she is sweet and shy, and doesn’t have a shallow bone in her body. I knew I was right the first time you saw her and your eyes lit up but I figured I had to wait it out until you got settled and sorted yourself. Then I go away, hoping when I got home I could start my matchmaking mission and bam, you’ve hooked my cousin deep and she’s living with you. So again, is this a competition?”
I loved that she knew Addy was the woman for me and she trusted me enough to want to hook me up with her cousin. But I still wasn’t tracking the competition thing.
“I’m not following. What’s a competition?” I asked as Addy joined our huddle.
“Hey, baby.” I tagged her hand and gave her a tug until she was plastered to my side.
“Hey, Liberty, welcome home. I’d give you a hug but I’ve been claimed,” Addy said in mock annoyance.
“Indeed you have.”
“Competition?” I prompted, and Liberty’s eyes danced again, this time with mischief.
“Way I hear it, you moved Addy in before the first date. She’s living with you. Everyone knows Addy and Hadley always said they’d get pregnant at the same time so their babies would be the same age. Word also has it that Hadley has already started her pursuit to over-populate the world with Walkers. Drake says he’s gonna be pissed if you marry Addy before we get married, so now I’m racing to get a wedding planned. And just so you know, you’re uninvited if you get married before me. Quinn’s still like sevenish months out. I figured I’d go right after her. That just leaves you and Addy.”
“I suggest you plan your wedding sooner than sevenish months then,” I declared, and heard Addy’s swift inhale. “Because I’m not waiting that long.”
Liberty’s smile went back to wide and she sweetly chuckled.
“You don’t want to wait that long?”
I turned to look at Addy and those stunning fucking eyes were shining.
“Nope.”
“But Mom wants Dad to walk one of his girls down the aisle. Big church wedding. I wanted this.” She motioned around the backyard. “But I’m the last one. Mom’s last chance seeing what she’s always dreamed she’d see.”
Damn. He’d wanted the same as Addy. Marrying her in Tuesday’s orchard in a wonderland of lights.
“If you wanna give that to your mom, then we’ll give it to her. But, baby, I do not want to wait seven months.”
“Okay.”
There she was, his Addy.
He gave her what she wanted and she gave him easy.
“We should go up. Hadley was getting impatient and asked Mom to go find Dad.”
“I’m gonna find Drake. See you up there.”
I didn’t hide my limp when I walked Addy up the slight incline. My leg was throbbing because she was back to being the devil. Jasper and I had started PT two days ago. Addy had taken pity on her father—just having surgery, there wasn’t much he could do, but she was still making him do light stretches. Me? She had me twisting into yoga poses. Something I swore I’d never do, but Addy demanded.
“You okay?”
“No. I’m sore as fuck.”
“I’d say I’m sorry but I’m not.” I didn’t have to look at my woman to know she was smiling. “I’ll give you a rub down when we get home.”
It had been a week since Belview died, and in that week, Addy had been back to her place once. And that was to pick up more clothes, including her yellow bikini. She’d worn it once for about two seconds, then I took it off her and tossed it over the side of the hot tub.
“Are you happy, Adalynn?”
“Very.”
I had planned on waiting until later after the ceremony when I could get her alone, but Liberty had given me a golden opportunity and I wasn’t going to waste it.
I stopped us just short of where Hadley and Brady were going to say their vows. I figured if I couldn’t marry her here, I could give us this memory.
I pulled the ring out of my pocket and twisted Addy’s left hand so her palm was down, and gave her a tug.
“You’re always—”
“Marry me, Adalynn.”
Wondrous shock gleamed in her eyes, and even though it wasn’t a question she still answered.
“Yes.”
One word that said hundreds more—all of them I loved.
I slid her ring on and bent forward, not bothering to ask her to kiss me even though I knew she’d sweetly say okay.
I took my time, giving her everything she gave me. I broke the