His urgency capturing my attention, I look over at him, my breath immediately catching. There he is, knelt down on one knee holding a tiny black box in his strong hands. “Rachel, I’ve been wanting to tell you how much you mean to me for so long now. But I’ve realized over the past few months that words just aren’t enough between you and me. But I have to at least try.” He takes a deep breath and shifts his weight forward, his eyebrows drawing up in worry. “Rach, you are the light of my life and the wild to my fire. These past few months with you have been my Heaven on Earth. And if I can’t have you by my side for another eighteen years, there’s no point for me in living this life.”
My chest heaving with tension and having been so caught off-guard, I can’t speak for a minute. I feel small tears leaking out the corner of my eyes, and as I wipe them away, I push myself up onto my knees to meet him eye-level. Sniffling, I accidentally push out a tiny laugh. “You only want me for eighteen more years?”
Dropping his head, he matches my laughter until Dudley is rushing us at hearing our shared amusement. “Shit, see? Words just don’t do me right.” Bringing his head back up, he grabs my arm and pulls me closer to him. “What I’m trying to say is this: Rachel Easton.” He lets out a long, steady breath as he runs a thumb over my cheek. Putting his hand on the back of my neck, he brings me into the warmth of his breath for a quick kiss on the forehead. “Will you marry me?” he whispers.
Not being able to hold my emotions in any longer, I burst at the seams. My eyes flood with tears that blur my view of him as I nod my head up and down as vigorously as I can manage. “Yes,” I say between breaths. “Yes, of course.”
When he places the ring on my finger, I don’t even look at it before hopping up and into Garrett’s arms.
“You hear that, Dudley?” Garrett says, standing, lifting me off the ground. “She said yes, bud! She said yes.”
Covering Garrett’s face in kisses, I’m surrounded by so much joy and overwhelm that I can’t imagine my feelings growing any greater for these two. But here they are, my feelings taking deeper root, multiplying here in Garrett’s arms as Dudley prances around our ankles up on the hill next to Hole Number Fourteen surrounded by a navy sky.
The End
Thank You!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading All the Wild Ways. I appreciate the time you spent joining me on this wild little journey with Rachel and Garrett.
Did you enjoy the book? If this story moved you in any sort of way, I encourage and invite you to please leave me an honest review! Reviews are so useful in helping me reach new readers, and I genuinely look forward to hearing what you have to say about the book.
xo, Caroline
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About the Author
Caroline Tate is a Contemporary Romance Nerd-turned-Author who’s been keepin’ it real since the summer of ‘87. She spends her free time writing steamy stories with overwhelming but relatable characters set in small town, North Carolina.
Some of Caroline’s favorite things include playing guitar on the back porch and listening to ocean waves crash on the shore. She sips tea straight from a mason jar and will pet any puppy within a fifty-yard radius. Oh yeah, and fireflies. Little orbs of light, she calls them. She can usually be found chasing them on especially dark nights.
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Questions? Comments? Interested in knowing what story I’m working on next? Feel free to shoot me an email at ANY time. Seriously, I’m here for you. I look forward to connecting!
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