Gaining Miles (Miles Family #5)(21)

“Brynn—”

“I’m so excited and happy and I almost don’t know what to say so I guess I’m just going to wind up rambling like Amelia. This is so amazing, I can’t even…” She paused and took a breath. “You really have a date with Ben? Are you serious? Tonight?”

“Yes.”

She dashed into the room and threw her arms around me. I hugged her back, tears stinging my eyes.

“You’re okay with it?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been wishing you two would get together for… I don’t even know how long. This is a dream come true.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“Oh my god, I can’t,” Hannah said. She took a sobbing breath and tears streamed down her face. “This is so beautiful and I love you all so much.”

“Aw, Hannah,” Zoe said. “Come here, sweetie.”

Amelia widened her arms. “Group hug.”

I found myself in the middle of my girls. My beautiful daughter and the three amazing women who had joined our family. I loved these girls so much.

“Okay, we need to stop or we’re never going to get Shannon ready,” Zoe said. “Thank god you don’t have makeup on yet.”

I laughed and dabbed the corners of my eyes. “You girls are so wonderful. Thank you.”

“I can’t get over how bangin’ you look in that dress,” Brynn said. “Ben is going to lose his mind.”

Running my hands over the dress, I smoothed it out again. “It’s Zoe’s.”

“It’s yours now,” Zoe said.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Brynn said. She picked up the box she’d set in the doorway. “This was on your porch when I got here.”

I took the box. It was small, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine, like Ben’s other gift had been. The tag was the same, a white card with my name written in his handwriting.

“I think it’s from Benjamin,” I said.

“We can go if you want to open it in private,” Amelia said.

“That’s okay.” I set it down on the bed and pulled off the twine. I tore open the paper and lifted the lid. Inside was a small rectangular box.

“That looks like jewelry,” Brynn whispered. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or the other girls.

My heart felt fluttery again and my stomach did an excited little flip. I opened the box, revealing a silver necklace with a deep blue stone. I pulled it out and held it up. The stone sparkled, like it was filled with starlight.

The girls gasped and murmured oohs and ahs while I stared at the beautiful necklace.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“Yeah, wow,” Brynn said. “Put it on.”

I handed it to Brynn and turned. She draped it around my neck and fastened the clasp. The stone sat just below the dip in my throat, the blue gleaming against my skin.

“I can’t believe he did this,” I said. “After everything else, this too?”

“What else?” Brynn said.

“He sent me flowers,” I said. “And did you see the lanterns hanging on the front porch? He made those out of old Salishan wine bottles. He sent them with a bottle of wine he’d saved from the first season he worked here. Then he sent a mug. It says good morning, beautiful on it.”

“That’s so sweet,” Hannah said.

I nodded. “It was. And now this necklace.”

“Wait,” Amelia said. “Is that all? Flowers, then the wine bottles, then the mug, then the necklace? He didn’t give you anything else recently?”

“That’s it,” I said. “Isn’t that enough?”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she said. “I just thought… never mind.”

“Well, he did loan me a book, but that wasn’t really a gift,” I said. “It’s from the library.”

Amelia’s eyes widened. “A borrowed book?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He loans me books all the time.”

“Don’t you guys get it?” Amelia asked. She scrunched her shoulders. “I can’t believe you don’t see it. Oh my god, it’s the cutest thing in the whole world. You really don’t get it?”

“Get what?” Brynn asked.

“What Ben did with these gifts,” Amelia said. “The flowers represent dating and courtship, right? But the rest. The wine bottles? They’re something old. The mug? Something new. A library book is something borrowed. And the necklace?”

“Something blue,” I said, touching the blue stone at my throat.

“Wow,” Zoe said. “I knew Ben was good, but I had no idea he was this good.”

“Oh my god,” Brynn said. “Is he telling you he wants to marry you?”

I held the necklace between my fingertips and turned back to the mirror. They were right. Deep down, I knew. I’d felt it today when he’d kissed me. It hadn’t simply been a few stolen minutes in a storeroom. Two people who’d been holding their attraction to each other in check for too long, finally finding the courage to unleash.

I’d tasted forever in that kiss.

“I think he is.”