the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand ran directly to the heart.
One year later…
Ronan stood in the kitchen of his and Audrey’s new home, a small but cozy townhouse in a newer development at the edge of Kissing Creek. It wasn’t quite as convenient as his walk across the leafy Harrison Beech grounds to get to his office, but having a space to call their own made him feel like his life was complete. Besides, Audrey had started her degree at Harrison Beech—part-time—now that she’d gotten her GED. That meant they often drove to the campus together.
Almost all of their belongings were in boxes scrawled with Sharpie and sealed shut with duct tape, but he’d unearthed enough utensils to cook a basic meal for their first night together. For all of them…
Audrey sat on the floor with Deanna, their matching blond heads bowed as they rifled through boxes marked kitchen.
“Found them!” Deanna held up a fork triumphantly. “Now we don’t have to eat with our hands.”
Audrey shot Ronan a look and closed the flaps on the box. “I would have been perfectly happy to order pizza.”
“No way.” Ronan shook his head. “This is our home. I’m not ordering takeout for our first meal. It’s a special occasion.”
Audrey pushed up from the floor and came over to him, the hem of her long skirt swishing around her bare feet. “Best I find the wineglasses, then,” she said, planting a kiss on the tip of his nose. “That champagne isn’t going to drink itself.”
“Can I have some?” Deanna asked, getting to her feet. She’d grown up a lot in this past year, shooting up several inches and developing her confidence. He’d grown to love her like a little sister, given that she shared Audrey’s sparkling personality and happy disposition—as happy as a teenager could be, anyway.
“You won’t like it,” Audrey warned. “It’s not sweet.”
“But I want to celebrate.”
At that moment, there was a knock on the front door, and Deanna ran over to greet their guests. She skidded to a stop on her sock-covered feet and yanked the door open.
“Hey everyone!” Georgie appeared in the doorway, tapping away at her phone as usual. Jane was close behind, along with her boyfriend from college. Oliver brought up the rear.
“I can’t believe you wanted me to invite everyone over on our first night when we don’t even have things unpacked,” Audrey said, grabbing the champagne from the fridge. She wrapped her hand over the cork and gave it a gentle twist, easing it out with a satisfying pop. “You’re crazy.”
“Crazy in love with you,” he said, pulling her close for a kiss. “Which means I want your family to feel welcome here.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “This house, this…everything—I can’t believe it’s ours.”
“And I can’t believe you’re mine, Audrey.” He gave her a little nudge. “Now go and welcome everyone. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”
Grinning, she dashed off to greet her siblings. Even with them being scattered across the country, they were close. Georgie was off studying at Columbia, Jane was still at Duke, and Oliver had spent six months overseas, doing an exchange-type program with a specialty digital arts school.
They all saw their father periodically, but the relationship was slow to repair. Especially Oliver. Ronan knew that struggle, though he was happy to say that he and his mother were much further along. They spoke every few weeks now, and he visited her and his grandmother once a month. It gave him hope that Audrey and her siblings would get there one day, too.
Deanna came up beside Ronan and snuck a look over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her. “Everyone’s here now.”
“Can you get them all to sit down at the table? I’ll dish up.” He winked at her. “Then it’s showtime.”
She grinned but quickly smothered the expression. “You’ve got it?”
Ronan nodded. A small velvet box wasn’t the easiest thing to stash in his jeans without it looking totally suspicious. But the apron he’d thrown over his clothes was perfect, with deep, loose pockets perfect for stashing an engagement ring.
He’d taken Deanna to a jewelry shop in Boston a few weekends ago, claiming that they were going to the MIT Museum for a school assignment. In reality, Deanna had helped him pick out the perfect ring, since she knew way more about that kind of girlie stuff than he did.
She’d guided him toward an oval-cut citrine, since yellow was Audrey’s