Hooked on You - Cathryn Fox Page 0,116

up to.”

I open the door, and about twenty people jump up and scream surprise. I falter backward, but Nate is there to catch me—he’s always there to catch me.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Plates of sandwiches and sweets and drinks line the counter, and I glance around, trying to figure out what’s happening.

Izzy grins. “It’s your engagement party.”

“We’ve been engaged for eight months,” Nate says.

“Yeah, but we’ve been away working, and you can’t celebrate without us,” Sam says, leaning in to hug me.

Tears prick my eyes. “I didn’t even know you guys were all back yet.”

“Just got back,” Jason says. “We’ve been sneaking around and planning this with Amber and Faith for a while now.”

Amber gives me a big smile. “Surprised?”

“Yes, totally, and thank you, Amber. This was so nice.” I pull her in for a hug and glance over her shoulder to see Brett. I’m pretty sure the two are an item now.

Jason cracks a beer and hands it to Nate. The two click bottles and then take a long pull. They’d moved past the fight they had pretty quickly, no hard feelings, and for that I’m grateful. Like siblings, fights happen, and so does forgiveness. It warms me to know they all had my back, though.

Khloe comes up to me and hands me a glass of wine. “Khloe,” I screech. “I didn’t realize you were here.”

“Of course, I’m here. I wouldn’t miss your party.”

We clink glasses and drink.

“Now you have to stay over,” Sam says. “No drinking and driving allowed on my watch.”

Khloe grins. “Fine, I’ll take Kira’s old room at the B&B.”

“Motherfucker,” Sam mumbles, and I whack him.

“Not in front of the kids.”

“Shit, right.”

“Sam!”

“Right, right. I can’t say shit.”

“Then stop saying it,” Jason, Cody, Izzy, Nate, and I all say at once. We burst out laughing, and my soul is so full of happiness that I’m sure my expanded chest is going to break my ribs.

“Come sit,” Faith says and steers me into the loveseat. That’s when I see all the presents.

“You guys! You didn’t have to do this.”

Sam sits on the coffee table across from me, and he’s a little more mellow than usual as he smiles at us.

“I did it, Gram,” he says, glancing upward.

“What did you do?” I ask.

“I found the perfect man for you.”

I cock my head. “You found him?”

“Okay, maybe I didn’t find him, but I wouldn’t have let you fall for him if he didn’t fit all Gram’s requirements.”

“Oh, really, Sam?” Nate asks, his smirk doing crazy things to me.

“Hey, that was a compliment,” Sam says. “Seriously, though, you guys, I’m happy for you both. While Nate can’t walk on water, he can float pretty damn good in a pumpkin.”

“I’ll drink to that.” I lift my glass and clink with Sam’s beer bottle.

“Now, you have to open my present first. There is one more thing Gram wanted.”

“Should I be worried?” I ask, and everyone laughs.

Sam reaches behind him and grabs a badly wrapped package. I slowly begin to remove the tape.

“Oh, come on,” he groans. “Rip it.”

I tear the paper away, and when I lift the lid on the box inside, I stare wide-eyed at the contents.

“This is what Gram wanted?”

“Yeah, what do you think?”

I lift my head, catch Nate’s smirk, and we both shake our heads.

“Tell me that’s not a no,” Sam says.

“It’s not a no. You sure this was what Gram wanted?”

“Positive,” he says as I pull out the cute, buttery yellow onesie and hold it up for all to see.

“She wanted you to have a family, Kira.”

I take Sam’s hand. “I do have a family, Sam,” I say and take a moment to look at everyone in the room.

“Yeah, you do,” he says. “Oh, wait, Gram had one more wish.”

“Is that right?” Nate asks as his beer bottle dangles from his fingers. “It seems like she told you a lot of her wishes.”

“I was the favorite,” Sam says, and a round of groans follows. “Don’t be jealous, people.”

“What was her wish?” I ask.

“No matter what you have, Gram wanted you to call the baby Sam. Samuel for a boy, or Samantha for a girl.”

Everyone laughs, and Khloe says, “One Sam in this town is more than enough.”

Sam winks at her and turns back to me. “I’m going to be the best uncle, Kira.”

“I know. Our baby will be so loved.”

“Does that mean you’re going to fulfill Gram’s wishes?”

It’s something Nate and I talked about, and we’re both on the same page, wanting to fill our big home with kids. “When we get pregnant, you’ll be the first to know.” Sam beams, and I take in all the smiling faces. “Then again, with the way information moves through this town, you’ll probably all know before us.”

Nate makes his way toward me, and I can’t help but think his movements should be in slow-mo to emphasize his sexiness. Cue the big finale kiss, right? Except this isn’t our ending—it’s our beginning. I give a soft sigh of pure contentment as he pulls me to my feet and plants a warm kiss on my mouth. I never thought one day I’d find happily ever after, and I honestly can’t wait until we ride off into the sunset.

Just not on Eddie!