Drive Me Wild (Bellamy Creek #1)(89)

Life was good.

For now, we were still living above the garage, although we sometimes talked about the day when we’d be able to afford a house. Griffin wanted some land, I wanted a little more kitchen space, and both of us wanted a family, but we weren’t in any rush (much to Darlene’s dismay).

We’d learned some things from each other over the last year. I’d learned not to ask so many questions and let things unfold a little more naturally, and Griffin had learned to ease up on his need for control and to trust his feelings.

“Looks like the photographer is there already,” I said as we pulled up in front of my bakery. As always, I had to pinch myself when I saw its black-and-white striped awning, the elegant script on the valance, the polished wood of the front door, the two little café tables in matching windows on either side of the entrance.

Inside, the kitchen was full of light, and every morning I woke up excited to put on the coffee, get the ovens going, and greet smiling customers who left their homes to come taste what I created. It meant everything to me.

It was hard to believe it was really mine—any of it, the shop, the man beside me every night, the love we shared, the life ahead, this place I called home, this hope in my heart.

It was better than a fairy tale.





“So you think we got the perfect shot?” I asked as Griffin pulled away from the shop.

“Considering that she took at least a hundred pictures, I hope so. We can’t be that un-photogenic. Well, you can’t.”

I took his hand. “That was fun, wasn’t it? I hope we get on the front page.”

“Everyone will think we’re married again.”

“Oh my God, remember that?” I laughed, recalling the way the rumor had spread. “As if that could have actually happened.”

“People like a good story.”

“Yes, they do. Hey, where are we going?” I asked when he drove past the garage without stopping.

“I thought maybe we’d take a drive.”

“Dressed like this?” I looked down at my gown.

He shrugged and gave me a little sideways grin. “I have a surprise for you.”

I gasped. “I love surprises!”

“I know.”

“Can I try to guess what it is?”

He laughed and shook his head. “If you want to.”

Craning my neck to look out the windows on all sides, I tried to figure out what direction we were headed in. “Are we going to your mom’s house for dinner?”

Griffin grunted. “Do you know me at all?”

I giggled as he got on the highway out of town. “Hmmm. The pond?”

We sometimes took a picnic over to the pond for a date night, just like we had the first week I was here. Those evenings lying in the back of his ’55 Chevy under the stars were better than any I had ever spent dancing with millionaires in hotel ballrooms.

“Nope,” he said.

“Hmmm.” I tapped a finger on my chin, confused when he exited the highway, looped around, and got on again going the opposite direction. “Did you miss your turn or something?”

“Did you know,” he said, “that tonight marks exactly one year since you blew that tire on Main Street?”

I gasped. “Does it really? One year to the day?”

“I checked the original invoice.”

“You still have the original invoice?” My voice was high-pitched with excitement.

“Of course I do.”

“I don’t even think I ever saw it because you wouldn’t let me pay for the repairs.”

“I didn’t want your money,” he said, pulling onto the highway shoulder. “I wanted something more.”

My heart was pounding hard as he shut off the engine. “Griffin, what is this?”

“Stay there.” He jumped out of the driver’s side and came around to me, pulling the door open and lifting me down, just like he had that first night. But this time, he kept his hands on my waist. “I didn’t know it then—in fact, I would have argued with anyone who tried to tell me—but I wanted you to change my life. We joke a lot about me rescuing you that night, but now I see it was the other way around.”

I smiled up at him. “But I was the one with nowhere to go.”

“You did have somewhere to go. But you followed your heart instead.”

“Sort of.” Giggling, I lifted my shoulders. “I followed a sign, remember?”

“I remember. And I hope you’ll follow it again.”

For a second, I was even more confused. Then I looked beyond his shoulder, and I saw it—the billboard.

My jaw dropped, and I sucked in my breath.

It had once advertised the best apple pie in the Midwest since 1957, with a cartoon drawing of the pie and the diner’s logo. Now it had only four words on it: WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Griffin got down on one knee and took a small ring box from his pocket, and I covered my mouth with both hands. My eyes blurred with tears.

“That sign changed everything for me,” he said, his voice cracking. “I don’t know what my life would’ve been like if you hadn’t seen it.”

“Or if I paid more attention to potholes,” I squeaked, my throat tight.

“I will happily spend the rest of my days fixing all your blown tires if you’ll let me. And now, for once, it’s my turn to ask a question.” He opened the box, and a diamond winked at me in the light of the setting sun. “Blair Peacock Beaufort, will you marry me?”