His mouth quirks. “Well, yeah… But that’s not the point because that part doesn’t have to happen until you’re ready. The point is that the moment I looked at you on Main Street, something inside me just knew.” He smiles as he reaches for my hand again and shifts onto one knee. “It knew that there was something special about you, Ava Monroe. It knew that the universe had brought you to me, just like you said before. And I think it brought you to me because you’re supposed to be my wife. Marry me.”
I suck in a breath, my free hand covering my mouth as I look down at this beautiful man, looking up at me in earnest. There’s no denying that this connection I feel with him is intense and real, butmarriage? So soon? The idea of it scares the living heck out of me. Especially when my family doesn’t have a single instance of a successful marriage to make me feel confident that things could work out for me.
But what if they do? What if the cards were right, and Duke and I really are meant to be? I’d be crazy to walk away.
DUKE
Ilike to think I’m in good shape. I exercise daily, and I have an active job and hobbies. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a forty-nine-year-old man who’s putting a bunch of pressure on one knee as I sweat bricks while waiting for Ava’s answer.
Asking her to marry me is a huge risk. I know it’s sudden. I know it’s nuts. But that doesn’t change the fact that I fell in love with this chaotic ball of energy the moment I saw her. I had a moment where I thought I couldn’t be the man I thought she needed, but after a gentle push from Dottie, I went back and opened my heart to the possibility that this girl is it for me. The big ONE. My forever. And if I say it now or in ten years’ time, that fact isn’t going to change. I’m in love with her, and I want her to be my wife and the mother of my children. I want her by my side now and for always.
“You realize we only met each other a couple of days ago, right?” she asks, lowering the hand from her face and blinking back happy tears. “I mean, yes, but this is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
It takes me a second to catch on. “Yes? You’re saying yes?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“Yes!” Jumping to my feet, I scoop her up in my arms and lift her high, twirling her around until she slides against my body, and I’m capturing her mouth in mine, holding her tight and kissing her while thanking whatever higher being it was that saw fit to bring us together.
“You said yes,” I say as I lower her to her feet and cup her face in my hands.
“I said yes.”
“I’m gonna make you so fucking happy, kitten.”
“I know you will, Duke,” she says, just as a fat drop of rain hits her rosy cheek and the heavens open up, raining down on us even though the sun is still bright as day.
I grab her and we take shelter under the flower arch, watching the sun shower glowing in the air and misting around us.
Ava holds out her hand and catches some droplets in her palm. “I don’t know if we should take this as an omen or something.”
And as I turn to her and notice the way the sun is making her look like an angel with that misty glow lighting up around and through her damp hair, I realize that the only omen here is a good one. If I didn’t think it before, I certainly do now. She was sent here for me, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure she never regrets choosing me.
“I think this is the heaven’s opening up and congratulatin’ us,” I say, smiling at her as I pluck a tiny bud from the vine and fashion the stem into a makeshift ring. “If you have a look over there, you’ll see a fuckin’ spectacular rainbow.” She follows my gaze and gasps, and I take her left hand when she turns back to me, sliding the little flower over her finger. “So I think we should take this as a blessing. Even mother nature thinks we belong together.” Pressing a kiss to her fingers, I pull her in a little closer. “I’m in love with you, Ava, and I promise you, I’m gonna be the husband you deserve.”
She settles her hands against my chest and tilts her chin up. “I love you too, Duke,” she whispers. And as fast as the rain started, it stops, leaving that magnificent rainbow behind while the two of us remain below the arch, locked at the lips and joined by our souls and our hearts, promising ourselves to each other for the rest of time. I’m never letting this precious girl go.
AVA
Two weeks and a whirlwind of planning later, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Duke genuinely wants to marry me. Me. The clumsy girl who damaged his car then bled all over him on our first date. Somehow, he saw beyond my clumsiness to the woman I am inside, and I think I’m going to love him forever for that. Actually, I don’t think it, Iknowit. Because despite the speed of his proposal and the race toward our wedding day, there isn’t a single doubt in my mind or body that Duke and I aren’t meant for each other.
“I can’t believe I’m getting married today,” I say, touching my cheeks as I look into the mirror set up in the bridal dressing room in the function center on the vineyard. The moment Dottie found out about Duke’s proposal, she put all plans for the farmhouse on hold and switched all her renovation efforts to getting this place spruced up so Duke and I could be the first couple wed on her property.
She didn’t do it without help, and it’s taken a herculean effort to get everything ready so soon. But I have to hand it to the people of Whisper Valley—the Valentine family in particular—because when Duke and I said we wanted to get married ASAP, everyone we know contacted everyone they know and rallied like there was no tomorrow, with Jade and Dottie becoming fast friends and leading the charge. I didn’t have much of a support network back in Sugar City, but here in Whisper Valley, I already feel like I’m part of the family. I’m so glad I took the chance to come here.
I’m even more glad I decided not to leave.
“You look picture perfect too,” Dottie says, fastening the crown of my veil onto the top of my head. “Like a princess. My brother is going to lose his mind when he sees you in this dress.”
“It’s stunning,” I say, running my hand over the delicate lace overlay of the figure-hugging dress. I look like the bridal version of Jessica Rabbit. “Thank you, Millie, for organizing this so quickly.”
The bubbly blonde, who lights up a room just from standing in it, waves my comment off. “It was nothing. My sister-in-law’s best friend is a life coach, and one of her clients makes plus-size formal wear. All I had to do was make a call.”
“And give them a shoutout on your social media,” Yvette, the local baker and another member of the Valentine family, says before turning to me. “Millie will never say it out loud, but she’s kinda famous.”
Millie scoffs. “I paint sunflowers and people like buying them. It’s nothing out of this world crazy.”
“She’s really awesome,” Yvette stage whispers to me with a wink directed at Millie, who rolls her eyes and laughs.
