“You are obsessed with that creek,” she remarks, and I’m not really obsessed with it.
“I’m obsessed with the way your eyes light up when you are near it,” I fill her in as we walk past the barn, “and the way you smile so contently that you let out a little sigh.” She smiles over at me.
We walk through the trees, the sound of twigs snapping under our feet as we walk through the dense trees. The sun is kept out and you can hear every single bird chirping in the distance. “Isn’t it peaceful,” Sofia observes and all I can do is nod my head.
“What in the world?” Sofia says as she stops walking. I look up and see there are trees that have twinkle lights wrapped around them. “What is this?” She moves her feet slowly as she makes it to the clearing and sees a lot of twinkle lights are all over the trees.
I stand in the middle of the clearing as she turns in a circle and takes in all the lights. “Do you think they did this for your family?” she asks as she turns to face me.
The minute her eyes meet mine, I bend to one knee. “Sofia,” I say, and she gasps and puts both hands over her mouth.
“What is going on?” She takes a step back.
All I can do is smile at her. “From the moment I laid eyes on you.” I tilt my head to the side. “I knew two seconds later I had to know who you were.” She laughs at that little joke.
“Matthew.” She says my name between tears and a beaming smile.
“Marry me.” I close my eyes. “After all the ways I practiced asking you this, the only two words I can remember are those two.” I shake my head. “When I was getting ready to propose to you, I went to my father and told him. He came with me to ask your father for your hand in marriage.”
“Oh my,” she says, her laughter filling the forest.
“Yeah, well, he said no.” I shake my head, thinking of when he snapped out no, but then Hazel came into the room, and he changed his mind. “Luckily for him, I was going to do it no matter what he said.” I take out the black box from my pocket. “When it was time to pick your ring, well, everyone showed up. There was some back-and-forth and it was a nightmare, but all I wanted was to tell you when I got home. All I wanted to do was slip it on your hand and ask you to be mine forever. All I ever want is for you to be mine.” I smile up at her. “Sofia, you have made my dreams come true by giving me another chance. You have shown me what true love really means. You have shown me what it feels like to be loved unconditionally. I want to have babies with you. I want to ride horses with you. I want to hold your hand when you are happy and raise you up when you are sad. I want it all, Sofia, and I want it with no one but you.” I open the box and she gasps. “So what do you say, Sofia? Will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”
She doesn’t answer because she’s too busy charging at me and wrapping her arms around my neck. The ring box flies out of my hand as I make sure she doesn’t fall to the side, but in doing so I watch the ring literally fly through the air. “Oh my God!” Sofia shrieks.
“The ring!” she yells, and I hear voices now.
“He had one job,” I hear Reed say from the forest.
“She charged him.” I hear my father now. “Was he supposed to let her fall?” I shake my head and look over at the box and the ring that is right next to it.
“He found it, you see,” my father states.
“This was supposed to be just the two of us,” I tell her, and all she does is smile at me.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” she replies, holding my face and kissing my lips.
“Should we go and congratulate them now?” I hear my uncle Max say.
“She didn’t say yes yet,” Casey growls. “She can still say no.”
“She isn’t going to say no,” my uncle Matthew pffts out. “She’s kissing him.”
“I’m not saying no!” Sofia now yells over her shoulder. “I will never, ever say no.”
“Is that a fact?” I ask, and I just smirk. “So if I said, let’s get married today?”
“He did not,” Reed groans. “Did he just—”
“Matthew,” she says, and I hold up my hand.
“What if I said I took care of everything and all you have to do is choose the dress?” I look at her, seeing the shock in her eyes.
“How—how did you do all this?” she asks, and I hear laughing.
“How do you think he did?” She looks over my shoulder and there they are, the women who have made all this happen: Shelby, Clarabella, Presley, and Addison.
“So what do you say?” I ask again. “Want to get married?”
Some time later…
“Can I come in?” a male voice says as he sticks his head in. “I come with gifts,” he says, and I stand and look at Stefano, who is Matthew’s cousin.
He’s six foot four with black hair and green eyes. He’s wearing tan pants with a white shirt and a tan vest, and I have to wonder if he’s part of the bridal party. I don’t even have a chance to say anything when I hear Addison next to me gasp.
Stefano’s eyes go from me and then to Addison. “Oh my God,” I hear Addison say as she puts her hand to her mouth. “It’s you.”
The color on Stefano’s face drains and he looks like he’s seen a ghost. “You,” he says in a whisper. My head goes back and forth to him and then to her. No one else in the room realizes what is going on. I’m about to ask them if they know each other when I hear Avery shriek.
“Momma, Momma,” she says, looking up at her, “I get to wear a princess dress.” She turns around in a circle on one foot stumbling while she looks at me and it’s then my mouth hits the floor.
“Oh my God,” Stefano says, putting his hand to his mouth.
“Stefano.” I hear someone call him, and turning I see a woman coming into the room. “Baby, where did you go?” she says, slipping her hand through his. “Who do we have here?”
THE END