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“You asked me if THE ONE existed. You asked if you should settle for second best. The fact is, there is someone worth fighting for out there. Why would you settle for anyone but them? Be kind, be unselfish, beloving, be good to yourself. And if you are as lucky and as blessed as I am, THE ONE will fall into your lap. THE ONE will find you. THE ONE will be your best friend and long-lost lover all at once.
THE ONE does exist. Don’t give up. Don’t give in. You are worth loving. Just be brave enough to believe it.”
My heart swells with her words,honest and true.
And then, Annie Archer, in her flannel pants and messy red bedhead, kneels down on one knee in front of me, in front of this bathroom, in front of our families.
There’s a gasp from the crowd—I’m guessing from Coco. And a small groan—I’d bet money on Levi.
“Owen Gray Bailey, I know I’ve taken forever to wise up. But I love you. You’re my target. Don’t give up on me. Marry me?” She gives me the cutest half smile and a one-shoulder shrug. And then she’s scrambling her fingers into her flannel pants’ pocket. She pulls out a red, white, and blue plastic Spiderman ring and holds it up to me.
“Oh, Owen,” my mother cries, though I can’t see her face. I can’t see anything but Annie.
“You don’t have to resort to dramatics,” I tell her, giving her my own half-smile. It says she is loved, it says she is forgiven. It tells her that I understand her—and I’m sorry too.
“Not dramatic–just honest,” she says. “My truth is that I love you, Owen. And Grammy says I have to marry you. So–” she gives a small shoulder shrug, her eyes bright. “Why wait? I’m pretty sure I’ve kept you waiting long enough.”
“Annie–”
“And Iwantto marry you. With every fiber of my being, I want to, Owen.”
I stoop, meeting her eye level, and cup her cheeks between my palms. “I love you, too, Annie,” I whisper before pressing a kiss to her lips.
“Ew, he’s eating her face off again!” Alice moans. Her words are heard just above a chorus of cheers. Because my family has heard every word, seen every look, felt every emotion alongside us.
The Baileys don’t miss a thing.
Epilogue
Annie
“Y
ou two?” Grammy frowns at my fingers knotted with Owen’s.
“Hello, Grammy. We love you too,” I mock.
But her frown only deepens. “Annie Archer, I told you—”
Owen rumbles with a laugh at my side. She turns her glower on him.
“I know what you told me, Grammy. That’s why we’re here.” I glance over at my very adorable fiancé.
“Well, one of the reasons. I also want to buy a pie. You got any chocolate in today, Elsie?”
Grammy lifts up on her toes and pinches Owen’s cheek. When she finally pulls back, there is a bright red mark where her fingers once were. “Of course I have chocolate. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Owen laughs. “Perfect. I need a whole pie today.”
“And—” I interrupt. Really, a pie? We’re here with news! I snake my arm around Owen’s back and hope for a reaction.
Gram does not disappoint. “No,” she barks. “I told you—”
“You told me to leave him or to marry him.”
My grammy’s wrinkles seem to smooth with the slack in hercheeks and jaw. “Are you?” She points from me to Owen. “The two ofyou?”
I nod. “Yes!” I say, and it comes out more like a squeal than an actual word.
