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A year later.

“Are you seriously not going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask with a laugh as Riley guides me forward. Aside from the crickets, there are no sounds around me. Nothing to give away where he’s taking me. The blindfold over my eyes is certainly not giving anything away either.

“Nope. Not yet.” He stops me with gentle hands on my shoulders. “Okay.” He removes the blindfold, and I stare up at a Ferris wheel. Every light is illuminated, bright colors that change as it goes up and down, expanding from the center. “Happy birthday, Jules.”

Tears fill my eyes, and I turn to face him. “You remembered the Ferris Wheel.”

“Of course I remembered.” He leans in and kisses me tenderly. “Memory like a steel trap, remember?”

It’s been a year since my world fell apart and came together at the same time. A year of nights where I worried that I would wake and it would all have been a dream. But here I am, still standing, alongside a love I never thought I’d find.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He takes my hand and pulls me toward it. The attendant raises the bar and lets us inside before securing it closed again. Then he steps back and presses a button that starts the wheel.

It begins to move, and my stomach twists. “I haven’t been on one since I was six.”

Riley wraps an arm around me as it climbs higher and higher. “It’s been a few years for me,” he says. “So you’re in good company there.”

We reach the top, and I stare out at the lights of Pine Creek, Texas in the distance.

It’s such a beautiful place and felt like home the moment Riley and I stepped off of that plane last year.

I’ve been living in a cabin on his family property ever since, spending every meal with Riley and helping out around the ranch in between taking classes.

It’s been a dream come true all the way around.

Up here, I can see that the fairgrounds are completely empty. “So how did you manage to get them to keep the fairgrounds closed for you? Aren’t Texas fairs usually pretty packed?”

He laughs. “I have a friend who knows someone. They always do a test run the night before opening, and I said we would love to test things out.”

“Seems dangerous.”

He shrugs. “Didn’t you tell me you wanted adventures?”

I smile. “I did.”

“Go have grand adventures, girl.” My grandfather’s voice echoes in my mind as I rest my head against Riley’s shoulder. “I’m doing it, Grandpa,” I think to myself, hoping that even though he’s not here with me, he knows that I’m on the greatest adventure of all.

Faith.

I haven’t missed a single Sunday since we’ve been back in Pine Creek, and every morning, Riley comes to the cabin for coffee, and we read our Bibles together.

Every morning, I find myself closer and closer to the Savior I spent years running from because I was too ashamed to face what knowing Him would mean.

I know that the pain will resurface from time to time.

I feel it every now and then—the ache from all that was stolen from me, but instead of letting those moments own me, I pray.

I turn to God and ask Him for help. For understanding. For peace.

And with Riley’s arm around me, I finally feel home.

The Ferris wheel goes around again, climbing as I study the beauty from above, but this time it halts at the very top. I look down, my heart leaping as a bite of fear sinks in. “Why are we—” I turn to Riley, but the words die in my throat.

He’s holding a small velvet box and staring at me with all the love I never thought I’d find.

“I decided a long time ago that I didn’t want to take the risk of falling in love, but then I met you, and you challenged me in every single way.

” There are tears in his eyes. “You are smart, strong, beautiful, kind—I could sit here for hours telling you all the ways I love you. And I know it’s only been a year, but I can’t imagine going a day without you.

So, Jules Landers, if you’ll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. ”

“Riley.” I cover my mouth with both hands, trying to understand how I went from the most miserable chapters in my life to my own happily ever after. I thought moments like this only happened in books. Yet, here he is, my hero.

“Will you marry me? Be the Jules to my Romeo?” He grins. “This time with a happy ending.”

I laugh and throw my arms around him, pressing my lips to his. “Yes. Absolutely.”

He pulls away, and I hold my hand out so he can slip the ring on my finger. “I love you, Jules Landers.”

“I love you too, Riley Hunt.”

He kisses me again, and as the Ferris wheel starts up again, I lean my head against his shoulder and stare down at the princess-cut diamond ring on my finger.

“Thank you, Lord,” I whisper.

“Amen,” Riley replies.

Thank you so much for reading ROMEO! I hope you loved Riley and Jules’s story as much as I do! Keep reading for a special preview of TANGO, Tucker’s book! Coming soon!