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She watched out the passenger window after turning to check on the boys, each of whom was happily playing with the toys hanging from the handle of their respective car seats.
“I thought your dad lived on the other side of the neighborhood,” she said as Ryder turned onto a cul-de-sac with about a half dozen houses. A perfect street for a family.
He heard Esme’s breath catch as he pulled into the driveway of the house at the end, a white-washed brick structure with shutters painted black and a wraparound front porch with a view of the lake across the street.
She gazed at the house briefly before turning to face him. “Ryder, where are we?”
He flashed a smile and reached for her hand. “I hope we’re home.”
Esme climbed out of the car, unable to take her gaze off the house she found perfect in every way, and placed two fingers to her heart. If she pressed hard enough, maybe she could force her emotions back into the place where she’d tried to stuff them after that conversation where Ryder offered her the future she wished for as his wife, but in a way that made it impossible to accept.
It felt like an eerily similar situation with the house. She didn’t understand how he’d known to take her here, but her dream was in front of her yet still out of reach because there was no way she could make a home there and keep her heart from breaking all over again every single day.
He came to stand beside her, and she could feel him studying her expression. “What’s wrong? Is this not the right one? Lily showed me the listing and told me this was the house you loved, so I called the Realtor. If there’s a different one—”
“Why are we here?” Esme asked, barely recognizing her own hollow voice. She turned to him, not bothering to hide the tears she felt filling her eyes. His eyes were the color of grass after a spring rain—so full of life and promise that it almost hurt her to look at him.
“I can’t live here with you,” she whispered, willing him to understand without the humiliation of having to explain it outright.
“I’m sorry,” he said automatically.
She turned toward the car, placing one hand on the door handle. “It’s okay. Let’s get out of here before the Realtor arrives. You can text her and—”
“I’m sorry for being such a fool,” Ryder clarified. “I’ve said it before, Esme. You’re better than me in every way, so when you told me you love me, I was terrified.”
She turned slowly. “The thought of me loving you is terrifying?”
He nodded, then quickly shook his head. “Yes, but not in the way you think. I know I don’t deserve you. I spent my whole life striving to make people happy and earn love. First, with my parents, particularly my father. And then Steph. Nothing I did was good enough. Nothing worked. Then you came along and loved me with no strings, like your heart was mine for the taking.”
“It was,” she confirmed. “Only you didn’t want it. Just like my parents, who were too wrapped up in themselves to care about being loved by their children, and like Seth, who didn’t value what I had to offer him. I can’t do it anymore, Ryder. I can’t keep giving my heart to people who won’t take care of it.”
“But I will, Esme. I can’t promise I won’t be scared, but if you give me another chance, I will hold and cherish your heart. I love you, Esme. I will love you forever.”
“You love me,” she murmured. The words turned over in her mind—wildflower seeds floating on the breeze until they landed in her heart like they’d found a home. She would nurture his love the way he promised to take care of her heart.
“I do,” he said. “Do you think you could love me again?”
She laughed softly. “I never stopped, Ryder, and despite what I told myself, I don’t think I ever could. I dreamed of a happily-ever-after but didn’t understand the effort it would take. Now I do, and there’s no one I’d rather spend my life partnering with than you. I love who you are as a man and a father. I’ll give you all the chances.”
He leaned in and kissed her passionately, sealing their promise to each other. But before she could say anything more, he took a velvet box from his pocket and dropped to one knee in front of her.
“I don’t want to hurry you,” he said with a hopeful smile. “But I also don’t want to wait. Will you marry me, Esme Fortune? You are my life and my love. You and the boys are already my family. My heart. Would you do me the honor of making it official?”
Joy bloomed inside her, bright and fizzy like champagne bubbles. “Yes,” she told him as he slipped a brilliant yellow-hued diamond ring on her left hand. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Ryder.”
He stood to wrap his arms around her. “I never realized I could be this happy.”
“Especially not as a result of a mistake like the one that brought us together,” she said before he kissed her again.
“Not a mistake.” He pulled back and opened the car’s back door to reveal Noah and Chase sleeping soundly in their infant seats. “A miracle. Our two miracles.”
“Our two miracles,” she agreed, knowing whatever adventures life brought their way, she and Ryder would handle them together. Always.
