“Come on, crazy dogs.” I held the door to my little house open as Hattie, Zappy, and Yoga Pants all leapt inside and bounded about, puppy exuberance and craziness emanating from them. Even Hattie seemed more excited lately. Maybe some of it had to do with the fact that the snow had finally melted from the village after a very long winter. It was finally officially over as we neared the middle of June. Tuck followed right behind them, and I couldn’t help the way my heart leapt every single time my boyfriend—I still loved that word—was near me.
“You had me this time, but I’m telling you, I’ll beat you yet.” He laughed, still panting as he collapsed on the couch.
We’d taken up running, partially to help get some of the crazy out of his puppies, but it had been good for all of us. His blue eyes found mine, and he watched as I pulled off my running shoes, dropping them by the door, where there were already too many pairs of shoes stacked.
“You’ll have to get a lot faster,” I told him, laughing. “Or come up with a better strategy. Sprinting right out of the gate only makes you tired.”
“I’m just trying to keep up with these crazy dogs.” He laughed. “I have no strategy when it comes to running.”
I sat down next to him on the couch, and he leaned close, pulling me to his side and whispering in my ear. “But if you’re in front of me, I’ll never quit trying to catch you.”
Warmth bloomed through me, a familiar feeling these days. Tuck and I had only gotten closer since Christmas.
Dad sat in the armchair by the fire, his feet up as he scanned something on his tablet, and Johnny leaned out of the kitchen. “Hey guys, want lunch?”
Dad and Johnny had both decided to stay in Kings Grove, and Johnny had been offered a Jack-of-all-trades position at the inn. The house had become a little crowded, especially since Tuck was here a lot with his dogs, but I loved it. It was a complete contrast to my quiet, uncomplicated life before.
Tuck’s house was no quieter either, since both August and his mother had decided to stay indefinitely. We joked that the two loneliest people in Kings Grove now couldn’t get a moment alone together.
“Lunch sounds good,” I said, smiling at my older brother, who had seemed to settle over the long winter. The thick layer of snow that made so many Kings Grove residents feel stir crazy had turned my brother into the best version of himself, and I’d been happy to have him stay. Now that the air was warming again and summer was moving in, I felt optimistic and bright about all of our prospects.
It was good to have my family near.
The four of us sat down to lunch, and my father surprised me by getting up to retrieve something from upstairs and then returning to the table with a little package in his hands.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“A birthday gift,” he said.
I hadn’t mentioned my birthday to any of them. It wasn’t something I’d made a big deal about since Mom had died. But it sent a little warm hum through me to know Dad had remembered it. “It’s from both of us, actually.” He reached over and squeezed Johnny’s shoulder.
“You guys have been conspiring.” I laughed, setting the long, flat box in front of me on the table.
“I don’t know how you do it here, but in Australia, we generally unwrap the presents people give us.”
I stuck my tongue out at Tuck and pushed my soup bowl aside to clear a spot in front of me. The box was light, and I really had no idea what could be inside, but I loved the anticipation that built in me as I carefully unwrapped the bow and slid my finger beneath the tape holding the paper closed.
“We also try to unwrap our packages in the same year they were given to us,” Tuck said, grinning.
“Patience,” I quipped. I wanted to make the surprise last.
The paper loosened, and I pulled out a little red box. There was a folded packet of papers inside. I opened them and smoothed them flat on the tabletop. The pages were filled with dense legal copy, but I spent a few minutes reading, and my curiosity and excitement grew as I realized what I held.
“Land?” I asked, looking up at my dad. “You bought me land?”
Dad laughed. “We didn’t know we were buying it for you. Your mother and I bought a second lot when we built the house up here,” he said. “Johnny and I talked about it, and we think you should have it. To build if you want to.”
I shook my head. “But I have a house,” I lifted a hand, waving around the crowded little space where we sat.
“Well, you can have this one if you want,” Dad said. “I just thought maybe you’d want your own place. You can build it however you like.”
I wrinkled my nose as I thought about this. Tuck was staring at me with a strange smile on his face, as if he knew something I didn’t, but I was distracted as I tried to wrap my head around the idea of building a house. I didn’t have a lot of money saved, and wasn’t sure it was even possible.
“There’s another gift,” Tuck said. “But it depends on my dogs.”
I laughed. Anything that depended on Tuck’s crazy dogs was unlikely at best. “Really?”
“Girls,” Tuck said to his dogs in a commanding voice I’d rarely heard him use with them. He was a softy, and he had never really managed to play the alpha where his dogs were concerned. “Fetch,” he commanded.
To my surprise, both dogs sat up and looked expectantly at Tuck, as if they hadn’t heard quite right.
“Go on,” he said. “Fetch.”
Zappy turned and ran to the bookshelves at the side of the room, and Yoga Pants followed quickly behind her. They nosed in the bookcase, chuffing and wagging their furry butts excitedly. Zappy lunged for something with her snout and then emerged with it held in her mouth. Yoga Pants whined, and then tried to muscle in on her sister, snapping her jaws playfully as she tried to take the little box. Zappy let out a warning growl, still playful, and Yoga Pants sat down after one more mournful whine.
“Here,” Tuck commanded, and Zappy complied, bringing him the small box.
“I’m in shock.” I laughed. “I didn’t know they’d gotten past sit!”
“He’s been working on it every spare moment,” Johnny said. “Whenever you’re not around.”
“We’ve both heard it so much, I was ready to act as backup if the dogs couldn’t manage it,” Dad said.
I laughed and smiled as Tuck knelt at Zappy’s side to extricate the little box from her jaws. But I stopped laughing when Tuck stayed on his knee and turned to face me, the little box in his hand and a strange look on his face.
“This is for you,” he said. He sounded nervous, and I suddenly realized what was happening.
I’d played fantasies resembling this one in my mind before, some of them involving Tuck. But I’d never really thought about a proposal in any kind of concrete way. Was that what was happening? It just didn’t seem like something that would happen in my life. And yet, here was Tuck, on his knee at my side as my brother pulled out his phone to film us, and my dad smiled at me with tears in his eyes.
“I’ve spoken to your father and brother,” Tuck said, sounding slightly uncertain as he held the little box in one hand and looked up at me. “I wanted to be sure I did this absolutely right, especially because we haven’t known each other long.”
I laughed, mostly to release the nervous tension that was building inside me.
“I haven’t really gotten to the punch line yet,” Tuck said, grinning.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, unable to contain my grin. “I’m nervous. Go on.”
“You’re nervous? I’m on my knee here.” He laughed, the sound a low rumble that made joy erupt inside me like a mad firecracker.
“Sorry, go on,” I encouraged him.
“Anyway,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I don’t think the length of time you know someone has anything to do with your feelings for that person. And I don’t think time gives you any guarantee that things will work out. Your father told me he’d only known your mother three months before he propo
sed.”
I smiled at my father, who had a silent tear tracking down one of his weathered cheeks. My heart fluttered, so full of emotion I felt like I might burst.
“I love you, Annie Gish,” Tuck said. “And it’s a feeling like nothing I’ve ever known before—like spring coming after a long cold winter, like morning after a lonely night. It’s a feeling like the one I get when you finally tell me we’re done working out and I can stop and take an actual breath.”
I laughed again, even though tears were building in my eyes.
“The only reason I run is because I don’t want to let you get away,” he continued. “And I hoped maybe if I gave you this, you might promise to stay with me. Forever.” He opened the little box to reveal a simple solitaire diamond set on a silver band.
I took a deep breath and felt myself shaking.
Unexpectedly, my father stood and walked around the table to take the ring from Tuck.
“This was your mother’s ring, Annie. Tuck had it reset, but we thought you might like to have it. And I wanted Tuck to save his money.” Dad handed me the ring, and Tuck helped me slip it on my finger.
“I want to build us that house,” Tuck said. “If you say yes.”
My brother was grinning at me from across the table, my father was at my shoulder, and the man I loved was staring up at me with the deepest ocean-blue eyes I’d ever seen. “Will you say yes?” he asked.
“You haven’t asked me a question yet,” I whispered. If I was only doing this once, I wanted the whole thing.
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Oh, I forgot that part in all the excitement.” He reached out and took my hand in his, and my entire body responded to his warm touch. There was a calm certainty that left no doubt in my mind that I was his.
“Annie Gish, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I’d like to build us a house on the meadow and raise a family with you. Say you will,” he breathed. “Please say yes.”
I was crying now, unable to contain the happy tears that slid down my cheeks as Tuck put all his hopes and dreams between us. I reached out with every part of me to capture those dreams before they could flit away. “Yes,” I whispered, and Tuck jumped up, catching me in his arms and lifting me right out of my chair. “Yes!” I laughed.
My father hugged us both, and Johnny got up out of his chair to join in. And that was how my new life began, with three dogs yipping and dancing at our feet as my family and the man I loved held me in their arms.
It wasn’t a stretch to say I had everything I’d ever wanted right there in that moment, and I had the rest of my life ahead to enjoy it. Love and family could be messy and unpredictable, but with Tuck at my side, I knew it would be a beautiful mess, full of laughter and love.
“Yes,” I breathed once more, loud enough only for Tuck to hear. He smiled at me, and I felt my world snap into place with the promise held in his endless blue eyes.
<< THE END >>
Also by Delancey Stewart
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The Singletree Series:
Happily Ever His
Happily Ever Hers
Shaking the Sleigh
Second Chance Spring
Falling Into Forever
The MR. MATCH Series:
Book One: Scoring the Keeper’s Sister
Book Two: Scoring a Fake Fiancée
Book Three: Scoring a Prince
Book Four: Scoring with the Boss
The KINGS GROVE Series:
When We Let Go
Open Your Eyes
When We Fall
Open Your Heart
Christmas in Kings Grove
The STARR RANCH WINERY Series:
Chasing a Starr
THE GIRLFRIENDS OF GOTHAM Series:
Men and Martinis
Highballs in the Hamptons
Cosmos and Commitment
The Girlfriends of Gotham Box Set
STANDALONES:
Let it Snow
Without Words
Without Promises
Mr. Big
Adagio
The PROHIBITED! Duet:
Prohibited!
The Glittering Life of Evie Mckenzie
Christmas in Kings Grove: Kings Grove, Book 5 Page 9