When I get to the end, there’s a photo I’ve never seen before, but immediately it’s my favorite. It’s Lila and me fast asleep together on the couch, and Lawson is kissing my forehead as he snaps the picture.
“This is beautiful, Lawson. I can’t even find words to describe how much I love seeing all of these memories on display for us.”
I turn around to kiss him, but before I can, he’s dropping down onto one knee before me while holding up the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.
Pinched between his thumb and index finger is a vintage-looking rose gold ring, with three small pears lined up side-by-side, elegantly framed by diamonds.
I couldn’t have designed a more perfect ring.
He must’ve had Delilah help him this time around, because she randomly had her Pinterest app up one day and was asking me what my dream ring would be if I could have any ring in the entire world. Lawson, at this very moment, is holding that ring.
It’s absolutely breathtaking.
I feel my heart catch in my throat and butterflies flutter frantically in the pit of my belly. Hot tears sting my eyes as they pool behind my lids.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper as my right hand flies to my mouth.
His hands are shaking as he takes my left hand and gazes up at me. The sun has set completely now, and the only light is from the lanterns twinkling around us. He stood in this very spot eight summers ago and asked me to marry him. Now, our love has come full circle as I find myself standing in the very spot we stood all those years ago, pledging our love to one another once again.
Only then, we were just kids living off hopes and dreams…now we’re all grown up and finally living all those hopes and dreams we wished for all those years ago.
“Emelyn, on this night eight years ago, I asked you to marry me, and you made me the happiest man in the world when you told me yes. We hit a few roadblocks over the years, losing our way, but somehow we found it back to one another, and I can honestly say I’ve never in my life been happier than I am right now, with you and our miracle baby, Lila Grace. She has truly blessed our lives immensely. I couldn’t have dreamt up a more perfect mother and woman I want to spend forever with. We’ve made a lifetime full of memories over the course of sixteen years; those memories are captured in these photos that surround us tonight. What I’m trying to say is, Emelyn Marie, will you make me the luckiest man in the world—again—and tell me that you’ll marry me? I want to spend another sixteen years, and many more after that, by your side, making many more memories together.”
I’m blown away by this proposal. I’m in complete and utter shock as I look around at the photographs surrounding us, gleaming in the soft glow from the lanterns. I bring my eyes back down to his and fall to my knees in front of him with tears in my eyes and my heart bursting with so much love for this man. I’m almost certain it’s going to explode if he says one more over-the-top, Notebook kind of romantic line to me.
“Yes. Of course, yes! You’re it for me, Lawson Remington McCoy. You’ve always been it for me.” I choke on my words as my emotions get the best of me, and I find my tears of happiness falling at a rapid rate down my cheeks. I watch in amazement as he slips the ring effortlessly onto my finger. It’s sparkling between us under the twinkling lights above. My entire body is humming with excitement and my heart is racing against my chest as adrenaline courses through my veins.
Reaching up affectionately, Lawson wipes my tears away with the pads of his thumbs.
“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me. You’ve always been it for me too, baby. I thank God every day for bringing you into my life. I know I don’t deserve you, but I’m a better man because of you. I can’t want to marry you.”
I run my fingers through his hair and flutter kisses across his face. “I want to get married as soon as possible. So as long as you’re on board, we’ll start planning our wedding tomorrow. I’ll talk to my dad and see if he can marry us next month. I don’t need big and fancy. All I need is you, and Lila, and our closest friends and family. So what do you say? You down with getting hitched next month?”
Climbing to his feet, he scoops me up into his arms and gives me that make-me-weak-in-the-knees smile that I love so much. “You can bet your fine ass I’m okay with that. If I could, I’d marry you tomorrow.”
“I love you,” I whisper breathlessly up at him.
“I love you more.”
Just when I think he’s about to lean down and kiss me to seal the deal, he shocks the hell out of me by breaking into a full-on run and jumping into the water, with me still in his arms. I scream out in surprise as we hit the cool water.
Kicking my feet, I float back up to the surface and swim into his arms. “I cannot believe you just did that.”
“You know me, baby. I can’t waste a chance to get you wet or naked.”
“You are insatiable.” I laugh, splashing water at his too-hot-for-his-own-good face before locking my arms around his neck and crashing my lips to his for a toe-curling kiss.
Sixteen years ago, I met Lawson McCoy on a warm spring day, changing my life forever. Now, here we are sixteen years later, and we’re living the love story I wished for all those years ago.
It’s been years of ups and downs, falling in love, heartbreak, and learning to love again…but I wouldn’t trade a single second of it.
It isn’t the perfect ‘fairytale love story’ I read about when I was a little girl. The ones with the perfect Prince Charming and the sweet and innocent princess. Instead, I fell in love with the Harley riding ‘bad boy’, and Lawson fell for the southern belle with a wild streak a mile wide. But if you ask me…if you ask me, I think eight-year-old me would love the way our happily ever after turned out.
The End…For now
You’ll see more of Lawson and Emelyn as my Sweet Home Alabama Series continues.
The next book will be Tucker’s story! More info to be released soon.
Enjoy a SNEAK PEEK at KD Robichaux’s first book in her second chance romance series AKA The Blogger Diaries.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I need to thank my fans! Especially my street teams: Kayden’s Angels & Danielle’s Dames. Without you girls pimping me and my books all over I wouldn’t be where I am today.
My street team is seriously the BEST! Especially my team captain Traci Hyland. I cannot say enough how much I appreciate every single one of you. You’ve slowly become great friends, not just fans. I appreciate everything you do! Without your support, Brooklyn’s series never would’ve happened!
My always FANTASTIC BETA Readers! Amy, Tammi, Kelli, Sophie, and Tabby I can’t thank you girls enough for all that you do! The most important one being supporting me no matter what I decide to write. You girls are always my biggest cheerleaders. So thank you! Your support and friendships mean the world to me.
I can’t say thank you enough to my Bestie and the Brooklyn to my Savannah ;) Kayla Robichaux, AKA Kayla the Bibliophile, and NOW author K.D. Robichaux, as she has now taken the plunge and published her first book. She always knocks my books out of the park with her amazing editing abilities. We are quite the duo, writing and editing books in record time! I love you, girly! You’re the BEST!
I need to give a big thank you to my family. My husband, for supporting this dream and doing everything from housework, to cooking, to traveling with me to signings, and patiently waiting every night for me to finally make it to bed after a long day of writing.
My girls, Madison and Bailey, for being such big helpers! They’ve been a blessing helping keep their little brother Finn occupied, and not complaining when I say we’re ordering pizza again tonight.
Thank you to my AMAZING beta readers, Amy, Tammi, Kelli, Tabby, and Sophie who sent me all the feedback and enthusiastic emails after reading each chapter; it helped keep me focused and determined to deliver the most amazing novel I could write. I truly appreciate all their feedback and their love for Lawson & Emelyn.
I
just want to say THANK YOU! To every single one of you who support me and purchased this book! You will never know how appreciative I am for the support I receive from every single one of you.
If you can please rate and review this novel on Goodreads and the site you purchased it from to help share Lawson & Emelyn’s story with the reader world, I would truly appreciate it.
Sneak Peek of Wished For You by KD Robichaux
Kayla’s Chick Rant & Book Blog
Blog Post: 1/17/15
My name is Kayla and I’m a blogger who believes in fairy tales. Through the anonymity of my blog, along with my reviews of the steamy novels I like to read, I tell the stories of my own search for love. No matter how disastrous they turn out—and believe me, you will ask yourself ‘Did that really happen?’—I never gave up, knowing my soul mate was out there somewhere.
When my big brother invited me to move to Houston for a semester of college, I jumped at the opportunity to leave my small hometown to see what it was like to live in a big city. Having no friends and not knowing where to go, I met a guy online and met up with him that night. Because…YOLO, right?
Turns out, he was an okay guy. Not ‘The One’, but still, a good enough guy to spend time with. But then, he introduced me to his best friend Jason, and my world tilted on its axis. The dark, tough, tatted-up guy, who was too broody for his own good, captivated me.
But he made it perfectly clear, I wasn’t his type.
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
The Blogger Diaries Trilogy is the true story of how I met, fell for, lost, and got a
second chance at love with my soul mate. The names of everyone EXCEPT me, Jason, my family, and my best friend have been changed to protect their identities. Full of youthful stupidity, leading to bad decisions and lots of angst, it is a real life story, where inevitably things are messy.
No one can look back at their late teens and early twenties and not think of moments that make them ask, What the hell was I thinking? Every second of this trilogy is true, exactly as it happened.
The first book, ‘Wished For You’, is a tale of finding ‘the one’ too early, and then having to let them go.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a true trilogy, meaning the first two books END ON CLIFFHANGERS. But if you take the journey with me, in the end, I promise you a happily ever after you will never forget.
I know I won’t.
Prologue
Kayla’s Chick Rant & Book Blog
Blog Post 1/23/2007
I'm a happy person, damn it! I'm happy sober; I'm a happy drunk, and I smile until my cheeks hurt. I'm so freakin' perky all the time. I always get invited to everyone's parties; I never get scrolled over when people are looking through their phones to see what's going on. Everyone loves for me to be around because I bring no drama. I'm shameless, and will make a fool of myself to make everyone laugh. I don't say these things to be conceited; I say it to show you how unlike me it is when I tell you...
I cried myself to sleep again last night. I cradled my swollen belly in my hands and rocked myself back and forth praying in a whisper, "Please, God, make him love me. I know you put us here to be together. Just make him realize it. Please!" The last word came out on a sob. I swear I'm not a horrible person, as I laid there crying over another man while I'm six months pregnant with my husband's baby.
I will never say what happened was a mistake. I believe everything happens for a reason. I also believe in soul mates. But what if one person finds their soulmate and the other one just refuses to acknowledge it? Can you be happy with anyone else? Or if once your soul finds its other half, are you doomed to long for them?
These are all questions I've asked myself since I left Texas a year and a half ago, since I left the man I know I'm supposed to share my life with. No, I didn't leave him. He told me to go. He told me there was no reason for me to stay since my semester of school ended. That's when happy, perky, shameless Kayla snapped.
Chapter 1
January 7, 2005
I’m in my 2002 Chevy Malibu, with its cherry-patterned seats, steering wheel cover, and CD holder hooked to the visor. My big brother Mark is in the driver’s seat while I sit next to him with my turtle's 10 gallon aquarium at my feet and my lovebird’s giant-ass, castle-shaped cage in the backseat. The rest of the car is stuffed to the gills with my TV, clothes, and books. Couldn't leave home without every last one of my Sherrilyn Kenyon’s, Julie Kenner’s, and the rest of my paranormal romances.
I'm a book blogger, you see. I use my AOL profile website as a sort of scrapbook to keep all my reviews and notes about my favorite authors. It’s not just for books though. It’s kind of like a diary too. That’s why I named it Kayla’s Chick Rant & Book Blog. My mom thinks I put too much of myself on the internet, but I tell her, “I’m not the only one thinking this stuff. I just may be the only one with the balls to say it aloud.” I'm from a small town in North Carolina called Fayetteville . Affectionately nicknamed Fayettenam since it's right next door to Ft. Bragg Army Base. I'm on 95 South about to jump on I-10 West, moving to Texas for a semester of school.
Mark flew in to Raleigh and is driving me to his house in Houston, where I'm going to see what it's like to "live outside that shithole vortex" as he put it. I love my big brother. He's the oldest out of the three I've got. I'm the baby and the only girl. Our relationship is different from most siblings, I suppose, because he was 17 when I was born. Yep, I was an accident. I was born the year Daddy retired from the Navy. But Momma finally got her girl!
I think Mark feels like it was up to him to get me out of Fayetteville. Everyone there seems to either marry a soldier and live the military life, or work at a dead-end job. There's nothing in Fayetteville, really, except for restaurants and stores. A shit-ton of them, mind you, but still.
I’m moving in with Mark and his wife, Kim. She’s seriously the most hilarious chick you could possibly imagine. I couldn’t have picked a better woman for my brother. Kim and I share a love of paranormal romances, so we’ll call each other up and talk for an hour about what’s going on in some of our favorite series. I’m looking forward to having her around. In a couple of days, I'll be registering at Kingwood College to work toward my degree in English. I want to be a writer, but until then, I took it upon myself to pimp out the authors I'm addicted to, spreading their stories so everyone else can enjoy the escape they bring.
It’s not a bad deal. As I sit here, wearing my “Authors Are My Rockstars” t-shirt, you can tell I absolutely love what I do, because a lot of my wardrobe is book-themed. I even have a nightshirt that says “I Sleep with a Different Book Boyfriend Every Night”. I get to talk daily with people I adore, like others would their favorite singer. Or even like I used to over Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys in the 6th grade. Only it’s even better because instead of loving them from afar, knowing you’ll never actually get to tell them how much you love them (and marry them in my case with Brian…sigh), I actually hold conversations with them! Any time I want, I can email my favorite author just to see how their day is going, how their next book is coming along, and with a select few, I’ve really gotten close to, check on how that argument with their hubby worked out. I’ll never have to worry about one of my authors not knowing how much I appreciate them…unlike Brian. I was so upset when he got married when I was in the 7th grade that my mom let me stay home from school…true story.
Turtle’s cage is taking up the entire floor on my side of the car, so my feet are up on the dashboard, swinging back and forth to the “Disturbed” song playing on the radio. Turtle never got a real name because when I got him in Myrtle Beach, the guy on The Strip told me they only usually live for a couple of months. He was about the size of a fifty-cent coin at the time. Well, five years later and that asshole is still kicking and is about the size of a baseball. Not that I wanted my pet to keel over, but I didn’t sign up for this! But when Daddy suggested I just let Turtle free into our lake behind our house, all I could imagine was one of
the giant snapping turtles making a midday snack out of the little guy. I just couldn’t do it.
So now I get to ride over 1600 miles with nowhere to put my long-ass legs. I’m 5’6, pretty tall for a chick I think, going by the fact I was always one of the tallest girls at my school. All my big brothers are over six-feet tall, one’s even 6’5. I have super dark brown hair that hits the middle of my back, and the only green eyes in my family, everyone else has blue. My mom told me that her dad and sister had green eyes, but they both passed away before I was born. I glance over at Mark as he reaches for his fourth Diet Mountain Dew of the day, “Liquid Gold” he calls it. “You know that stuff is just as bad, if not worse than regular Mountain Dew, right?” I ask him.
“Yeah, but it helps me keep my girlish figure, Wench.” I don’t remember exactly why he started calling me Wench; he’s done it since I can remember. But it probably has something to do with all my big brothers bribing me with hide-and-seek to go fetch them drinks and sandwiches while they played video games when I was little.
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