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“Ohemgee,” she says, covering her mouth and stepping forward, staring down at the three-carat round diamond in the center, which is as big as Ava and Jade said I could go. It’s flanked by two pear-shaped stones, and the band is yellow gold that curves into a twisted, sculpted band.Solid roots.

“You don’t wear rings, but I’ve watched you reach for every damn thing you’ve ever wanted with those hands. And I’m asking if you’ll let me be the thing you reach for—forever. Marry me, Lo.”

Nodding, tears—just a few—trickle down her cheek as she sinks down on her knees and hugs me. “Yes.”

We break apart long enough for me to slide the ring on her finger, and then she’s back to hugging me again.

I stand, bringing her with me, and she laughs when I twirl her around.

Once on her feet, she reaches into her back pocket and pulls something out. “I was gonna wait till you had those papers signed and done because I thought you needed that, but …” She holds it out.

“Signed and mailed today,” I say as I open the little envelope and pull out … “Lo?”

She nods. “Yeah. Three months.”

I lean down and kiss her.

“What’s that she gave him, Ryan?” Daniel asks, and Lo laughs into my mouth. “Better not be another drawing. I want my cabin.”

She looks up at me. “What is he talking about?”

I shake my head. “It’s a funny story that involves me coming here to ask your dad’s permission and a drawing you did when you were little. Apparently, this is your dream house.”

“Damn right it is.”

“Well, good, because Daniel said it’s yours for the price of a cabin for him.”

“Did she say yes?” Daniel asks Jade.

“We should probably go.” She nods toward them.

“Yeah.” I squat down. “Climb on.”

***

“Kolby needs a homecoming tour,” Daniel tells Ryan.

Ryan nods. “Back when a new kid came here, Mom would plan a homecoming dinner.”

“Remember Phoebe’s?” Daniel asks him, and Ryan nods.

Lauren whispers, “That’s Remington, Liam, and AJ’s mom, my aunt, uncle Alex’s wife.”

“Took her a minute to get that this was home from the minute she stepped in here.” Daniel nods to a wall of eight built-in wooden lockers, with faded name plates on them. Dan touches each name as he walks past them. “Gonna be good to have some new names up here.”

He looks over his shoulder. “Five bedrooms and two baths upstairs. Master bedroom and a nursery down here. You two better get to filling them with your own or finding your family God intended you to bring here.”

We walk through a dated kitchen with a giant island that was clearly built for a large family.

Beside the kitchen is a dining area with a table made of logs with bench seating and wildflowers in a vase on top.

I glance toward a stream of light caught in my peripheral and feel my jaw nearly drop as I look at a two-story wall of windows, with French doors overlooking a deck. Beyond it, the field and the pond I just knelt beside and asked Lo to be my wife. A huge, two-story stone fireplace is on one side of the room, the opposite side of the open area is stairs.

“You two gotta promise me that no matter how many tell you to change that over to a gas fireplace, you don’t do it.”

I shake my head. “It’s stunning.”

“And no matter how tight money got, this house was always warm because of that fireplace that Jane and I built. Always had food in the vegetable garden, too.”