Page 128 of Everlasting Promises

“I also wanted to ask if it would be okay with you if I proposed to your wife. I know she’ll always love you, and I’m okay with that. You were her first love, and you’re the father of her son. I would never expect her to stop, but I hope I’ve shown her that she can love both of us. I’ve already asked Evan, as well as your parents and hers. I even asked Shane and Nix, because I know they were important to you.” I snap the lid closed. “I promise to always make Hope and Evan my top priority and to keep them safe. To make sure they’re loved every day; the way they deserve.”

I climb to my feet and touch the headstone. “They’ll always be your everything, but now they’re mine too.”

60

HOPE

I push my way inside,balancing two bags of groceries for dinner in my arms. “We’re home!” I call. It’s been almost twenty-two hours since I’ve seen Ben, and I miss him. His overnight shifts are the worst, and I’m glad last night was his last one. Evan steps in behind me with his backpack hanging off one shoulder. “Close the door, please.”

Rex barks from out the back, so they must be out there. I carry the groceries down the hallway, past our family photos—which also include photos from our old home, as well as Ben with Tahlia and Sebastian—into the kitchen. I place the groceries on the counter, and Evan drops his backpack onto the kitchen floor and heads for the back door. I get busy storing the cold items in the fridge so they don’t spoil.

“Uh, Mom. You might wanna come here,” Evan says. His tone is strained, causing worry to take root in my gut.

I close the fridge door and spin around as my heart takes off at a gallop. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He glances at me with wide eyes and, if I’m not mistaken, a mischievous grin. “Nothing. But you need to see this.”

“Can I at least finish putting the groceries away?”

“No. You’ll want to see this now.”

I shrug. “Okay.”

He slips outside, closing the door behind him before I make it there. When I open it again and step onto the porch, my eyes blow wide. It takes a moment for the scene to register, and when it does, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Three-foot tall letters light up the middle of the backyard. Seven simple letters that each mean nothing on their own, but together, make up two words that mean everything.

Ben’s on bended knee with Rex sitting beside him, his rump shaking from side to side and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. On his other side is a canvas tent decorated in fairy lights. Inside sits a low table with a picnic basket and a gift wrapped in a bow that matches the one around Rex’s neck.

I drift across the porch and down the steps, aware of Evan holding his phone up. I hope he’s recording this, because I’m not sure I’ll be able to remember everything with my heart pounding the way it is.

Ben’s lips spread in a beautiful smile, and butterflies erupt in my stomach. When I stop in front of him, he reaches out and takes one of my hands in his. “Welcome home, Cookie.”

I study him, my mouth forming a grin to match his, then glance around us. “What’s all this?” I ask with raised brows.

“I have something important I want to ask you,” he says, looking up at me from his lowered position. Rex fidgets on his feet, but he maintains his spot next to his dad like the well-trained animal he is.

I lower myself to my knees, because I don’t think they’re going to hold me up with all the blood rushing to my head.“What do you want to know?” I murmur as if the two words lit up behind him and this entire setting doesn’t give me a clue.

He grins, but when I look more carefully, it’s strained. There’s a tightness around his eyes that’s not usually there, so I entwine our fingers together and squeeze his hand. His shoulders rise as his chest expands with a deep breath. He blows it out, and I watch some of the tension ease from his features.

“I’ve never told you this, but I was attracted to you the second you opened your front door that very first day when I brought Evan home.”

What?

Gosh, I was so focused on Evan arriving home with a police officer in tow, Ben could have been fat and balding, and I would never have noticed.

“It wasn’t long after that I discovered I liked the person you are. And then it took no time at all for like to turn into love. There are so many reasons I fell in love with you and Evan that we’d be here all night, and, well, I just want to get to the point.”

Evan chuckles from beside us, and Rex’s tail sweeps back and forth across the grass. My heart thumps against my sternum, and my breath is becoming more and more difficult to control.

“It has been a privilege to get to know you and Evan over these last months and an honor to have you both in my life. You say I brought you into the light, but you saved me from loneliness. For the first time I have a family to belong to, but I’d like to make it official.”

He swallows and nudges Rex, who steps forward to nuzzle me. I chuckle and reach around his neck to cuddle him when my fingers glide over something unexpected. Dropping my eyes, I see a gorgeous ring. I barely register it before snapping my head back up to Ben.

“I’ve asked Evan, and I’ve asked your family and Wyatt’s. I also checked with Shane and Nix … and this morning, I stoppedby the cemetery to share a beer with Wyatt. They’ve all given me their blessing. So, Hope, you’re really the last one I need to ask.”

I swallow thickly as my eyes well with tears. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest with happiness. I glance at Evan to find him beaming at me, then return my gaze to the man I love beyond reason.

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