Page 143 of Your Second Chance
“Marry me. In the countryside.” He slid his hands up my back and pressed me close.
I blinked, my heart pounding.
“Scarlette has a break in March. I looked it up already. Marry me then. Please.”
I propped myself up on my arms, staring at him. “That’s only a few months away. You’ll be mid-season.”
“I have a five-day break.” He countered without hesitation. “I’ll have the assistant coach run training. Marry me, Nova. Please, do me the honor of being mine.”
His voice cracked slightly, the vulnerability in his words slicing through me. I reached out, cupping his face and brushing my thumb against his cheek.
I thought of the first time he found me in the bathroom, throwing up after another endless day. How he hadn’t flinched or looked at me like I was broken. Instead, he sat with me, held my hair back, rubbed my back, and waited until I could breathe again. He didn’t ask for explanations or try to fix me. He was there.
I remembered how he’d started as my friend before anything else. How he’d offer me light in places I thought would stay darkforever. His jokes, his quiet support, the way he knew when I needed someone to remind me that life didn’t have to feel so heavy.
I thought of the day I told him I was pregnant. The fear that had gripped me, certain it would be too much, that I’d lose him before we’d even really started. He hadn’t blinked.
He gave me more than support—he gave me hope.
Ollie was there, unshakable, through every tear, every misstep, every moment I thought I was too much for anyone to handle. With him, I didn’t feel broken. With him, I felt seen.
He wasn’t asking me to marry him—he was asking me to let him continue being the light he’d always been, to trust him with the next chapter of a life we’d built together.
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice trembling but sure. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”
His smile broke the tension, and he pulled me tightly against him. For the first time in so long, I felt the sadness fully lift. No matter what we faced, with Ollie, I knew I’d never face it alone.
49
nova
Three Months Later
“Look at how pretty Mum looks, Dad,” Scarlette said, holding my phone out so Austin and Charlie could see on the other end of the line.
“Let me see,” Charlie squealed.
I laughed, giving Scarlette a playful nudge, and then did a little twirl so they could see the whole outfit.
I had chosen a long, white, lace dress paired with my Doc Martens. It had been rainy lately, and we were getting married in the yard, so I didn’t want to muck up my fancy shoes. Luna had outdone herself, braiding my hair into a thick Dutch braid that felt effortlessly elegant.
“I’m dying,” Charlie gushed. “We cannot wait to hear all about it. Also, I’ve never been to England, so I’m trying to convince Austin that next time you go, we’d love for you to be our tour guide.”
“I’d love that.” I giggled.
“Okay, you go be the best bride ever,” Charlie said with a laugh before Austin’s voice chimed in.
“Hey—think you can take me off speaker for a second?”
I glanced at Scarlette, who was already bouncing toward the mirror, distracted by her flower girl dress.
I nodded and clicked off the video, walking to the corner of the room. “What’s up?”
“I, uh, I wanted to tell you congratulations.”
“Thanks?”
I couldn’t understand why this needed to be a private conversation if it was a simple congratulations.
