AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She giggles maniacally. “I really am.”
“Good job, Mommy!” Chase shouts from where he’s waiting in line for the shorter diving board on the other side of the boat with his stepdad, Aaron. “You kicked booty!”
Mel waves at him, but instead of moving to rejoin her family, she turns to me, catching my elbow. She lowers her voice, her smile fading as she whispers, “Hey, can we chat for a second?”
Frowning, I nod. “Of course. What’s up?”
She reaches down, taking my hands in hers, sending a shiver of apprehension up my spine. I hope she isn’t upset about the food truck thing. I told her I didn’t intend to leave the catering business until next spring, giving her plenty of time to find my replacement.
But she might still feel I’m being disloyal, abandoning her when she has a little one and a newborn and needs to lean on me more than she has before.
She pulls in a breath, her eyes shining as she says, “I just want you to know how happy I am for you, for all the good things happening in your life, both personal and professional. And if you decide you want to launch your business earlier than planned, I’m on board, okay? You’ve waited long enough for your dreams to come true. You shouldn’t have to wait any longer. Not because of me, anyway.”
I squeeze her hands. “Thank you, babes. That’s so sweet, but I can’t afford the renovations I’ll need to make to the truck until next year. I need time to save up.”
“Small business loan,” Binx says, suddenly appearing beside us, a sweating beer in hand. “You’ll be approved. I have no doubt. I mean, as long as you get your butt in and apply before I quit in October.”
My brows shoot up. “What? You’re quitting the bank?”
“I am,” she says, “but that’s not the important part. The important part is that you don’t have to wait to start Easy Breezy Cheesy. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is good news for everyone. I need gourmet grilled cheese in my life like, yesterday.”
“Same,” Mel says, beaming up at me, her eyes still misty. “It’s time to fly the nest, Tessa Marley Gray McGuire.”
I bite my lip as emotion swells in my chest. “Don’t jinx it,” I say with a soft laugh. “He hasn’t asked me yet.”
Binx and Mel exchange a look I don’t understand until Binx nods over my shoulder. “I think you should turn around.”
Pulse picking up, I turn to see Wes standing on the deck of our boat and Freya picking her way expertly across the small rope ladder stretching between the two anchored pontoons. She’s wearing her fancy blue bow from the wedding, the one Wes removed earlier so that she could swim without getting it wet.
But it isn’t just the bow. There’s something else tied to the satin. I see it even before she reaches the edge of the ladder.
I reach for her with shaking hands. “Wesley McGuire,” I say, my voice trembling nearly as hard as my fingers as I untie the bow, freeing the gorgeous diamond ring dangling from Freya’s neck. “Did you seriously just trust a ferret on a rope ladder wearing a slippery satin bow with our future?”
He grins, his eyes crinkling at the edges as Freya climbs up to perch on my shoulder. “She promised she wouldn’t drop it. Besides, she’s part of our future, too. She told me she thinks you should say yes, by the way.”
Holding his gaze across the few feet of water separating us, I say, “Maybe I will. Once you ask me.”
Without missing a beat, he sinks down onto one knee, triggering murmurs of surprise from the surrounding boats. Someone shuts off the music and even Keanu Reeves and Pippa Jane fall silent in their baby pool as Wes says, “Tessa Marley Gray Martin, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. Even on my hardest days, when I’m reminded of all the shittiness in the world, it doesn’t drag me down. Not anymore. Because I know I’m coming home to you.”
I press my lips together, fighting tears as he continues, “You make me a better man, a braver one, and every time I look into your eyes, I know I’m where I’m supposed to be, with my person. I love you more than anything, and I promise I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it. All you have to do is say yes.”
“Yes,” I say, the word bursting from my chest as I nod so fast it sends the tears in my eyes streaming down my cheeks.
“What’d she say?” one of the elderly members of the McGuire clan shouts from a nearby boat, making us all laugh.
“Yes!” I shout. “I said yes!”
More laughter and cheers erupt from the party at large as Freya begins grooming my hair and ears, doing her part to make me presentable for my shiny new fiancé. After sliding the gorgeous ring on my finger, I hug her to my chest, watching as Wes strips off his shirt—yes, please—and jumps into the water.
A few moments later, he’s on the boat beside me, gathering Freya and me into his damp arms. I shiver and press closer, looping my wrists around his neck.
“Want to elope?” he asks, kissing my cheek. “So we can spend the autumn being obnoxious newlyweds?”
I beam up at him. “Yes. Immediately. Weekend in Vegas? I hear you can get married in less than twelve hours.”
“That would leave another whole day for hunting treasure in the desert,” he says, proving he’s my man.
Mine…
