me. I’m thankful, sort of, that Danny busted my taillight. I’m thankful your family has welcomed me. I’m thankful I get the chance to tell you how much I love you and how much I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
He scooted back his chair and a quizzical expression filled Holly’s face. His heart raced with nerves.
He dropped to one knee and winced a little at the twinge of discomfort in his healing thigh. He pulled a ring box from his front pocket and snapped it open.
Holly gasped.
Benjamin looked up into her eyes. “The only thing I could be more thankful for is if you’d agree to marry me.”
“Are you serious?” she asked with a cry. “Of course, I’ll marry you.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes. I love you.”
He stood and pulled her into his arms. “Thank goodness.” He kissed her. Behind them, Hank and Harvey gagged.
At the table, he heard a few sniffs as he slid the diamond solitaire onto her finger.
“It’s beautiful and perfect,” she said, holding out her hand so she could admire it. “How did you know exactly what I would want?”
He reached over and put his arm around Katie’s shoulders. “I might have had a little help.”
Her gaze swung toward her daughter. “Katie, you knew?”
She shrugged. “He asked me first if it was okay. I said it was fine and that he was okay enough.”
Holly sniffed and laughed. “For an old guy.”
Benjamin groaned. “Something like that. She went with me to pick out the right ring.”
“It’s perfect,” Holly said, still holding out her hand and looking at the ring.
“Well, now…” Patricia said. “We need some champagne.” She left the table and returned with three bottles.
“Mom? Since when do you stock champagne?”
“Since sweet, sweet Benjamin asked your father and me if he could marry you?”
“You knew, too?”
Her dad spoke up. “We weren’t surprised, honey. We’ve all known for some time that you two belonged together.”
Bethany sniffed. “This is so cool, guys. Don’t let my mother anywhere near your wedding.”
Holly laughed.
Patricia popped a cork and began to fill glass flutes.
“Hey, we want to drink too,” Harvey said.
“Of course,” his grandmother replied and handed Diana a bottle of sparkling, white grape juice. “I bought an extra bottle of, um, champagne for them.”
They toasted and ate and laughed the entire meal. Benjamin couldn’t wipe the broad grin from his face.
This was his world now. Love. Family. Laughter. Jokes. Kids. All he lacked was the dog and that would be easy enough to fix. In five months, he’d gone from a lone wolf/confirmed bachelor to a man with a family.
He looked at the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. She was talking to her sister-in-law and laughing, her eyes bright and twinkling.
How had a confirmed bachelor gotten so lucky? He didn’t sure and he wasn’t going to question fate. He draped an arm around the back of Holly’s chair. She looked over, smiled, kissed him, and went back to talking to Diana.
He only knew he would spend every day for the rest of his life thankful for what he’d been given.
Acknowledgments
At Coastal Magic convention in February 2020, I had the pleasure of meeting so many readers. During one of the games, I met a reader named Holly Maxwell. I immediately said, “Your name is perfect for my heroine.” She laughed, I’m sure thinking I was kidding. But after the convention, I reached out to Holly and she was happy to share her name with my character. So to Holly Maxwell…THANKS! You rock!
In this book, my heroine has a twelve-going-on-thirteen year old daughter. My personal experiences with pre-teens are limited to my own experiences. Having never been a mother to a pre-teen, hormonal girl, I reached out to Facebook for help. These ladies were kind enough to let me pepper them with questions and solicit recommendations for my characters. For that I am thankful. Any mistakes or mischaracterization of a pre-teen girl are my own. THANK YOU to Jody Holt, Kristen Humphry Johnson, Jessica Robinson, and Bru Baker. You ladies made my load lighter.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Cynthia D’Alba started writing on a challenge from her husband in 2006 and discovered having imaginary sex with lots of hunky men was fun. She was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, she’s thrilled to be making her home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage