Page 106 of For Emery

My head shot to her. “For me?”

She lifted her chin toward the tree and pushed open the door. “Go out there.”

I stepped outside, the cool night air prickling the skin on my arms. I glanced back and realized she wasn’t following me out.

“Go ahead,” she urged.

I turned back to the tree and made my way over to it. It was beautiful before it had been filled with lights. Now it was exquisite. I stood under the long branches and looked up. The only thing I could see were lights. Thousands of lights creating a magical canopy. A wonderland. A place I never wanted to leave.

Huh. That was exactly the way I’d felt about Jordan’s house when I was growing up.

Music began playing softly. Instantly, I recognized the song. Jordan had played it when we danced under the same tree so long ago.

My head swung around, knowing he had to be nearby.

He stepped out from behind the large trunk wearing khaki pants and a white button-down shirt. He looked gorgeous—the way he always had in my eyes.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He walked over to me with a smirk, kissing me soft and slow. He pulled back, leaving me breathless. “I will never get sick of doing that.”

My eyes flashed up to the lights above us. “This looks beautiful.”

“It was time.”

My face wore my confusion. Time? Time for what?

“You told me on our first date that you would follow me anywhere. Did you mean that?”

I tilted my head. “Do you even have to ask that?”

He nodded. “Yup. I need to know.”

“Of course I’d follow you anywhere. I’ve been doing it since we met, haven’t I?”

His smile turned my insides mushy. Every time.

I watched as he slowly lowered himself down onto one knee.

Oh. My. God.

He pulled out a small box and looked up at me. “I know we’re young and we have our whole lives ahead of us…”

I clasped my hand over my mouth.

“But there’s not a person in this world I’d want to be on this journey with. I don’t want you following me anymore, Emery. I want you right by my side. I love you more than I ever thought possible. I know you may want to wait until you graduate and open your shelter, but I need to put a ring on your finger so I’ll know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you’ll be mine forever.”

Tears tumbled out of my eyes and down my cheeks. “I’ve always been yours,” I assured him.

His lips quirked in the corners. “I’m gonna need a more definitive answer. It’s good for the ego, you know.”

I laughed through my tears. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

His smile reached his eyes as he opened the box and pulled out a diamond ring. The stone sparkled almost as brilliantly as the lights above us.

I held out my shaking hand and he slipped the ring onto my finger. I didn’t even look at it. I was too taken by the way he stared up at me with the kind of happiness only attainable when you found “The One.”

Jordan pushed himself to his feet and lifted me right off mine. I wrapped my legs around his hips and our lips collided. I was marrying Jordan Grady. I’d told him a long time ago we’d get married someday. He didn’t believe me back then. But I’d been right. I’d been right all along.

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