by Bowie, Emily
Placing Hunter down into his crib, I go down on one knee before she turns my way. Her eyes go wide, not expecting this tonight.
“Raya Stratton, will you marry me?” I hold out an open box that has a fake diamond ring in it.
“I can’t offer you a real diamond now, but I can promise you that I will replace it before our fifth wedding anniversary.”
“Yes!” she cries out, going onto her knees to kiss me. She kisses me in a way that makes my heart pound, knowing this is the future I dreamed about, and now I finally have it.
“So that dinner my ma talked about? That’s for us if you want to go. I couldn’t keep it a secret, and they all wanted to be part of this day.”
Wiping more tears away, she speaks, “I honestly feel like the luckiest person in the world, and all that is because of you. I am so honored to become your wife.”
*
Walking into my parents’ new house, our whole family is here. Kellen and Sloan with their baby Chloe. Shay and Luke with their sons Connor and Mattie. Rhett has his arm draped around a woman. I can’t help but pause at this, knowing they were just in the tabloids for hating each other. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him go off about this girl before. Slowly, I pull my gaze off them to our parents.
“Congratulations!” they all say, startling Hunter in my arms. The women all rush forward, wanting to hold a baby. I look to Raya to see if this is okay, and she nods as I give Hunter to Shay first.
The men pat me on the back in congratulations before Madden is asking to be held. Picking him up, I squeeze him tight, missing him over the last few days.
“Dad, can I walk him like my hen?” he asks.
Raya and I built him his own small chicken coop to go along with a hen he got to pick out and name all by himself. Since they moved here, he’s dropped the monkey personality to pick up a hen’s. He convinced me to buy him a chicken outfit, and he walks our hens like dogs while he’s wearing his new costume. It is the most adorable and priceless thing I’ve ever seen.
“No,” I say slowly. “But you get to hold and snuggle him.”
“He doesn’t play, does he?” I watch his small upper lip curl in disappointment.
“Not yet.” My hand goes into his hair, moving it around. How in the world did I get such cute kids?
In the last nine months, I have come to realize it doesn’t matter where we live or what we live in, as long as we have each other. It took me a long time to realize I have everything I could ever need here in this room.
Looking over at Raya, I see she is showing off her ring like it’s the most precious thing I have ever given her. Like she can feel my eyes on her, she looks up.
From across the room, she mouths, I love you.
The End
OTHER BOOKS BY EMILY BOWIE
You can find all of these titles with Kindle Unlimited
Bennett Brothers Series
Recklessly Mine (book #1)
Recklessly Forbidden (book #2)
Recklessly Devoted (book #3)
Steele Family Series
Stolen Moments (book #1)
Moonlight Moments (book #2)
Bittersweet Moments (book #3)
Whisky Moments (book #4, Rhett Steele’s story)
This standalone Steele Family rock star romance is coming early 2020
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my beta readers, Sara and Jerilyn. You are way more than ‘just’ beta readers to me. You are my friend, alpha reader, beta reader, and my general go-to people.
Sara – Thank you for re-reading my books, and for giving me updates on the revisions. I admire your brutal but tender honestly, and I love you for it. You challenge me and push me for more, making my writing so much better. You are great at what you do. Thank you for helping me find the cover to Bittersweet Moments, it is beautiful.
Jerilyn – When I read your notes I love seeing how the story is making you feel. I know when I am right on point or if a scene needs more. You are one of my biggest cheerleaders, and I love you for it. Thank you for taking the time to help me. Your input is very much valued.
Melissa: thank you for proofreading Bittersweet Moments. Re-reading it after a hundred times makes it easy to miss small mistakes. You are my fresh eyes. Thank you!
Thank you to my editor Kayla at hot tree editing. Thank you for making Bittersweet moments the best possible version!
Thank you to Jersey Girl Design for creating Bittersweet Moments cover.
Thank you to Give Me More Books for helping with the cover reveal and release of this book.
Bloggers thank you for participating and helping spread the word about my books! You are a huge help in all of my releases.
To my readers, thank you for being here. I hope you love Brax and Raya story as much as I do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Bowie is from a small town in Western Canada. She has been making characters come to life through her writing since she was old enough to put her thoughts on paper. She loves her white wine cold, her heels red, and her books spicy.
She married her high school sweetheart and they have two amazing children.
When she is not writing she can be found reading a good book, making digital scrapbooks and being physically active—whether it is at the gym, going for a walk, or playing /keep up with her children.
Follow Emily.
BookBub has a feature where you can follow me and get an alert when I release a book or put a title on sale. Sign up here to stay in the loop:
bookbub.com/authors/emily-bowie
Facebook:
bit.ly/EmilyBowieFB
Twitter:
@emilybowie82
IG:
@authoremilybowie
Goodreads:
goodreads.com/author/show/14343683.Emily_Bowie
Reader/Fan Group:
facebook.com/groups/193963077691036
Website:
www.authoremilybowie.com