Page 223 of The Compass Series

HAILEE

M ovie nights with my parents were one of my favorite things. Except for the fact that Dad had a way of talking all the way through it and asking questions about the movie as if Mama and I knew better than him what was going on. Mama always ended up throwing popcorn at him, telling him to shush.

“Did you hear that Laurie is selling the house?” Mama asked me after the movie went off. The past few weeks have been crazy. Aiden was heading back to Los Angeles soon, which broke my heart a little, and Laurie’s whole world had been turned upside down.

“Is she?”

“Yeah. Figured it was about time. Samuel told her she could keep it, but she felt as if she needed a fresh start. Which I can understand. That brings me to the next topic at hand.” Mama took Dad’s hand into hers and they smiled my way.

“Since our bakery has grown so much over the past few years, we have made more money than we’ve ever imagined.

So we have decided to sell our house too and get our dream home. ”

“What?!” I gasped, shocked. “You’re selling this home?

” I didn’t know why, but that fact brought tears to my eyes.

Mama already had a tissue ready to hand my way.

I took it and wiped my tears away. I was currently sitting in the house that raised me.

It was the only home I’d ever known. Those four walls, that roof, those doors and windows…

they all told the story of my life. It was within that home where I met my best friend. My person. My Aiden.

I looked around the living room and kept swiping at my overflowing tears.

“It’s okay,” Dad said, putting a comforting hand on my knee. “Feel all of the things you need to feel about this.”

“It’s just… I’m happy for you both. This is a good thing. This place has so many of our stories in it. It’s just odd to think?—”

Before I could finish the thought, I heard knocking.

I sat up straight. “Is someone supposed to be here?” I asked.

“Not that I know of…” Mama looked at Dad. “Did you invite someone?”

“You know I don’t like people,” Dad joked. “But it sounds like it’s coming from your bedroom, Hailee.”

Strange.

The three of us stood from the couches and headed to my bedroom to find out what was happening. The moment I turned on my light, I saw a stranger standing outside my window, knocking.

I walked over to the window, taken aback, but when I saw those blue eyes, I felt as if the stranger was so familiar. He gave me a halfway grin and gestured for me to open the window. I glanced back at my father, and he shrugged.

“Open it. I got your back,” Dad said, giving me reassurance.

I opened it, and the guy held his hand straight out to me. “I’ve heard a lot about this window. You must be Hailee. I’m Damian. Aiden’s brother.”

Of course, he was. He looked remarkably like Aiden. The blue eyes should’ve given him away. A sigh of relief hit me as I reached out to shake his hand.

“Goodness, hi. It’s nice to meet you…at my window.”

He chuckled slightly. “I came into town to see Aiden. I’m staying at his place with him and his mom. He told me how you and he climbed out of windows and shit to see each other.” He glanced past me and nodded in the direction of Mama and Dad. “You’re Hailee’s parents?”

“We are,” Mama said.

“Sorry for the foul language, ma’am,” Damian said. He turned back to me. “Anyway. I’m shocked you guys don’t need back surgery from bending out of these windows. I almost got stuck, but I wanted to come meet my new sister-in-law before I headed back to Los Angeles.”

“Oh, no. Aiden and I aren’t married. We’re just dating.”

Damian arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? Because there’s a man on a bent knee right over here hoping that that fact would change sooner than later.” He gestured behind him and revealed Aiden, down on one knee, with a box in his hands.

“Oh, my goodness,” I gasped. I had more tears, but these ones were happy.

Damian held his hand out toward me to help me step through the window. He led me over to Aiden, who had the biggest smile resting against his face. That smile controlled my heartbeats.

“Hey, you,” he whispered.

“Hey, you,” I replied, stepping in front of him.

“You know, I’ve practiced this speech many times throughout the years, but actually doing it is another thing.” Aiden nervously laughed as the ring box shook in his hand. The ring box. The ring. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen in my life.

He continued speaking as my tears continued to flow.

“Hailee Jones, you are my person. The reason I believe in destiny, the reason I believe in love. I’ve played many different characters in my life, but the best leading role I’ve ever played was the one where I had the privilege of being your best friend.

You are my morning coffee and my bourbon at night.

You are the Jerry to my Tom. You are my north star that guides me home each night.

I know people say you’re supposed to fall in love, but the truth is, I was born in love with you.

From the moment I took my first breath, my heart longed for you.

So marry me, Hailee. Marry the good parts of me and the messy ones, too.

Marry my confidence and my insecurities.

Marry me. Marry all of me, the good and the bad, and give me the joy of loving you more and more until the day I die. Will you marry me?”

I lowered myself down to his level, sitting on my knees in the snowy grass right beside him.

I placed my hands against his cheeks and smiled.

“Yes.” It was the easiest yes I’d ever spoken.

Being loved by Aiden was a gift. Aiden Walters was the kind of man a woman never truly got over.

I was given a second chance with his love, with his heart, and I swore for the remainder of my life, his heart would remain in my protection.

I kissed him long and hard as our families cheered from behind. Laurie had a camera in her hands taking photographs while Mama and Dad snapped their own. The proposal taking place in the exact spot where I’d first fallen in love with him felt like kismet.

I was going to marry Aiden Walters, and he was going to be mine forever.

He was going to marry me, and I was going to be his always.

For as long as we both shall live.

“Can we just live in the part of wedding planning where we sample cake flavors for the rest of our lives?” I asked Aiden as we sat in front of eight different samples of cakes. It was fair to say that picking out a cake had been my favorite part of the wedding planning process.

He wiped his finger into the chocolate buttercream frosting and stuck it into his mouth. “I think that’s the greatest idea you’ve ever had.”

“Now, this one is an orange peel cream. The cake is a white cake with a hint of lemon zest. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s astonishing,” Mama said as she brought out yet another piece of cake for us to try.

We’d been sitting in Hailee’s Bakery for the past two hours trying cakes, and I wasn’t complaining one bit.

The fact that Mama oversaw the sweets for the wedding, and Laurie was in charge of the elegant meals felt so exciting to me. It was the best of both worlds. Our mothers were masters in their fields, and they were bringing out their best for Aiden’s and my wedding.

Aiden and I took a bit of the orange peel cake, and we moaned in unison.

“Holy,” Aiden groaned, shutting his eyes as he fell into euphoria.

“This is the one.” I nodded. I looked to Aiden. “Isn’t this the one?”

“This is absolutely the one. Penny, I don’t know how you did this, but I’m so glad you did. This is it.”

Mama grinned ear to ear. “Trust me, I already knew.”

Aiden gave Mama puppy dog eyes. “Do you by chance have any more samples of it in the back so we can be extra sure?”

“I think I can manage grabbing a few more bites for you.” She headed to the kitchen, leaving Aiden and I in cake heaven, finishing up all the bites we didn’t finish previously.

As we were eating, my phone dinged with a new email. I went to open it, and my eyes instantly watered over.

“What is it?” Aiden asked, becoming concerned with my expression.

I turned to him as I choked on my next words. “I got in.”

“What?”

“I got into the master’s program of psychology at Adler University in Chicago,” I breathed out as my heart pounded wildly within my chest.

“Holy shit!” Aiden remarked, leaping up from his seat. Within seconds, he yanked me from my chair and began spinning me around in circles. The moment he placed me on the floor, I saw the tears falling from his own eyes. Because when I cried, he cried. When I celebrated, he celebrated.

“You did this, Jerry!” he remarked, pulling me into the best hug of my life. “Your hard work did this. I’m so proud of you.”

Mama came out with two more pieces of cake and paused when she saw our emotions. “What’s going on?”

“Hailee got into the master’s program at Adler,” Aiden said with so much glee in his voice.

Mama’s eyes widened as she shouted with excitement. “Oh, my goodness! Let me go in the back and bring out the whole freaking cake. Karl! Get out of the office! We are celebrating!”

Dad came out right away and when we told him the news, he started jumping up and down with joy, too. When Aiden let me go, I fell into Dad’s arms. The first man who’d ever taught me what love looked like, what it felt like.

“I had no doubt in you and your abilities. I’m so proud of you, Cinderella,” he whispered as he kissed my forehead. “I love you forever.”

“I love you longer than that.”