I grin into his beautiful face now. “Of course I’ll be your wife.”
He laughs and pulls me into arms, and the whole group breaks into cheers. At some point we stop kissing long enough for him to open the box and slide the ring onto my finger. It’s a gorgeous cushion-cut diamond in a setting that’s obviously antique. It’s not the normal engagement ring, but then again, I’m not a normal kind of girl. I kiss him again, so thrilled to have found this man who understands me so well.
We get hugs and pats on the back and kisses on the cheek, and I think my face might split in half because I’m smiling so much. And finally, after hugging my way around the room, I make it to Landon. She pulls me in for a hug, and we’re still holding each other and laughing when Max waddles over to us.
Even though it’s almost the end of her pregnancy, I still fight the urge to cry every time I see her beautiful belly. I place my hands on it now and lean down to speak to her stomach just like I always do. At first it drove Max crazy, but she’s learned to ignore me.
“Baby, did you hear? I got engaged! That means you get to be a flower girl.”
“He can’t be a flower girl when he’s a boy,” Landon counters.
This is a debate we’ve been having for about eight months now. Taylor and Max refuse to find out the sex of the baby, so they can’t really blame everyone for arguing about it endlessly.
“Of course it’s a girl.” I straighten myself back up. “That’s why she and I are already so close.”
I turn back to Max for confirmation, and I’m shocked by the tears rolling down her cheeks. She rolls her eyes and scowls but keeps right on crying. “Stupid pregnancy hormones.” She pulls me in quickly for a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Me too,” Landon adds, grabbing for my hand.
Landon’s blonde curls are practically vibrating with energy, and Max is glowing with joy. I look at them, my two very best friends, and add this moment to the memory of The Night I Got Engaged.
Almost five years ago, this little blonde moved to Los Angeles. Who could have ever known that one little girl with an accent as big as her hair, who just wanted to throw parties, could have been the catalyst for all of this?
Back then we started this journey as girls. I can’t believe the women we’ve become. I can’t believe the adventures we’ve already had and the ones still out there waiting for us. Babies, weddings, businesses, family, hard times, sickness, laughter, and tears. The good and the bad, we’ll take it all. The baby kicks in the exact spot my hand is resting on Max’s tummy—one more girl to add to the mix, I’m absolutely sure of it—and we all laugh.
As long as I’ve got these girls, I can handle anything.
Acknowledgments
Oh readers, I can’t even believe we’ve made it to the end of another book! It still boggles my mind that I wrote one of these girl’s stories down, let alone three! But here we are, and once again I have some gigantic thank-yous to make, so bear with me.
My sincerest thanks to Jodi Warshaw and the team at Lake Union. I am so grateful for your belief in Landon, Max, Miko, and me.
To my agent, Kevan Lyon—who I am positive will figure out any day now that I’m a total poser and drop me like a hot rock—I can’t believe I get to work with you and ask you advice. This blows my mind and tickles me pink. Thanks for all your help!
Mad love to Eryn Kalavsky for being the first reader, the eighth reader, and the hundredth reader of everything I write. Thanks for letting me whine about how I can’t figure out this plot or these characters or these words. You’ve heard it so many times, and it has to be annoying. Thanks for taking it like a champ just the same!
Thank you to Wendy Haworth, the incredibly talented designer of Los Angeles’s Gracias Madre, which was the inspiration for Liam and Miko’s restaurant project. Wendy’s aesthetic is incredible, and she’s an absolute peach for answering a million questions about design for me. Also, upscale vegan Latin cuisine is actually totally delicious—nobody is more surprised than I am.
Thank you to the amazing staff at Chic Media, who are my work family. It can’t be easy to work for a woman who spends half her time freaking out about a looming deadline for her next book, but you guys just take my crazy in stride. A big shout-out to Cortnee Brown for another beautifully designed cover. Thank you for always illustrating my dreams.
So much love to the members of my street team—affectionately known as the FORs. You guys are the coolest, and I can’t believe you like me enough to want to hang out on a private Facebook page and talk books, but I really appreciate it!
Last, but never least, thank you to my Brody, my Taylor, my Liam, my inspiration for every dream man I write. David, were it not for our first year together, I wouldn’t know how to write angst. And were it not for the thirteen years that came afterwards, I wouldn’t know how to write a happily ever after. Thank you for filling my life with so much love that it spills over onto the pages of my books.
About the Author
Rachel Hollis founded the LA-based event planning firm Chic Events at only twenty-one. Six years later Inc. magazine named her one of the top thirty entrepreneurs under thirty. She went on to turn Chic into the extremely popular lifestyle website TheChicSite.com, where readers log on daily for the tips and tricks she’s acquired after years of planning fancy parties for celebrities. She has designed and produced fabulous events for many of Hollywood’s elite, including Bradley Cooper, Al Gore, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ivanka Trump, Rashida Jones, Jaime King, Sara Rue, and Cuba Gooding, Jr., just to name a few.
Rachel moved to Los Angeles to go to college and promptly met a boy named David, who was as handsome as he was funny. First she made that boy her best friend, and then she made him her husband. Eleven years later they have three equally handsome and hilarious little boys named Jackson, Sawyer, and Ford. They live in LA, where they spend their time doing super cool and sexy things, such as going to soccer practice and hitting up any restaurant where kids eat free with the purchase of an adult entrée.
Take this friendship to the next level by hitting up Rachel on any of the websites below. She’s so excited to be an author that she’d probably pee her pants if you actually brought it up on social media!
Twitter: @msrachelhollis
Facebook: /msrachelhollis
Instagram: @msrachelhollis
Pinterest: @msrachelhollis
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