Page 104 of Finding Home

I clutch my chest, letting Caleb know I’ve received his message, loud and clear, and that I send him all of my love in return.

A firm poke on my shoulder wrenches my attention away from Caleb. I turn to look at whoever’s nudged me, intending to simply glance and return to Caleb again; but to my shock, I’ve got another surprise awaiting me. One that commands my full attention.

It’s Amy and her husband, Colin, standing before me, flanked by none other than Violet and her husband, Dax, and both couples’ respective sons—two-year-old Rocco and eight-year-old Jackson.

“What the . . . ?” I gasp out, too flabbergasted to finish the sentence.

All four adults, now joined by Miranda, cackle with glee at my reaction, as Raine beelines excitedly to Rocco and hugs him. The pair were instantly inseparable, like peanutbutter and jelly, at Caleb’s party in Santa Monica less than two weeks ago, so I’m not surprised she remembers him.

Amy wraps my short-circuiting body in her arms and says, “Miranda made this party sound liketheplace to be, so we all came to check it out!”

I stammer while greeting everyone, and they guffaw at my astonished reaction, once again. My parents appear and greet everyone warmly. They already met all these fancy people, briefly, at Caleb’s party, before they spirited the toddlers away and retired themselves. But once their greetings have been administered, the whole group, including me, turns its collective attention back to Caleb onstage.

When I catch my boyfriend’s eyes this time, I motion excitedly to our unexpected group of visitors; but nothing but smug satisfaction graces Caleb’s handsome face, making it clear this group’s arrival isn’t a shock to him, like it is for me. I mean, Caleb looks overjoyed to see everyone. Also, to see my reaction. But he’s definitely notsurprised. Indeed, his expression is like he’s just pulled off the bank heist of the century.

The iconic song ends, sadly, and the lead singer bellows, “Let’s hear it for our guest drummer, C-Bomb!”

As the crowd roars, Caleb waves a drumstick in the air.

“Thank you, Caleb. That was a dream come true for all of us. We’re honored you’ve made our little hometown your new home.” The singer returns to the crowd with a big grin. “Now, who’s ready for theauctionnnnnnn?”

The crowd cheers and whoops its enthusiastic reply.

“It’s gonna be a good one,” the singer declares. “But before that, C-Bomb has asked to say a few words to you.”

He has?Caleb didn’t mention wanting to do that to me; but then again, he also didn’t mention playing with theband, or the fact that his sister and friends would be here today.What’s going on?

I look at my mother, since she’s the festival czar who’s meticulously planned everything on today’s schedule, and she shoots me a look of such over-the-top joy, such intense expectation and glee, I suddenly realize what’s going on here: Miranda must have lobbied all our friends to come here today, specifically to maximize bidding on all the amazing donations they secured for the event. My god, Miranda is a force of nature. Not to mention, I’m thoroughly impressed with Dax, too. When Dax agreed to become real friends with Caleb going forward, the dude wasn’t kidding. Obviously, both he and his wife, Violet, genuinely want to forge a genuine bond here. Talk about two people walking the walk!

Caleb comes to the front of the stage and takes the mic from the singer, while the crowd goes crazy. “Hey, everyone,” Caleb says, his low, sexy voice sending goosebumps across my skin. “I want to thank you for welcoming me with such open arms into your community. I feel like I’m home, and that’s partly thanks to all of you.”

More cheers.

“To express my gratitude to this community, I’m going to match, by a multiple of five,whatever total is raised in this auction today. So, please, be as generous as you can afford to be.”

As everyone cheers and claps, I look at Mom again, and this time, the near-euphoria on her face verges on mania.Aw, Mom. She works so hard to make this festival a success, every year; and, now, she’s about to throw her best event yet.Good for her.I mean, good for Prairie Springs, of course. But I love watching Mom geek out about the money we’re about to raise for some good causes.

I hug Mom and she practically vibrates in my arms. “This is so exciting!” I shout into her ear, above the din; but to my surprise, she simply waves me off and gestures for me to pay attention to Caleb onstage again.

When my eyes return to Caleb’s, he continues into his microphone, “Okay, now that we’ve got the auction stuff out of the way, let me tell you the other big reason, besides all of you, that Prairie Springs feels like home to me now.” He points to me. “That woman right there. The amazing, beautiful, brilliant Aubrey Capshaw. Or, as I like to call her, A-Bomb.”

I shake my head, laughing and blushing. Goddammit, Caleb. Doesn’t he know the whole town is going to start calling me that now, every bit as much as they call him C-Bomb?

Caleb chuckles at whatever he’s seeing on my face. “Aubrey, baby. My love.” His smile fades. Suddenly, he looks incredibly earnest up there. Like he’s gearing up to say something deeply important. He clears his throat. Takes a deep breath. “Aubrey, my love, you’re the great love of my life. My family, my forever, my home; and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, as your husband, if you’ll let me.”

I gasp, and the crowd goes batshit around me; and a second later, Caleb jumps off the lip of the stage and bounds toward me like a bull in a rodeo ring. When he reaches me, he kneels, raises an opened ring box to me, revealing a massive, sparkling diamond nestled in black velvet, and chokes out, “Aubrey Capshaw, will you marry me?”

I can’t function. I’m too overwhelmed. But when I realize he’s waiting for an answer before sliding that jaw-dropping rock onto my finger, I scream, “Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times, yes!”

Laughing, Caleb puts the ring on; and with the dazzling diamond on my hand, my man—my future husband—rises and wraps me in a hug that takes my breath away, while the crowd surrounding us cheers and applauds wildly.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a booming, amplified voice says. It’s the lead singer of the band again, resuming his duties at the mic. “Before we start the auction, Caleb’s arranged a special guest performer as an engagement gift for his fiancée and daughter. Ladies and gentlemen, please, give it up for . . .Aloha Carmichael!”

“What?” I shriek. “No.What?” I’ll be damned, Aloha Carmichael herself suddenly bursts out of a makeshift tent near the stage and struts onstage to thunderous applause.

Shrieking and freaking out, I swivel my head toward Caleb, and he’s practically doubled over with laughter at my maniacal reaction. I quickly find Raine, who’s screaming and jumping up and down next to my mother, and we proceed to freak out and cry together.

Predictably, phones come out everywhere, as Aloha saunters onstage, waving and laughing as she goes. “Hello, Prairie Springs!” the world-famous pop star shouts into the microphone at center stage. “And congratulations to Caleb, Aubrey, and Raine!” She finds me in the crowd. “Caleb told me ‘Pretty Girl’ is a favorite of yours and Raine’s. So this one goes out to both of you, pretty girls.”

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