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“I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to think I had anything to do with it,” I say as I pull out paperwork from inside my briefcase. “And I didn’t. But as soon as Stella mentioned who bought the studio out from under her, I knew who it was.”
I hand her the papers. Kylie glances down at them briefly, but then looks quizzically back at me. “The guy who bought it is actually John McKinnon, the man you met one night at dinner. We’ve been in the same business for years, often towing the line between competitors and friends. I convinced him to sell the studio to your friend… at twenty percent less than the original agreement.”
Kylie’s mouth drops open and she stares at the paperwork, her eyes scanning the pages as she reads through them. “What? How?”
“All it needs is Stella’s signature,” I say. I don’t want to explain how I threatened John that I’d go to the regulatory office about some of his shady practices if he didn’t do the right thing and sell the property back to Stella.
“Oh my God!” Kylie exclaims in a shaky whisper. “I … I don’t know what to say! Thank you so much, Dante.”
I shrug. What I did wasn’t that big of a deal, but I’m amazed at how good it feels to do something for someone without expecting anything back. It’s nothing like the high I get from closing a big deal. This is much more satisfying.
“I can’t take back pimping your paintings out,” I say and she chuckles. “But, if you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.”
Kylie’s eyes widen as I drop down to one knee. Her hands fly up to her face and cover her mouth. Reaching into my front pocket, I pull out a blue velvet box and open it, then lift it toward her. Her eyes never leave my face.
“Will you marry me?”
When it dawned on me how royally I had fucked up, I knew that a simple relationship would never be enough. I wanted Kylie for life, and to show her that the man who doesn’t do commitment was truly willing to commit to forever, this is what I wanted to do. I’ve known this girl, no woman, since we were kids. I may not have known then how much I would fall for her, but Willowcreek and Mrs. Kendall’s Treehouse helped me find her again, find home again, and I’m never letting go.
Kylie stands there staring at me for a long, uncomfortable moment. My hopeful smile starts to slip and doubt creeps its ugly way into my heart. But then she gasps and kneels down in front of me. I’m not prepared when she throws herself into my arms and I fall back a little.
She starts raining kisses on my face and her tears leave wet streaks across my skin.
“Is that a yes?” I ask with a chuckle.
She pulls back and looks at me, grabbing my jaw in both her hands. “Yes!”
Our next kiss is a mixture of quick kisses and happy chuckles. My heart, for the first time in my life, is full and content.
“When did you get so sentimental?” she asks, grinning at me.
I shrug, then stand and help her to her feet, holding her in the circle of my arms.
“I learned it from the best,” I say, waggling my eyebrows at her. “You know, I thought I’d come back to Willowcreek and turn a good profit selling Mrs. Kendall’s house. It was a great investment, one I couldn’t pass up. But now… well, now I see this place as much more. I see how important it is and how it brought all of us back together.
“How it brought you into my life.” Using the tip of my finger, I wipe a tear sliding down her cheek. “I’ve never been so thankful for a treehouse in my life!”
She laughs and I smile. “Hell, I’ll turn it into a damn shrine if you want me to.”
“Aww.”
Kylie and I turn at the sound and find Knox, Sam, and Madi watching from the doorway with huge, goofy smiles on their faces. Apparently, they didn’t leave like I’d thought but had been waiting around to see how everything worked out.
“Go on, you guys,” Kylie laughs, shooing them with her hand. “Get out of here and give us some privacy.”
I watch them leave until Kylie’s soft hand cups the side of my face and turns me toward her so she can give me a proper kiss.
Epilogue
KYLIE
It’s amazing how fast things can go once you set your mind to something. After Dante proposed, we leased an apartment in Willowcreek so we have a place to stay, other than my parents’ or a hotel, while we finish up the clubhouse. We’ve been living here almost two months now and things are really going well. Excellent even.
Although Dante still has to fly to New York here and there to meet with investors or clients, he spends all of his free time in Willowcreek. Once everything is finished, I plan to move to New York with Dante full-time. I know he proposed so quickly to prove he was ready to commit, so I decided to have a long engagement and simply enjoy our time together. I’m in no rush, and neither is he.
For now, Willowcreek is our temporary home. It’s given him the opportunity to get closer to his dad, too, which really makes me happy. It seems as though now that Dante let down his walls, his whole life is turning around. He’s much more relaxed and he laughs more often.
It makes my heart melt whenever I hear that rich, gruff laughter. When he smiles, his whole face seems to light up. He’s come such a long way in such a short time. It’s hard to believe the Dante of today is the same man as a few months ago.
