her spot, giving Hayden a wink and little elbow nudge.
“And now for our big winner,” Bren says slowly, scanning the rest of the contestants to draw out the moment. “With her caramel apple creation, our new Polish Pie Princess is newcomer Hayden Foss.”
Hayden’s eyes go wide and Ma shrieks, pointing all the way down the line at Mikayla. “Give me that crown!”
Poor Mikayla’s face turns red, but she hands the crown over so Ma can place it on Hayden’s head.
Jett hollers from my shoulders, “Good job, Mama!”
“Oh, thank fuck,” Aiden sighs.
“You’re telling me,” Dad adds, and all I can do is grin.
“Congratulations, Hayden,” Bren says into the mic. “Are you familiar with our tradition? Do you know what you have to do now?”
Oh, shit, I forgot about this part.
“I do,” she says with a bright-eyed grin as she picks up her pie plate and starts for the crowd.
“It’s gonna be me.” Jinx rolls his shoulders and puffs his chest. “I have a good feeling about this.”
“Think again, asshole.” Last year, I’d ducked out before Mikayla could find me in the crowd, but this year… that girl and that pie are mine.
The crowd shifts in front of us and suddenly Hayden is standing before me, batting those pretty lashes over those stunning dark eyes and pretty pink lips I haven’t kissed in far too long.
Aiden takes Jett from my shoulders as Hayden steps forward with a smile.
“So, there’s this thing I have to do,” she says confidently. “The funny thing is… it wasn’t part of my plan. I didn’t even know about it until a couple of hours ago.”
“Oh?” I shift forward, keenly aware that hundreds of people, mostly my friends and neighbors, are watching us.
“I had something entirely different in mind for today, but this…” She presses her lips together as her nostrils flare ever so slightly and her cheeks flush. “This feels right,” she rasps.
“Uh huh.” Go on, baby, ask me.
“Jesse Enders, will you be my prince?” She offers me the pie plate and I accept it without hesitation.
The crowd cheers and I chuckle as they begin to chant, “Feed him! Feed him! Feed him!”
Grinning, and as tradition insists, Hayden gathers a forkful of pie and slides it into my mouth.
“So fucking good,” I mutter around the gooey sweetness. I expect her to offer me another, but she takes the plate back instead and hands it off to Jinx.
The hell…
“I have something else I’d like to say,” she says, reaching for both of my hands. “Something I should have said a long time ago.”
“Babe, you don’t need to do this now, not in front of everyone…”
“But I do.” She pulls her shoulders back and turns her wrist over, showing me her tattoo… which isn’t quite how I remember it.
“Whoa.” When the hell did she do that?
Glittery emotion lines her eyes as she points to what I realize is a date, nestled along the tail of one of those shooting stars. There’s new script, too.
“On this day, almost seven years ago, you came into my life, literally out of nowhere. We spent less than an hour together, but you made me feel like I was the only girl in the world that night. You were sweet and kind and funny and patient and…” Her face pinches for a moment before she regains her composure. “And I knew, right then, beneath those stars, that you were someone special. Someone I would never forget. But I wasn’t ready. And I had a lot of growing up to do before I could realize the magnitude of those few moments with you.” Her fingers slide to the script and a lump lodges in my throat. “But I knew enough, because that night, I’d wished for you. You are my wish come true, Jesse, just like this says.”
I nod and try to swallow against the pressure in my chest, but that’s the most I can do without cracking in front of everyone. When I asked her to be brave, I sure as hell didn’t expect this.
“Our journey hasn’t been an easy one, but you’ve stood up for what you thought was best for our family from the very start. You set your feelings aside and you let me do what I thought I needed to, even though I know it hurt like hell.
“You came every two weeks and so many times in between when you didn’t have to. For Jett and for me and for us. You were my partner in every way that mattered