Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Is this what I think it is?” Kat boldly asks as she walks down the dock first.
I can see the surprise on each man’s face, Gabe’s lips tipping upward. He holds a hand outward to her. “Yeah, babe… it’s what you think it is, but maybe you could let us do the talking for once?”
Kat stops, Marcie and I behind her. “Okay,” she says with a grin and sweeps out her hand. “You may proceed.”
Marcie and I giggle as Gabe shakes his head, but it’s Ethan who steps forward first, and sure enough, he’s got a black velvet ring box in his hand.
“Oh wow,” Marcie murmurs as Ethan beckons her forward. She steps past Kat, coming to stand before Ethan.
I feel the boards of the dock creaking behind me, and I see that Fi, Tommy and Sylvie have joined us.
This is going down.
Proposals… done as a family, witnessed by the family, and I cannot think of anything more perfect.
My eyes cut to Trey to find his lasered onto me. There’s no question in them, no silent message asking me if this is okay. He knows it is, knows I’m going to say yes, and he’s patiently waiting his turn.
Ethan doesn’t get down on bended knee but rather opens the box before Marcie. I crane my neck, but the lighting is too subtle to make out details, though Marcie’s happiness is obvious when her hand covers her mouth and her eyes widen.
“Marcie,” Ethan says in a husky voice, and while I want to hear every word, it’s to Trey I look again to find him watching me with love blazing in his eyes. Ethan launches into his proposal. “I’m not a man of soft words, but I am a man of clear words. I want us to build something lasting. You’ve brought so much light into my life. After everything we’ve been through, I know that I want to face whatever comes next with you by my side. In fact, I can’t imagine a life without you. So I’m asking with a hopeful heart, will you marry me?”
No one is surprised as Marcie nods effusively, her words all choked up and then she throws her arms around Ethan while mumbling, “Yes.”
He lifts her up and quickly buries his head in her neck before setting her down. Ethan then fumbles with the ring, gets it out of the box and slides it onto her finger.
Marcie turns to show us the ring, slips past me and Kat to hug Tommy, Fi and finally, Sylvie, who smugly says, “I helped pick it out. I hope you love it.”
“My turn,” Kat announces and I turn back to see Gabe has stepped forward. My eyes cut to Trey, who, as ever, is only watching me. I wink at him but give my attention to the actual proposal.
Taking Kat’s hand in his, Gabe’s voice is steady, but I can hear the vulnerability in it. “Kat, you know I’m not perfect. I’ve made more mistakes than I can count, but loving you isn’t one of them. You’ve been my strength, my anchor, and I can’t imagine facing anything without you by my side. I want to build a life with you, one that honors the family we’ve all become. I want to put an end to the feud between Blackburns and Mardraggons once and for all by tying our families together the way they should have been decades ago. It’s a lot of pressure on us to change history, but I don’t know a fiercer, more determined woman to accomplish that with me. With that said, will—”
“Yes!” Kat exclaims, not letting Gabe finish his question.
She motions with her hands for him to get to the ring part and he grins at her. Gabe pulls a sparkler out of the box and Kat hardly looks at it. She doesn’t care how big it is or what it looks like, only that it goes on her finger as a symbol of commitment.
And once it’s firmly in place, she gives him a deep kiss that has me blushing as a low groan emanates from Gabe.
Someone coughs, a subtle message to cool things down and without an ounce of shame, Kat kisses Gabe harder before finally letting him go.
But I’m no longer paying them attention. My eyes are hopelessly pinned on Trey, but he doesn’t move toward me. He stands near the dock’s edge, that place we’ve spent so much time sitting side by side, talking, kissing, fishing… making love.
He doesn’t need to call me forward as I’m drawn to the promise in his expression. I step up to him and his hand comes to my cheek while his other clutches the ring box. I know the question to be asked and he damn well knows my answer, but he’s going to say beautiful words for me anyway.