“Your charming boyfriend invited me.”
Ella gave her friend a big hug. “You’re just in time for dinner.”
“That was my plan.”
The chef, in traditional chef’s uniform, right down to the toque blanche, a white chef hat, had fired up the large gas grill and was throwing shish kebabs, skewered cubes of beef and bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and bacon, onto the flames.
“Shall we move to the table?” Kyle suggested. He tucked his hand in the small of Ella’s back as they made their way to their seats.
They all took their places around the table with much talk and laughter. Ella was enchanted with the whole tribe. They were all so interesting and had great stories to tell. Deb seemed to fit right in. Finn was doing his best to keep them entertained as well. She couldn’t help but fast forward to his teenage years; she thought he might have inherited a little bit of his Uncle Griffin’s charm. After dinner a traditional French dessert was served,Crème au Caramel, absolutely to die for in Ella’s opinion.
Kyle suggested they move to more comfortable seating around the pool, which they did. Drinks were flowing and everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. Ella slipped off her heels and wiggled toes that were happy to be free. Faye had kicked hers off long ago. Finn got up and ran into the house yelling, “I’ll be right back, nobody move,” causing them all to laugh at his dramatics.
When he returned, he was pulling Richard Drake along with him and Finn had a huge grin on his face. Kyle stood up and tapped his glass with a spoon, the tinkling sound capturing everyone’s attention.
They all looked at him expectantly, and Ella’s eyebrow’s rose when he turned towards her. Getting down on one knee in front of her, she suddenly understood what was about to happen. Eyes wide, she covered her mouth with her hand. She searched Kyle’s eyes, which were blazing with emotion. Finn stepped next to his dad and importantly reached his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a ring box handing it to his father.
“Ella, you are my heart, my love, l’amour de ma vie, my other half. Will you marry me?”
With tears spilling out and down her cheeks she nodded her head yes. Holding out her hand, she watched as he slipped the huge diamond solitaire onto her finger. The group, who had been in on it the whole time, cheered. James clicked his glass with a spoon, saying “Toast.”
They all turned toward him, and he said, “Ella, welcome to the Bennett family. You are an answered prayer for us. We never thought we’d see our son happy again. Our grandson adores you and so do we. May you have a lifetime of joy and happiness together.”
Finn wrapped his arms around Ella and said, “I love you to the moon and back.”
“My turn,” Kyle said. He lowered his head and kissed her passionately to the delight of everyone.
“See what I have to go through?” Finn said, grinning happily.
Laughing Giselle said, “One daymon mignon, you’ll kiss a girl like that.”
“No way, gross!”
Ella looked around at her family…her family. Finally, she had the one thing she had been longing for since she was a child. More importantly she had found her mate, the person she wanted to wake up beside for the rest of her life. She couldn’t wait to have little munchkins running around the now empty halls of this mansion. It would be filled with love, joy and laughter.
The End for Now…
