Me:Just landed.
Taylor:I’m walking out to pull the car around now. But I’ll try to drive slowly.
Me:Thanks.
Kennedy grinned at me, and we headed off the jet. “Nervous?”
I felt like I might vomit. “I’m fine.”
“Then why do you look a little green?”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
She giggled as she climbed into the passenger side of my SUV. “Being nervous just means you care.”
I’d never cared more in my life. And I was ready to cement who Anna and I were to each other—without any false pretenses.
I did my best to keep just above the posted speed limits as I headed back to my house, but once I hit the two-lane road outside of town, my foot pressed down on the accelerator. Everything was taking too long. When we stopped at my gates, they were the worst of all, seeming to take eons to open.
Kennedy gripped the door handle. “Don’t crash into a tree less than a mile from home, please.”
“I’m a good driver.”
“Maybe when you’re not half out of your mind with anxiety, you are.”
I made a conscious effort not to speed down the lane. “See?”
She arched a brow in my direction. “I’m amazed by your restraint.”
I parked in front of the house, leaving plenty of room for Taylor to pull in behind me so Anna wouldn’t have to walk far. The front door opened, and Justin and Lyla bounded down the stairs.
“I wanna see,” Lyla cried.
I laughed as I climbed out of my SUV. “All right.” I pulled the ring box out of the bag and opened it so Lyla could see.
She gasped. “It’s like for a princess. So sparkly.”
I glanced at Kennedy. “I think that means she likes it.”
“I’d say so.”
Justin peeked into the box. “It’s sick.”
That was all I was getting from the kid who needed to keep his cool factor. I snapped the ring box closed. “Show me the banners.”
Lyla took my hand and tugged me up the steps. “We made them really pretty.”
Cain and Walker both gave me slaps on the back as I entered the house and took in the two massive banners hung in the entryway. One readWelcome Home. And the second readMarry Me? Again.They were a mishmash of colors, and Lyla had drawn lopsided hearts over the marry-me one. They were exactly right. A symbol of our life now—all over the place but perfect in its disarray.
“You guys did an amazing job.”
Lyla beamed. “Do you like my hearts?”
“Love them.”
My phone dinged with an alert, and my gut lurched. It was the gate. I hit the icon to open it. “They’re here.”
Kennedy clasped her hands together as tears spilled over. “Here we go.”
