They smile and clink their cups against mine.
“To the next twenty years,” I say.
And I mean it.
Every chaotic, ridiculous, perfect second of it.
By the time the sun starts to dip behind the trees, the pond reflects streaks of orange and rose gold across the surface. The fire is crackling strong, sparks flying every now and then as someone tosses on another log.
I’m curled up in Callum’s lap around the fire, my back pressed to his chest, his arms wrapped around me like he’s trying to keep me from floating away. It’s the kind of warmth that has nothing to do with the flames and everything to do with who we’re with.
Winter suddenly yells from the back of Hayden’s SUV, “SCORE!”
We all turn as she triumphantly lifts a half-smashed bag of marshmallows over her head like she’s just won an Olympic medal.
“Itoldyou we brought them!” she beams.
There’s a collective cheer as everyone scrambles to grab sticks and start roasting.
“I’ll go get the graham crackers and chocolate!” Madi announces, already halfway to the cooler.
Everyone’s a little chaotic now. Callum is helping me sharpen a stick, Tristan is rearranging the firewood like we’re in some survivalist competition, and Hayden is inspecting the marshmallows to see if they’re up to his liking.
I lean my head back against Callum’s shoulder and let myself soak it all in. This moment. These people. The soft buzz of contentment that comes from knowing the worst is behind us and we’re still here. Still family.
“I love you,” I whisper to him.
He kisses the top of my head. “Yeah? Good. Because I spent a long time loving you in secret, bambi.”
Hayden pulls his marshmallow out of the fire, and it’s blackened, flaming, really, but he acts like it’s perfectly fine and slaps it onto a graham cracker with reckless confidence.
“That isnottoasted,” Tristan says, watching in dismay.
“It’s got personality,” Hayden defends.
“It’s got a death wish,” Tristan replies.
Before I can make a joke, Callum shifts beside me and starts to stand.
“Where are you going?” I ask, confused but moving with him.
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he clears his throat and raises his voice just enough to catch everyone’s attention.
“Hey,” he says, pulling something from his pocket. “Can I say something real quick?”
The conversations hush, the crackling fire filling the silence.
Callum drops to one knee, and I swear that I feel my heart stutter in my chest when he opens the box to show me a sparkling diamond ring. It looks antique, nothing like the one that’s already on my ring finger.
“I know we did the whole fake thing,” Callum starts, his voice steady but thick with emotion. “But it’s never been fake for me. You’re my best friend, Lilac. You’ve always been my best friend. And now I want you to be my wife. For real this time. No pretending. Just us.”
Winter and Madi let out synchronized swoons, hands over their hearts.
I’m already crying when I drop to my knees in front of him, throwing my arms around his neck.
“Yes,” I whisper. Then louder, “Of course. OfcourseI’ll be your wife.”
“I love you,” he tells me, slipping my ring off and letting me look at the new ring. “This is Grandma Grey’s. Caiden called in a favor for me. She wants to meet you, and I think, me too, I guess.” I can hear the boy who came to live at my house when he was ten years old in his voice right now.
