Page 17 of Fall for You (Second Chances #7)

Eight months later…

“How do you like the decorations?”

I looked around at the explosion of red, white, and blue in my parents’ front yard. Behind my mother’s shoulder, Chloe rolled her eyes.

“It’s very patriotic,” I said honestly.

Mom beamed. “Your sister said it was too much.”

“Where’s Ronnie?” Mom asked.

“She needed to pick something up but she said she’d be here soon.”

It had been eight months since Ronnie and I made things official, and time had flown by.

We’d moved in together almost right away, making an easier than expected transition from friends with benefits to live-in girlfriends.

It had taken a little bit of time for her cat to warm up to the idea of another human in the house full-time, but Oliver and I were best buds now, especially since I snuck him treats when Ronnie was out working on the farm.

My business was doing well, well enough that I might need to either bring in someone to help or limit my client list. I was trying very hard to have work life balance, unlike when I lived in New York and was working constantly.

I’d even hired Chloe to do some artwork for my clients who needed new logos or other artistic elements beyond clip art and stock photos. Chloe and Ronnie had gotten pretty close too, which was really cool, especially since Ronnie had never had a sister before.

A couple of months after I’d made the decision to stay, Vera told me about a new scandal that had captivated the New York City advertising community. When she told me that I might be able to come back and get a job now, I hadn’t even considered it. Everything I needed was right here in Hayword.

Ronnie and I were even thinking about starting a family together, debating the merits of adoption versus one of us getting artificially inseminated. We were planning a trip up to Chicago next month to talk to an adoption agency and visit a fertility clinic before we made up our minds.

Needless to say, both of our mothers were thrilled at the prospect of becoming grandparents.

“Hey.”

I turned around as I heard Ronnie’s voice behind me as she walked into the back yard. To my surprise, she had her parents with her. I guess my mom invited them to our Fourth of July barbecue, although I was surprised no one mentioned it to me.

Ronnie walked right over and gave me a quick hug, as if I hadn’t seen her only ninety minutes ago. But she looked stressed.

“What’s the matter?” I asked quietly. “Did something happen?”

Ronnie shook her head.

“I was going to do this tonight at the fireworks, but I’m too nervous to wait.”

“Do what?” I asked in confusion.

Then she dropped to one knee in front of me and I knew the answer. Ronnie dug a little velvet pouch out of the back pocket of her jeans. Her hands were shaking as she untied the strings, then we both gasped as she fumbled it and sent the ring flying across the yard.

“Oh my God.”

All of us flew into action, looking around to see where the ring had gone. Finally I heard Chloe give a triumphant call.

“Found it! That means I get to be maid of honor.”

She was going to be maid of honor anyway, but I’d let her think she earned it.

“No one’s asked me to marry them yet,” I teased.

“That’s because your girlfriend has butter fingers,” Chloe shot back, placing the ring in Ronnie’s palm.

We were both still on our knees from looking for the ring, so we shuffled closer together as both of our families looked on.

“Alana Doyle, will you marry me?” Ronnie asked softly.

My eyes filled with tears. “I will.”

Then she pulled me into her arms and gave me a long hard kiss. When she pulled away, I asked, “What happened to the ring?”

The look on Ronnie’s face was priceless. “Oh my God, I dropped it again.”

With a huge sigh, Chloe came over, retrieved the ring from the grass – again – and grabbed my hand.

“I’m just going to put this on before Ronnie loses it again,” she said firmly. She slid the band on my ring finger, then beamed. “There you go, it’s beautiful.”

I looked at my hand, admiring the way the sun glinted off the thin band. “It’s perfect.”

“You’re perfect,” Ronnie said.

I shook my head. “I’m not, but you make me want to be.”

And then we kissed again as my mother called, “Keep going, I’m live streaming this on the town’s Facebook page.”

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