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“At the risk of sounding like Callum, that’s bull
shit. Now, can we go?”
“Yeah.” And with a smile, she pushed open the door. Her eyes went straight to Logan, who smiled at her as though she’d hung the moon and then shook his head. She hoped that meant he couldn’t believe what she’d done, and not that he was going to tell her no when she got to the front of the room.
All she could do was walk toward him to get her answer.
A million thoughts raced through Logan’s head before Agnes appeared and started down the aisle. Then, all he could think about was the woman he loved.
She positively glowed. Smiling at everyone as she passed, she overflowed with joy. The sight of her appeased his worry. His woman wasn’t doing this because she felt she had to. She was doing it because she wanted to.
When she reached the front of the room, she kissed Jack’s cheek then took Logan’s hand.
“Good surprise?” she whispered. Her anxiety shone in her eyes.
“Amazing surprise.”
He couldn’t believe she’d pulled this off without him knowing, especially seeing as everyone in town seemed in on it. Staring at Agnes, drinking her in, he listened as the minister waxed lyrical about marriage. He listened, but he didn’t hear a word, as his attention remained solely on the woman at his side.
When she cleared her throat and let go of his hand to rummage in her tiny bag, he realized she’d written her own vows.
Cocking an eyebrow at the minister, he asked, “What am I supposed to do?”
The minister didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t amused. “Talk from the heart?”
“Helpful,” Logan grumbled.
“Dearly beloved,” Agnes said, then looked at the minister. “Oh, wait, that’s your bit.”
As the crowd laughed, she looked back at Logan. And everything within him stilled. The people in the room disappeared, and all that existed was Agnes.
“I never thought I’d be here,” she said.
“Neither did I,” he muttered, and Drew turned another laugh into a cough.
Agnes narrowed her eyes at Logan before continuing. “I never wanted to stay in Scotland.”
He sucked in a breath.
“I never thought I could be happy here.” Agnes blinked up at him. “I hate the cold. And the rain. And there are days when I’m not too fussy on the people either.”
There was more chuckling at that.
“There is only one thing that could have made me change my mind about staying in Scotland, and that’s you. Your love makes the winters warm and takes the damp edge off the grayest day. And knowing I have your love to go home to gives me the patience to deal with the most difficult of people. Scotland was a word that meant suffering to me, but now it means peace—because Scotland is where I found you, and where we make our home.
“In case you’re wondering, all of this means that I love you, Logan McBride. And I have no regrets doing it. I don’t regret staying in Invertary. I don’t regret staying for you. You are my choice. You will always be my choice. And I can say right now, that I also choose to be a mother to Drew and Darcy—if they’ll have me. They’re my choice too, and I love them just as much as I love you.”
Darcy burst into tears and ran from where she stood beside Agnes’ sisters to wrap her arms around Agnes.
“Hush,” Agnes said as she cuddled her close. “Nobody can hear my awesome vows over your wailing. And don’t you dare wipe your snotty nose on my dress.”
Darcy laughed and cried at the same time, which turned into a hiccup. Donna stepped forward and gently held Darcy as she led her back to the group. The women enclosed her at their center. Protecting her. Caring for her. Being everything that made them the Sinclair sisters.
“As I was saying,” Agnes said. “I want you. I want your kids. I want this family. I thought I wanted something else, and I probably did at some point. But I’m smart enough to recognize a better opportunity when I see one. And that’s what you are—you’re the better opportunity. We can have a good life together, Logan. I promise that I’ll treat your heart as precious, the way that you treat mine. I promise I’ll compromise so that we can both do most of the things we want to do. I promise I’ll care for you, the way you care for me. I also promise that I’ll drag you out of Scotland every winter to escape the freezing rain.”
Chuckles and sniffles rippled through the room.
“I promise I’ll be crabby, difficult to live with, bad-tempered, and often irrational. But I promise to work on those things too. Mainly, I promise to give all that I am, to all that is you, for all the time we have left. If you’ll have me.”
