Page 46 of Christmas at Wolf Creek

“For this,” I said, pulling the small box from my pocket and dropping to one knee right there among the discarded wrapping paper and ribbon. “I had a whole speech prepared about stars and destiny and how you’ve turned my life into beautiful chaos, but—”

To my absolute shock, he started laughing. Not a chuckle, but full-on, bent-over, tears-in-his-eyes laughter.

“Are you—” I stood up, mortification burning through me. “Are you laughing at my proposal?”

“No!” he gasped, trying to compose himself. “No, God, no, Kat—it’s just—”

He reached into his own pocket and pulled out an identical small velvet box.

The room erupted. Nora squealed so loudly that Scout started barking. Declan threw his hands up in disbelief. Kane doubled over, slapping his knee, and Connor just stood there nodding his approval.

“You were going to propose? Today?” I asked, my voice climbing an octave higher than I knew it could go.

“Christmas morning,” Rory confirmed, still fighting laughter. “I thought it would be perfect.”

“I thought it would be perfect!” I repeated in disbelief.

We stared at each other for a long moment beforeboth dissolving into laughter. I fell against him, and he caught me easily, the way he always did.

“So,” Mia called from across the room, “is anyone actually going to propose, or should we just assume you’re both saying yes?”

I pulled back, looking into Rory’s face—his beautiful, kind, familiar face that had become home to me. I opened the box in my hand, revealing the star-shaped platinum band I’d had custom-made. “Rory Hennessey, will you marry me? Even though I’m clearly as subtle as a freight train and we apparently share one brain cell between us?”

“Only if you’ll marry me,” he countered, opening his own box to show a stunning Celtic emerald ring.

“Is that a, yes?” Connor called out.

“Yes!” we shouted in unison, and the room erupted again.

Rory slid the emerald onto my finger, and I placed the star band on his. Our hands were shaking, both of us laughing so hard we could barely manage the simple task.

“I can’t believe we both planned Christmas proposals,” I whispered as he pulled me close.

“I can,” he murmured against my hair. “We’ve always been in sync, even when we’re driving each other crazy. Especially then.”

Nora bounced over, her eyes wide with excitement. “Does this mean you’re going to be my uncle for realnow?” she asked, looking up at Rory.

He crouched down to her level, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Looks that way, starshine,” he told her, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “Think you can handle having me around permanently?”

“YES!” she shouted, throwing her arms around both of us. “This is the best Christmas EVER!”

Over her head, I caught Ella’s eye. She was wiping away tears, but her smile was radiant. She mouthed “thank you” to me, though I wasn’t sure what for. For loving her daughter? For making this Christmas even more magical?

Both, probably.

Declan appeared with champagne flutes—where he’d been hiding those, I had no idea—and Connor passed out glasses, with sparkling cider for Nora.

“To Kat and Rory,” Declan said, raising his glass. “Who managed to surprise exactly no one but themselves.”

“Was it that obvious?” I asked, leaning into Rory’s side.

“Painfully,” Kane confirmed with a wink.

“We’ve had a betting pool going for months,” Mia admitted. “Kori won. She picked Christmas Day.”

“You were all betting on us getting engaged?” Rory asked, sounding scandalized but looking amused.

“Not if, just when,” Wren clarified. “But the dualproposals weren’t on anyone’s card. That’s pure you two.”

I looked around at this family—my family—all smiling and laughing, celebrating our joy as if it were their own. Because it was, that’s what family meant. Something I’d never truly understood until I found the MacGallans.

“Well,” I said, raising my glass higher, “here’s to finding exactly where you belong, even when you weren’t looking for it.”

“Especially then,” Rory added, pressing a kiss to my temple.