“No. I’m getting worried. She always at least texts me back.”
“What are you worried about? She’s a big girl.” Heath tightened his grip as a group of teenagers walked by.
“I don’t know. She had that date last night, and she said the guy was a jerk. I’m sure I’m overthinking.”
She shoved her phone in her pocket. “Can we stop by her place after the shoot? Just to check on her?”
Heath kissed her forehead as they neared the fountain. “Of course, sweetheart. Whatever you want.”
Several people were taking pictures around the fountain; others were marveling at the colorful lights or cuddling on the concrete steps by the water. In the center of the wide round fountain, water spouted straight up in the air, illuminated from below by colorful lights, which gave the fountain—and the night—a celebratory feel. Water arced high in the air around the circumference of the fountain and fell in beautiful sprays into the stepped pool of the fountain below.
“Heath, look how beautiful it is tonight. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen colored lights on the fountain. I guess Jackson and Cooper had that done for the photo shoot?” She looked around.
“They must have.”
A breeze swept droplets of water across their cheeks. Ally pressed her face to Heath’s chest and laughed. His strong arms circled her and held her close.
A tall, dark-haired man carrying two bouquets of roses and a bunch of balloons walked up behind Heath, then stopped beside him.
“Hi,” Heath said.
Ally had learned a lot about Heath over the past few weeks, and one of the things she admired was his friendliness toward strangers.
“Hi. I’m supposed to meet my girlfriend here, and I need to grab something from over there.” He pointed to where a group of people were standing a few feet away. He was nicely dressed, in a pair of slacks and a sweater covered by a light jacket. “Would you mind holding these for a moment?”
“Sure.” Heath took the flowers and the man handed Ally the balloons.
“Thank you. I’ll be right back.” The man went back the way he’d come.
“That was weird.” Ally peered around Heath at the man, now talking with a group of friends a few feet away.
The man didn’t appear to be coming back, or at least he was taking his dear old time, laughing and talking while Ally and Heath held his goodies.
“Oh my God, Heath. What is he doing? I feel like I’m on Candid Camera.”
Heath handed her the flowers. “Can you hold these for one sec? I want to call Cooper and see where they are.” He put the bouquets in Ally’s hands, then put his hand in his coat pocket as she tried to juggle the balloons and flowers.
“Hurry. I’m afraid I’ll drop them.”
Heath dropped to one knee and looked up at her.
She rolled her eyes. “What are you doing?”
Heath withdrew his hand from his pocket and smiled up at Ally. “Allyson Jenner, you have turned my world upside down. You’ve filled my heart and my home with love—”
“Oh my God. Heath. Oh my God. Are you…?” Her eyes welled with tears as her mother, father, and sister came out of the shadows behind Heath, setting those tears free. She tried to cover her gaping jaw and managed to smack herself in the face with the roses. “Ohmygodohmygod.”
Tears streamed down her face as Heath’s brothers and mother came into view over his other shoulder.
“Heath,” she whispered.
“Ally, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Fifi and as many babies as you want to have.” He took her hand in his, and her legs turned to wet noodles, dropping her to her knees.
She heard Amanda and her mother say her name, and a collective gasp sounded behind Heath, but it was all muffled as Heath caught her and helped her find stability. There they crouched, Ally holding a fistful of balloons and armfuls of roses and Heath gazing into her eyes like she was his whole world—just as he was hers. A lump formed in Ally’s throat, stealing her ability to speak. In her peripheral vision she saw flashes of light from Cooper’s and Jackson’s cameras.
As tears slid down her cheeks, she found Heath’s loving gaze.
“You caught me,” she said just above a whisper, tasting the salty tears as they slipped over her lips.
“I promised I would for the rest of your life, sweetheart, day or night. I never lie.” He held a ring between his finger and thumb. Diamonds glistened in the moonlight as he picked up her left hand and helped her reposition the flowers in her arms.
“Ally?”
“Mm-hm?” Ohgodohgodohgod.
“Ally, will you marry me?”
Yes! Yes! She opened her mouth to say yes, but no words came.
She cleared her throat, feeling their family members step in closer. Into their bubble of love. Into the rest of her life.
Into the rest of our life.
“Yes. Yes, Heath, I’ll marry you.” She flung herself into his arms, crushing the flowers between them as the balloons floated up into the night sky.