Page 85 of Temporarily in Love

“Damn straight, you’re mine.”

“And I’m yours.”

She cupped my face. “Hey, guess what?”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have my period anymore. So what do you say, we get a head start on our future?”

“Wait.”

I took her right hand in mine and slipped the Claddagh ring off it. She gave me a curious look, but then she got misty-eyed when I slipped it onto her left hand with the crown facing outwards. One day, I’d take her hand and change the direction of the crown. Not today, but soon.

I kissed the back of her palm. I gave her this ring a long time ago. Even then, I knew it was a promise that she’d always be mine.

“One day, I’ll get you a better engagement ring, but this is my promise to you,” I told her.

She shook her head. “No, Dec. You proposed to me a long time ago. I just didn’t realize it. Maybe that’s why nothing ever worked with anyone else. It’s probably why I avoided you every time I came home.”

I gave her a suspicious look. “Yeah, that’s a mighty feat in our small town.”

“I usually wouldn’t leave the house. Drove my family nuts, but that’s why I only came home on the holidays. And sometimes not even then. I wish I hadn’t been so immature, but I knew if I saw you, I’d be under your spell again. I never would have finished my degree.”

“Let’s get one thing certain: I’m under your spell. Always have been, always will be.”

She rested her forehead against mine and kissed me softly. “I love you so much, Declan Patrick MacGregor. You’re the one I’ve always been waiting for.”

“I love you too, Lila Catherine Sullivan. More than you could ever know.”

She jumped up into my arms and kissed me like she needed my lips on hers to breathe air. I kissed her back with the same ferociousness and took her upstairs to start our future together.

Epilogue

LILA

HALLOWEEN THE NEXT YEAR

I put a hand on my stomach as my sister fixed my veil. Her perfume was making me want to puke, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her why. I hadn’t even told Declan yet. I thought the nausea had just been nerves about the wedding, but I took a test on a hunch this morning. It definitely wasn’t an oops, since Declan and I had been actively trying to get pregnant all year.

Kelsey moved so Lizzie could inspect my makeup. I was glad Kelsey advised me on black bridesmaid dresses versus orange for my Halloween wedding. My bridesmaids looked so classic in their gowns. Avery and Gemma looked at me through the mirror with big smiles on their faces.

Since I moved back to Drakesville, these four women had been in my corner. Especially the Jensen sisters, who were going to become family now that I was marrying Declan. Declan still said Gemma was a PITA, but I knew he loved her like a sister, and so did I.

Lizzie fixed my lipstick. “You look gorgeous. He’s gonna freak.”

“Thanks,” I said and wiped an invisible wrinkle from my dress.

Declan and I weren’t dressing in costumes for the occasion. Our wedding might be on Halloween, but it had a more harvest aesthetic than a spooky one. But I wanted my dress to be a little unconventional. It was a gorgeous white ball gown that had a black lace motif on the bodice and again on the hemline. When Gemma found it for me, I nearly cried at how perfect it was.

“You look like a gothic princess!” Gemma exclaimed.

“Dec will love it,” Avery agreed.

I nodded.

I was so nervous. Not for the wedding, I was good with that. We were having it at the farm where we picked pumpkins because they also did weddings in their barn. When we were looking for locations, and I found that out, we both knew it was absolutely perfect.

I looked in the mirror and held my stomach. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me.