I freeze in the middle of the path, hearing Aster’s laugh. “What was that?”
Zachery’s eyes go wide, and he glances over his shoulder like his boss might catch him doing something he’s not supposed to be doing. “What? I didn’t hear anything. Let’s go down this path.”
“No— that was?—”
The sound comes again, but this time, it’s definitely Daffy, that sharp, loud laugh something I could pick out of a crowd every time. My skin flushes, and adrenaline starts to pump through my body.
My parents would have told me if they were bringing the kids here today — so what in the world are they doing at the rose gardens, an hour outside of town?
Turning, I start stalking in the other direction, pushing through bushes and branches when there’s no clear path in the direction I need to go.
“Lara!” Zachery calls from behind me. “It’s nothing! Let’s just stay on the—ow!— path, please!”
“Mykidsare here,” I snap, not turning back to look at him.
“That could have been any laugh.”
“No, I know the sound of my own?—”
I burst through a bush and step out into a courtyard. A fountain twinkles in the middle, and there’s a group of people standing onthe other side, all facing away from me. Zachery emerges from the hedges beside me a second later, laughing, shaking his head, and brushing greenery from his linen shirt.
“I swear, Lara?—”
“Mommy!” Daffy sees me first and runs across the courtyard with Olympic speed. I pick her up and watch as the group of people on the other side turn around, faces changing when they see me.
My mom and dad, Aster and Chrys, Ellie,Shelby Bradson, and?—
“Jake?” I gasp, tears already pricking at my eyes, breath coming faster as I try to figure out what’s going on.
“Lara,” he says, walking toward me. The rest of the group follows until we’re all standing in front of the fountain, Daffy laughing in my arms.
“You’re going to like this, Mommy,” she whispers just before Jake reaches me.
“What’s going on?” I ask, looking around at all the people gathered around me.
“Can I take her?” my dad asks, and I pass Daffy to him, still feeling a little dazed and confused.
Then Jake steps forward, holding out a bouquet of flowers to me. I take them, my heart beating louder and harder than it ever has in my life.
“Lara,” Jake says, clearing his throat, and at once it feels like it’s just the two of us, the rest of them falling away. In an instant, I’m a teenager in a tree house again, watching him climb through the hatch. “I’m sorry for leaving the other day.”
“It’s okay, I?—”
He laughs, squeezing my hands. “I have a lot to say. Is it okay if I get through it all?”
I laugh back and nod, my heart fluttering against my rib cage.
“For a long time, growing up here, the only thing I ever wanted to do was leave Wildfern Ridge,” Jake says, his amber eyes holding mine. The sweet scent of flowers floats around us, and Aster whispers something to my mom, who smiles and pats his head.
Jake goes on, “When I met you, that changed. Suddenly, there was a big part of me that wanted to stay. Once I was friends with you, I saw what everyone else saw in this place. Something special. Something worth keeping.
“The entire time I was gone, I could tell something was missing from my life. And now that I’m here, I never want to leave again.” He pauses, pulls something from his pocket, and starts to lower himself to the ground.
It’s only when he’s on his knee that I realize what’s happening.
“Well,” he pauses, smiling up at me with an open ring box, the diamond glinting in the sun, “except for our honeymoon. Lara Novak, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. Time slows, and I feel the weight of all the people around us watching, waiting, my kids taking this in. Seeing their parents’ love for the first time.
