Undeniable (Cloverleigh Farms #2)(72)

I laughed and nodded, but my throat was so tight I couldn’t speak.

“I know I screwed up, proposing to you at the cottage like that. It was out of nowhere, it was too rushed, it was too public. And I went into it for the wrong reasons. But when I took the ring back, it wasn’t because I didn’t love you enough, or I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with you. Because I do.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, and I sniffed.

“At the time, I promised myself I’d never make that kind of mistake again. I wouldn’t rush things or be selfish. I vowed I would be patient and give you all the time you needed to trust me again, to believe in me. To know without a doubt that you are everything good in my life.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out Gran’s ring. “But again—I lied.”

I sniffled and smiled. “You did?”

He nodded. “Yes. Because when it comes to you, I can’t be patient. I know what I want, and I want it now. And if that makes me sound like a spoiled brat, well, it wouldn’t be the first time you called me that name. And probably not the last.”

Tears fell faster now, but I was laughing too. “Probably not.”

He turned my hand over and slid the ring on my finger, then looked up at me. The afternoon sun made his blue eyes look light and clear, and his skin golden. “Marry me, Chloe. I want you to be my wife. I want to be your husband. I want to be partners in everything—our business, our marriage, our family. I want a house that’s just ours. I don’t care where, I don’t care what size, I only care that I live in it with you and our unbelievably beautiful and smart but completely disobedient kids who are going to try to get away with breaking every rule, just like their parents did.”

“Oh God, they’re going to be terrible, aren’t they?” I asked, laughing through tears. But I couldn’t stop staring at the ring on my finger.

“Probably. But we’ll survive. And we’ll be happy.” He squeezed my hand. “So come on, Dimples. Say yes. I dare you.”

I dropped to my knees too, taking his face in my hands. “Yes,” I said through joyful tears. “Yes!”

We kissed quickly, then Oliver leaned slightly toward the edge of the roof. “She said yes!” he shouted.

Immediately I heard cheers and applause from down below. Open-mouthed, I walked nearer to the edge and saw almost my entire family—and his—gathered below. My parents, April, Mack and Frannie and all three of the girls, Aunt Nell, Uncle Soapy, Gran, Hughie and Lisa and their boys. Even Charlotte was there with Guy and their brand new baby. I smiled and waved. “I said yes! It’s for real this time!”

“Come down for champagne!” April called.

“But take the ladder!” my mother yelled frantically. “No jumping!”

Oliver and I laughed and held hands as we carefully walked back toward the loft. Once we were safely off the roof and inside the barn, I couldn’t resist throwing my arms around him again. He wrapped me up in his embrace and spun me around, my heels in the air.

Laughing, I buried my face in his neck. “I never want my feet to touch the ground, Oliver.”

“Good,” he said. “Because this leap goes on forever.”



The End