Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11)(95)
“Okay.”
She went over to the refrigerator and opened it up. Inside was a white envelope with her name on it.
“Okay, this is weird.”
“What’s weird?” Alyssa asked.
“There’s an envelope in here. And it has my name on it.”
“What?” Alyssa got up and looked over her shoulder. “What is that?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, open it.”
She grabbed the envelope and opened it. Inside was a plain white card that read: Walk out to the front yard.
“Huh.” She looked up at Alyssa. “What do you think this means?”
Alyssa shrugged. “I have no idea.”
She was going to go over to her mother to ask, but her mother had disappeared. So had everyone in the house.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Again,” Alyssa said. “I have no idea.”
Something strange was going on. And she was tired and hungry and cranky as hell.
“I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” She went to the front door and opened it.
And there, on her mother’s front porch, was Barrett. In the yard stood her mother and Drake and—wait. Barrett’s parents? And was that Mia, too?
What were they all doing there?
And everyone held white balloons in their hands. And Barrett was dressed—really nice—in black slacks and a white button-down shirt.
Her throat went dry.
Alyssa gave her a warm smile and pushed at her back. “Go on outside, honey.”
She gave a quick glance over her shoulder to Alyssa and then took a step onto the porch.
Barrett stepped up to her and smiled. “Hi, Harmony.”
“Hi, Barrett. What’s going on?”
“I started off our relationship on the wrong foot. Instead of shouting to the world how I felt about you, I made you keep it secret. And I kept it a secret. And that was a big mistake, because the way I feel about you is something I want everyone to know. So in front of everyone who’s important to me—your family and mine, and our friends—minus my brothers, because they’re all off playing baseball and football, I want everyone to know how I feel about you.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t necessary, you know.”
“It is necessary, because I have a very important question to ask you.”
Oh, God. “Barrett.”
He rubbed his thumbs across her hands. “Harmony Evans. I love you. I fell in love with you from the minute you asked me to date you. And I should have known it right then, and I should have acknowledged it right then, but you know how guys are sometimes. We’re a little slow to pick up on the obvious. Like how your hair picks up the sunlight and glows like midnight at noon. And how your smile makes my stomach clench, and how smart you are and how talented you are and how you’ve made a beautiful home for both of us to spend the rest of our lives in.”
She could not breathe right now.
He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket, and then he got down on one knee. And at the same time, everyone turned those white balloons over, and written on them was “Barrett loves Harmony.”
“I love you, Harmony. Will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”
She finally exhaled, tears pooling in her eyes. “Yes. Oh, God, yes, I’ll marry you. I love you, Barrett.”
He put the most beautiful diamond ring on her finger amid the cheers from her family and his family and their friends. Then he stood, pulled her in his arms and kissed her.
And it was the best kiss of her life.
She looked forward to getting a lot more kisses like that in the years to come.
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COMING SOON FROM
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COMING SOON FROM
Brady Connors was spending the day doing one of the things he enjoyed the most: smoothing out dents in a quarter panel of a Chevy. As soon as he finished, he’d paint, and this baby would be good as new.
It wasn’t his dream job. He was working toward that. But with every day he spent working at Richards Auto Service, thanks to Carter Richards, he was pocketing money that got him closer to his dream. And someday he’d open up his own custom motorcycle paint shop.
Somewhere. Maybe here in Hope. Maybe somewhere else. Probably somewhere else, because this place held memories.
Not good ones.
A long time ago—a time that seemed like an eternity now—he had thought maybe he and his brother Kurt would start up a business together. Brady would do bodywork and custom motorcycle paint, and Kurt would repair the bikes.
That dream went up in smoke the day Brady got the call that his brother was dead.
He paused, stood, and stretched out the kinks in his back, wiping the sweat that dripped into his eyes. He took a step back and grabbed the water bottle he always stored nearby, taking a long drink through the straw, swallowing several times until his thirst was quenched.
Needing a break, he pulled off his breathing mask and swiped his fingers through his hair, then stepped outside.
It was late spring, and rain was threatening. He dragged in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of fresh air.