Taste (Cloverleigh Farms, #7)(91)

“Well? What do you say, princess?” Gianni called. “Will you marry me?”

I looked at Gianni again and thought I might burst with excitement. “Yes!” I shouted. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

The crowd cheered, and I thanked Chip with a quick hug before letting him hurry back to the sidelines. When I turned around again, Gianni was coming toward me. He was drenched, his wet hair a mess, his feet bare, his swim trunks hanging low and clinging to his skin. But I’d never been more in love with him as he got down on one knee, took the ring from the box, and slipped it on my finger. “I know I’m probably the last guy you thought you’d end up with.”

“The very last,” I confirmed, smiling through tears.

“But I promise to make you smile every single day of your life,” he said, clasping my hand in his. “And I will put all my energy into taking care of you and our family.”

“That’s a lot of energy.”

“It is.” He grinned up at me. “I think that means we’re going to have a big family.”

Laughing, I let my tears spill over as he rose to his feet, wrapped me in his arms and picked me right up off the ground. The people surrounding us cheered, and in a moment we were engulfed by friends and family who wanted to hug us and wish us well.

I’d only been back on the ground for a minute when I was grabbed by my mom, then my dad, then Uncle Nick and Aunt Coco, then Winnie, who was crying and laughing just like I was. “That was so romantic!” she squealed.

“Did you know?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not until five minutes before it happened! Someone must have warned him I’m no good with surprises.”

“I did,” said Felicity, who appeared and gave me a quick hug. “I told him if he wanted to pull this off without Ellie knowing, you couldn’t know either.”

“Well, he pulled it off,” I said, glancing down at my ring.

“I did,” Gianni said behind me. “But there’s just one more thing.”

“What?” I turned around to face him, and splat!—

I took a whipped cream pie to the face.

Stunned, I stood there for a moment, blinking through the fluffy white whipped cream while everyone around us roared. I wiped my eyes and heard one of Dex’s daughters squeal, “We got that whole thing on video!”

I started to laugh, and Gianni kissed me, getting whipped cream all over his face too. “We weren’t quite even-steven,” he said.

“And now?”

“Now we’re good.”

I threw my arms around him and kissed his lips once more. “So good.”





EPILOGUE





GIANNI





“Gianni.”

It was Ellie’s voice whispering my name in the dark. Soft and sweet, the way she did when she was feeling in the mood. Lately, that hadn’t been too often—and I got it, she was nearly nine months pregnant—so even if it was in the middle of the night and I’d been sound asleep a moment ago, I was up for this.

“Mmmm.” I rolled over and reached for her. And reached. And reached. And reached again. She wasn’t there.

“Gianni.” Her tone was less soft and sweet now, more insistent and annoyed.

I sat up and opened my eyes, her body taking shape in the shadows. She was standing at the side of the bed, dressed. “What? What’s wrong?”

She switched on the lamp. “I’m in labor.”

My heartbeat kicked into a gallop. “It’s not time yet! You have ten more days!”

She laughed. “Babies don’t always arrive on a schedule. When they’re cooked, the timer goes. And my timer went.”

I swung my feet to the floor and took her by the shoulders. “Are you sure? What time is it? Did you call the doctor?”

“I’m sure. It’s two-thirty, and yes. The on-call OB said to go to the hospital, since my water broke.”

“It did?”

“Yes. I got up to go to the bathroom and that was that.”

“Okay. Okay.” I got out of bed and started barreling around the room like a tornado. “Get dressed.”

“I’m dressed.”

“I was talking to myself.” I was opening and closing drawers, yanking things out and putting them on without even caring what they were. I shoved my feet into some shoes. I stuck a hat on my head. I remembered at the last second to put on deodorant, reaching beneath the sweatshirt I’d thrown on.

“Gianni, relax. It will probably be hours before this baby is here. And I need you not to panic, okay?”

I turned around and saw Ellie standing there, her belly huge, her hands braced on her lower back. Her long, dark hair hung loose around her shoulders. She looked so young and beautiful, my heart hurt. I tossed the deodorant aside and took her in my arms. “Are you scared?”

“Yes.” She smiled nervously, her brown eyes shining with excitement. “But I have you, right?”

“You have me. I’ll never leave your side.”

“Then I’m okay.”

I kissed her forehead and held her close for a moment, willing myself to be braver than I felt. She needed me to stay calm and reassuring, so even though I felt like a thousand bulls were fighting inside my rib cage, I had to remain still. “Got your bag?”