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Blowing out a breath, Rhett shakes his head. “I don’t know. The perfect moment, I guess.”
“The perfect moment doesn’t exist, Rhett, and tomorrow isn’t promised. If you want to marry Mo, you should do it.” My eyes travel across the yard to Trevor. He slaps the ball from Mo’s hand, dodges left, and sinks a layup. For all those years I looked at Trevor as nothing more than Rhett and Coop’s little brother, and then came the years I forced myself to ignore the crush I had on him… I would give anything to rewind time and see things as I do now.
I turn back to Rhett. “Maybe the perfect moment does exist. Maybe the perfect moment is now.”
The lines on his forehead smooth as my words sink in. “You mean right here…right now?”
“Why not? This is a perfect moment, surrounded by the people you love. Your family is here, along with Linc—although I don’t know where he went. Mo’s family is here, as are two of her best friends. What could be more perfect than this? Just think, you could go home tonight and make love to your fiancée.”
“My fiancée,” he says, with awe in his voice. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have waited this long.”
I clap my hands together and try to come up with something encouraging to say, but it’s not needed because Rhett is already striding off the deck with purpose.
Mo is standing at the back of the concrete pad, which I presume to be about as far away from the basket as a free-throw line. Coop, Trevor, and Tess are off to the side, waiting on her. She bounces the ball three times and shoots. The ball swishes through the net just as Rhett goes down on one knee behind her.
Everyone else sees it before she does, and there’s a collective gasp as she tosses her arms into the air and spins around. “Rhett, baby, did you see—ohmygod.”
Her hands fly to her face when she sees the man she loves kneeling in front of her, and good Lord, I wasn’t prepared to cry today.
I blink up at the sky, trying my best to keep from bursting into tears—something Mo is failing horribly at. My heart races as Rhett pulls a black velvet ring box from his pocket.
He casually lifts the lid and pulls the ring out.
“Oh my,” Mo breathes, looking down at the sparkling diamond.
Rhett takes Mo’s trembling hand in his, and although I can’t see his face, I know he’s looking at her as though she’s the most precious thing in the universe.
“Monroe Gallagher, I love you more than I’ve ever loved another human being. You are my heart and soul. You are my home. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning. I want to cook for you and spoil you. I want to watch your belly grow round with our babies. I want to grow old with you. But mostly, I don’t want to go another second without knowing that you’re mine forever. Please, Mo, say you’ll spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
There isn’t a dry eye in the backyard as Mo throws herself into Rhett’s arms.
“Didn’t see this coming,” Trevor whispers. He places his hands on the railing in front of me, caging me in. I have no idea when he moved across the yard; I was too engrossed in my friend’s engagement, but I’m happy he’s here.
“Liar. Rhett told me you knew he bought a ring.”
“I did, but I didn’t know he’d pop the question on your birthday.”
I smile. “I don’t mind.”
Vivian squeals, throwing herself off the deck so she can shower her soon-to-be daughter in law with as much love as she can, and I laugh when Rhett pushes his mom away.
Trevor lowers his head, and I expect him to make some offhanded comment about his mom, which is why I’m startled when he says, “Move in with me.”
The breath seizes in my lungs. Tilting my head back, I look up at him. His big, blue eyes are steady, warm, and full of so much love. This decision is one of the easiest I’ve ever made.
“Okay.”
He beams at me. “Yeah?”
I nod and smile as I look back at Mo. She tackles Rhett to the ground, peppering him in kisses, friends and family be damned.
“Soon,” Trevor adds.
“I’ll pack a bag tonight.”
I pull his hands from the banister in front of me and wrap his arms around me.
