Page 25 of Promises & Pumpkins (Haunted in Hazy Cove #1)

Harper

One Year Later

“Wake up! Wake up!” Maddie jumped into our bed, climbing between Miles and me. “Don’t you know what day it is?” How could we forget? She had been talking about Halloween since the first leaf fell from the tree.

She squealed when Miles grabbed her, pulling her down so she couldn’t jump up and down anymore. “I thought we talked about you knocking before you barge into our room,” he said when she finally stopped writhing and sat still.

“We did.” She shrugged. “We also said you wouldn’t sleep in so late.” She dragged out the words, throwing her head back so her curls splayed over the pillow.

I sat up, reaching over and tickling her exposed side.

Maddie shrieked and giggled, thrashing to get away from Miles.

“If we promise to get up right now, will you go out to the kitchen and start deciding what we should have for breakfast?” Maddie looked at me like she was considering my offer.

Then she looked at Miles and back to me, shrugging and sliding off the bed.

“Okay, fine. But hurry up!” she demanded while she skipped out of the room. “It’s Halloween, and we have a lot to do today! Remember?” She emphasized each syllable, trying and failing to wink.

I laughed when she walked purposefully out of the room with her finger in the air. Miles chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him. “She loves you, you know,” he said before he pressed his lips to my shoulder.

“I do know.” She was adamant about telling me she loved me every chance she could—in the mornings, on the way to school, at dance class, anytime she got lost in thought and looked over at me.

And every time she did, it made my heart melt a little more.

How had I ever been so convinced that I didn’t want kids?

I couldn’t imagine a life without Maddie now, and I definitely couldn’t imagine it without Miles.

“I think her dad loves me too.” I giggled.

Miles squeezed me to him harder, nibbling at the soft spot on my neck just below my ear.

I whimpered, moaning when he bit my earlobe and goosebumps grew on my skin.

“You have no idea,” he said, running his tongue along my jawline.

“He happens to love you very much.” Miles grabbed my chin, turning me so I was facing him.

“Well good because I happen to love him very much too.” I framed his face with my hands, kissing him gently. Then I threw one of my legs over his lap, straddling him and rocking my hips. He groaned, pulling me in to capture my lips with his again.

“Daddy! Harper!” Maddie yelled. I heard a small but eager pitter patter, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she was running through the bedroom door again. “Come on!”

I exhaled, half-sighing and half-giggling. “We should go,” I said when he kissed my forehead, holding his lips there while he took a deep breath. He did that when he wanted to pause the moment. “She’s going to be back any minute.”

Miles chuckled, letting go so I could roll off of him and out of bed. “Okay fine,” he reluctantly agreed, standing up and fixing his shirt. “I’ll go.”

He lingered in the doorway, watching me dig through the closet until I stopped. “What’s wrong?” I asked, holding my hand on the hanger that held my favorite stolen-from-him sweatshirt. Judging by the way he chewed his lip, the only thing wrong was that he couldn’t drag me back into our bed.

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I just like looking at you. I’ll see you out there.”

When he walked away, I pulled the sweatshirt over my head.

He hadn’t worn it in months, not since I moved in, but it smelled like him and felt like home.

Anywhere he was felt like home. I pulled the blankets up, making the bed and fixing the throw pillows he had insisted we didn’t need but got anyway.

As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I heard Maddie gasp.

“She’s coming!” she whisper-yelled, earning a low chuckle from Miles.

Her steps were quick and frantic, like she was running back and forth, but when I turned the corner, she came to a complete halt.

“She’s here!” she shouted to get Miles’ attention, even though he was standing just behind her.

“I am,” I said, hugging her when she wrapped her arms around my hips and squeezed as hard as she could.

“What are you two doing?” I put my hands on my hips, looking suspicious when I realized there was no breakfast sitting on the counter.

Most mornings, Maddie had a box of cereal ready to go before we climbed out of bed.

“Will you marry us?” Maddie shrieked, jumping up and down. I narrowed my eyes, stopping my jaw from hitting the ground and looking at Miles.

“What?” I asked, my confused stare bouncing between the two of them.

He shrugged. “I had planned to say something a bit more romantic,” he said. Then he pulled a small, velvet box out of the silverware drawer in front of him, and I gasped.

“Oh my god.” Was he serious?

Miles stepped from around the counter, dropping down onto one knee in front of me.

He wrapped his arm around Maddie, pulling her against his side, and then he took my hand.

Maddie was grinning so wide we could count all four of the teeth she was missing, and she couldn’t stop bouncing next to us.

“Harper, I didn’t know if I’d ever find someone else that made me feel safe and wild at the same time—someone that made us both so unbelievably happy.

I certainly didn’t think I’d meet her trying to stop her from breaking into the house next door. ”

I giggled, and Maddie let out a semi-forced and too-excited-to-contain-it laugh like she was in on the joke. She reached out for my other hand, and I took it. “I knew the first time we touched that you were different, though, and that you were going to change my life. Our lives.”

“Why aren’t you asking, Daddy?” Maddie whispered with her lips half-together like she thought I wouldn’t be able to hear her. My laugh broke into a surprised sob, and I sniffled.

“I’m getting there, sweetheart.” Miles looked at me and exhaled. “She’s right, I should just ask, huh? Harper, I love the way you love me, and the way you love Maddie. I want to love you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?”

“And me!” Maddie folded her hands in front of her, and the last year played like a movie montage in my mind. Mornings with cereal and cartoons on the couch, evening walks, the way Maddie insisted on dancing for us. It all felt right, like anything before last Halloween didn’t make sense.

I nodded. “Yes. Of course. Yes.”

Miles stood up, opening the box and showing me a simple, round-cut diamond on a rose gold band. It was beautiful and soft, just like every late night we spent wrapped up on the porch watching the sunset. It looked like forever, and like forever came in the form of the single dad next door.

He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto my finger while Maddie stretched onto her toes to watch.

She beamed at me, still holding onto my hand when Miles wrapped his arms around my waist. The diamond on my finger caught the light when he leaned in to kiss me, and I melted into my new reality.

“Does this mean you’re going to be my mommy?” Maddie whispered. I still couldn’t ever replace Miranda. Her mother would always be a memory in this house—one that I hoped would approve of me now. I would do everything I could to take care of her little girl like she was my own.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be like your bonus mommy. Is that okay?” Her rosy cheeks were dark enough that I knew it was okay without having to ask her, but seeing her curls bounce when she nodded her head was worth it.

“Yes, yes, yes!” She stretched onto her toes, grabbing my hand with her second hand so she was holding it sandwiched between both.

Miles put his hand on her back and wrapped his other arm behind mine.

He kissed the side of my temple, and I closed my eyes.

When Maddie giggled and jumped up and down, I opened them again. “Can I have a little brother now?”