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Right? Happenstance. But things didn’t happen without a reason. That was a favorite theme of Pastor Marshall’s sermons. Which meant all those things had happened to bring her and Tate together. Could there be any other reason?

Tate kissed one eyelid then the other as she stood, clinging to him. “I love you, Stephanie.”

There could be no other reason. God was in this. “I love you, too. I’m so thankful for you and Jamie.”

“You’re the best thing that’s happened to him since Wally and Ashley passed. The best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Same. I’ve never been so happy.”

Tate’s hands roved her back as he nuzzled her neck. “You didn’t seem very contented earlier. Was it something I did? Said? Because I want you to be happy all the time.”

She stiffened then forced herself to relax one muscle at a time. “Sometimes I have trouble remembering how lucky I am.”

“Not lucky.”

“Hmm?” His lips were super distracting. What had she been thinking earlier? It was hard to recall.

“Blessed.” Tate rested his forehead against hers. “In Jamie’s case, it’s hard to think of how his parents’ deaths could be a blessing to him, though. Poor little kid. But at least he landed with us. Helped us become an us.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t have given me a second look if he hadn’t thrown himself at me and called me mama.”

“You don’t think so?” Tate kissed her nose. “I beg to differ. You would have caught my attention anywhere, anytime.”

“We’ll never know.”

“We were meant to be.”

Stephanie pulled back a little and looked into his eyes. Trees in the path of the setting sun cast long shadows out onto the small, still lake. A pair of loons called to each other in the distance. The air was full of the scent of fresh, green growth. And the fragrance of Tate’s cologne. “Do you really believe in destiny?”

He searched her face. “Define destiny.”

“That it doesn’t much matter what we do, that God — or the universe, whichever — has one set path for us. We only think we’re making decisions, but really, we have no choice.”

Tate shook his head. “No, that’s too new-age for me. The Bible shows over and over how people have choices. We often make bad ones, but then we have another chance to make good ones. Life is a process of learning to look to God first.”

Hmm. “Did you pray about our… engagement?”

He grinned. “In that exact moment, when my mother and your father jumped to some interesting conclusions? No.”

Stephanie’s heart fell. “Oh.”

Tate cradled her face in his hands and brushed his lips against hers so lightly she could almost have imagined it. “I’d been praying about our relationship before that happened, though. Because I was already fiercely attracted to you. When that moment arrived, it felt like everything clicked into place.”

“Really?” She swallowed hard. “You mom… jumped to a conclusion.”

Heoffered a lopsided smile. “You know why?”

Stephanie shook her head.

“Because I’d once told her that if I told a girl I loved her, that meant I was committing for life. I wasn’t going to toss those words out lightly.”

“I said it first.” She closed her eyes. “I trapped you.”

“You absolutely did not. Stephanie, no one cornered me into our engagement. I chose you. Right now, I choose you. And on Saturday the seventeenth, I will choose you again.”

Maybe she really could trust this man.

He kissed her. “I’ll choose you again the day after. And the day after that. And next year. And in ten.”