She laughed. “No. Are you kidding? I’d love to move into your house. I love that house. I might have even subconsciously designed it with the thought of someday living there.”
“It’s the steam shower, isn’t it?” he asked.
She grinned. “Of course.”
He laughed, then rolled her over onto her back, kissing her so thoroughly her body ached for him again.
“It’s yours. I’m yours, Harmony. Forever.”
An unexpected rush of love and tenderness filled her. “And I’m yours, Barrett. Always.”
Thirty-Nine
Dinner at mama’s house was chaotic as usual. The guys had an away game this weekend, which meant it was a full house tonight. Everyone wanted home cooking before they headed out on the road.
Mama and the aunts had made meatloaf and mashed potatoes, along with salad and green beans. Aunt Paula had baked homemade biscuits.
Harmony was starving. She’d put in a full day of work, and though she’d snacked all day, she hadn’t had a full lunch, so she was more than ready to dig in.
Plus, tonight was the first night Barrett was going to be here as her man, out in the open, no skulking around. She intended to enjoy every minute of that.
She laid her purse on the table by the door and made a beeline for the iced tea in the kitchen. Alyssa was already there and, as soon as she saw her, she poured her a glass.
“You’re my savior,” she said, hugging her friend.
“You look worn-out,” Alyssa said.
“Long day.”
“Hey, baby sis,” Drake said, coming up next to her and giving her a short hug.
“Hey yourself. How did practice go today?”
“Good.”
“Where’s Barrett?”
“He texted me a little while ago and said he had to make a stop on the way, but he should be here soon.”
“Okay. And did you bring the entire team with you tonight?”
Drake laughed as he looked around the living room. “Seems like it, huh?”
She went into the dining room and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Mama.”
Her mother gave her a sweet smile. “Hello, baby girl. How was your day?”
“Intense. And I’m hungry.”
“Go get yourself a snack. Dinner will be ready in a little while.”
“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.”