags the words out, and I laugh.

“Bro, this can’t be a surprise to you.”

“It’s not, but I wasn’t expecting this today,” he says, a little in shock but also in awe. Both he and Casey were asking us over Christmas if we had any plans for the future, but we kept it casual and told them we were just enjoying our time together. Little did Lily know, I had already asked her dad for permission to marry his daughter and contacted a diamond broker.

“Who is it?” we hear someone say in the background, and then Casey’s face appears on the screen. She sees us and the ring, and starts screaming while jumping around. They’re in the family room, and behind them, the floor is littered with toys. A deep longing pulls in my stomach because I know that sometime in our near future, this will be Lily and me. We will start a family together, one I didn’t think I was ever going to have, and there will be little minis who will be half her and half me. I know brown hair is dominant, but I hope at least one will have her color, and I hope all of them have her eyes.

“I knew it!” she yells. “Lance, you owe me fifty dollars, so you’d better pay up.”

A scowl drops onto my face. “Fifty dollars? You bet against us?”

“Nope. Never.” He smiles. “I knew way before you did, again just call me the matchmaker, but the minute you told me you had fallen, it was game on. The bet was on the timeline. She said before the Fourth of July, and I said after.”

Casey’s head pops back in. “Fifty dollars and a few other things.” She smirks, and Lance lets out a deep sigh. Casey is the type of wife who loves home improvements and has a never-ending project list. It’s been fun watching Lance over the years learn how to lay tile, build garden boxes, convert their stairs railing from wood posts to wrought iron, things like that.

“So about that favor. Looks like I’m going to need a best man,” I say to him, and what does that fucker do? His eyes turn red and glassy.

“You know I’d be honored,” he says, looking at both of us.

“Good, because we’re all on the same page about Fourth of July weekend.”

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be planning my wedding, I would have laughed in your face. But there was no way I was going to wait until after the Fourth of July. I understand the bet of the one-year mark, but getting married that weekend sounds so much better to me. The season won’t have started yet, all our friends will be available, and down the road, it’s a great weekend for anniversaries.

“That’s so soon,” Casey says.