Page 137 of Northern Stars

I walked over to the window, taken aback, but when I saw those blue eyes, I felt as if the stranger was so familiar. He gave me a halfway grin and gestured for me to open the window. I glanced back at my father, and he shrugged.

“Open it. I got your back,” Dad said, giving me reassurance.

I opened it, and the guy held his hand straight out to me. “I’ve heard a lot about this window. You must be Hailee. I’m Damian. Aiden’s brother.”

Of course, he was. He looked remarkably like Aiden. The blue eyes should’ve given him away. A sigh of relief hit me as I reached out to shake his hand.

“Goodness, hi. It’s nice to meet you…at my window.”

He chuckled slightly. “I came into town to see Aiden. I’m staying at his place with him and his mom. He told me how you and he climbed out of windows and shit to see each other.” He glanced past me and nodded in the direction of Mama and Dad. “You’re Hailee’s parents?”

“We are,” Mama said.

“Sorry for the foul language, ma’am,” Damian said. He turned back to me. “Anyway. I’m shocked you guys don’t need back surgery from bending out of these windows. I almost got stuck, but I wanted to come meet my new sister-in-law before I headed back to Los Angeles.”

“Oh, no. Aiden and I aren’t married. We’re just dating.”

Damian arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? Because there’s a man on a bent knee right over here hoping that that fact would change sooner than later.” He gestured behind him and revealed Aiden, down on one knee, with a box in his hands.

“Oh, my goodness,” I gasped. I had more tears, but these ones were happy.

Damian held his hand out toward me to help me step through the window. He led me over to Aiden, who had the biggest smile resting against his face. That smile controlled my heartbeats.

“Hey, you,” he whispered.

“Hey, you,” I replied, stepping in front of him.

“You know, I’ve practiced this speech many times throughout the years, but actually doing it is another thing.” Aiden nervously laughed as the ring box shook in his hand. The ring box. The ring. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen in my life.

He continued speaking as my tears continued to flow. “Hailee Jones, you are my person. The reason I believe in destiny, the reason I believe in love. I’ve played many different characters in my life, but the best leading role I’ve ever played was the one where I had the privilege of being your best friend. You are my morning coffee and my bourbon at night. You are the Jerry to my Tom. You are my north star that guides me home each night. I know people say you’re supposed to fall in love, but the truth is, I was born in love with you. From the moment I took my first breath, my heart longed for you. So marry me, Hailee. Marry the good parts of me and the messy ones, too. Marry my confidence and my insecurities. Marry me. Marry all of me, the good and the bad, and give me the joy of loving you more and more until the day I die. Will you marry me?”

I lowered myself down to his level, sitting on my knees in the snowy grass right beside him. I placed my hands against his cheeks and smiled. “Yes.” It was the easiest yes I’d ever spoken. Being loved by Aiden was a gift. Aiden Walters was the kind of man a woman never truly got over. I was given a second chance with his love, with his heart, and I swore for the remainder of my life, his heart would remain in my protection.

I kissed him long and hard as our families cheered from behind. Laurie had a camera in her hands taking photographs while Mama and Dad snapped their own. The proposal taking place in the exact spot where I’d first fallen in love with him felt like kismet.

I was going to marry Aiden Walters, and he was going to be mine forever.

He was going to marry me, and I was going to be his always.

For as long as we both shall live.

“Canwe just live in the part of wedding planning where we sample cake flavors for the rest of our lives?” I asked Aiden as we sat in front of eight different samples of cakes. It was fair to say that picking out a cake had been my favorite part of the wedding planning process.

He wiped his finger into the chocolate buttercream frosting and stuck it into his mouth. “I think that’s the greatest idea you’ve ever had.”

“Now, this one is an orange peel cream. The cake is a white cake with a hint of lemon zest. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s astonishing,” Mama said as she brought out yet another piece of cake for us to try. We’d been sitting in Hailee’s Bakery for the past two hours trying cakes, and I wasn’t complaining one bit.

The fact that Mama oversaw the sweets for the wedding, and Laurie was in charge of the elegant meals felt so exciting to me. It was the best of both worlds. Our mothers were masters in their fields, and they were bringing out their best for Aiden’s and my wedding.

Aiden and I took a bit of the orange peel cake, and we moaned in unison.

“Holy,” Aiden groaned, shutting his eyes as he fell into euphoria.

“This is the one.” I nodded. I looked to Aiden. “Isn’t this the one?”

“This is absolutely the one. Penny, I don’t know how you did this, but I’m so glad you did. This is it.”

Mama grinned ear to ear. “Trust me, I already knew.”

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