I hurried back to where our friends and family had gathered, dutifully parking their cars a few blocks away and walking to the house while Kennedy finished up at the clinic. Collin sat ready with his guitar, flashing me an enthusiastic thumbs up as I caught his eye. Maxine beamed, pleased as punch with the state of things. Lucas sat with his wife and brothers. Kennedy’s mom paced in the very back of the yard, as far from her daughter as she could be, a giant grin on her face as she chattered into her phone.
One thing had become clear over the last week as I put this shindig together. One of us was better at surprises than the other. If Kennedy had an inkling of what I had planned today, then I’d eat my boots. And I still loved my boots, even if I did trade them in for flipflops from time to time.
“Everything looks beautiful.”
I jumped and whirled. “Holy shit, Delores. How the hell do you keep doing that?”
My favorite neighbor had donned her treasured powder blue velour tracksuit for the evening. She looked positively ecstatic as her eyes crinkled into a smile. “Your situational awareness is terrible. You should really work on that. Especially if you want to pull off this surprise.” With a swish of tortured velour and the faintest pinch on my rear end, she ambled away to join the rest of the guests.
Life had a way, didn’t it? If I traveled back in time and told me from six months ago I’d be scurrying around Maxine’s house, trying to keep Penny Dreadful occupied so I could surprise her with a proposal, I’d have laughed in my face and shot myself the bird.
I’d stumbled on the woman of my dreams in the most unlikely place.
Before I got to know her, she challenged me to the point that I couldn’t stand being around her.
But once I understood her heart and mind?
There was no stopping the chemistry between us from igniting.
It went up in flames, razing all I thought was true about life to the ground. From the ashes of my past rose a future so magnificent, it felt like trying to stare at the sunrise.
A squeal from Kennedy’s mom and an excited gasp from someone in the crowd caught my attention. Whispers of “She’s coming!” spread like wildfire. I looked up just in time to find the woman who owned my heart staring in shock, her hands on her hips, surprise in her eyes.
“I thought I saw you sneaking around the corner.” She lifted her chin as her eyes raked over the people gathered, one eyebrow arching as her mother waved hello with her phone in her hand. “What are you doing and why are you all here?”
The look on Kennedy’s face and the excitement in her voice told me she’d already guessed what was on my mind. I could jump right into explaining, but where was the fun in that? Especially when she looked so sure she knew exactly what I was about to say?
And so, I did what I did best. I went on the attack. “The more important questions is, what are you doing and why are you here?”
“Me?” she asked with a hand to her heart and a twinkle in her eye. “I’m known to have a killer right hook, so maybe you shouldn’t mess around trying to surprise me.” That gorgeous mouth pulled into a smile, begging me to come closer.
Unable to resist, I started her way. “I’m not doing anything wrong here.”
With fire in her eyes, she welcomed my every step. “You’re almost as bad a liar as I am.”
“Spoken like someone who doesn’t know just how bad a liar she really is,” I said with a laugh. Behind me, Maxine chuckled, with affirmative “mmm-hmms” coming from both Delores and her mom.
Kennedy’s lips parted, the corners lifting in a grin as her gaze hit mine. The glint in her eyes said she loved me, over and over, again and again.
As I came to a stop in front of her, Collin strummed the first chords of her favorite song. I took her hands as he hummed the melody.
“The first time I saw you, you were sitting in your car, talking to someone on your phone. I noticed your hair. Your lips. Your eyes. You didn’t see me, but the moment felt significant. A few minutes later, you threatened to pepper spray me, so I figured that sense was a warning to