“Yes,” I bawled, tears spilling down my face. “Yes, yes, yes!”
He rose to his feet and kissed me quickly before embracing me, lifting me right off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight, just like he said.
After I’d blubbered into his shoulder for a minute or two, he set me on my feet and I finally looked at the ring on my finger. “I can’t believe it!” I said, laughing and crying at the same time. “Is it real?”
“It’s real.”
I whirled around, expecting people to jump out of the closet. “Where’s Mariah? Are Griffin and Blair here? Our mothers?”
“No,” he said. “I thought about it, but decided this was something I wanted to do without an audience.”
“I get it.” I couldn’t take my eyes off my ring—my engagement ring! “But do they know?”
“They know,” he admitted. “And I promised Mariah we’d call her as soon as it happened.”
“Oh, let’s call her really quick!” I grabbed my phone. “I know it’s almost nine, but I need to show this ring off or I’m going to burst!”
He laughed. “Okay, I also need to change my shirt.”
I winced, looking at the wet splotch, which also had black mascara smudges. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I have another.”
“I bet my face looks like that too, huh?”
He didn’t bother lying. “A bit.”
I took thirty seconds to repair my mascara and eyeliner and then sat on the bed to FaceTime Cole’s mom.
She and Mariah appeared on the screen. “Hello?” His mother said.
“Did he do it?” Mariah shrieked.
I held up my left hand. “He did it!”
“Yay!” They both cheered, and Mrs. Mitchell wiped her eyes. “I’m so happy,” she said.
“Me too,” chirped Mariah. “Daddy said I can be in the wedding!”
“Well, of course you can,” I said. “You have to be my maid of honor!”
“Really?” Her eyes widened. “But what about Aunt Blair? Won’t she want to be maid of honor?”
“I’ll just have two,” I said. “It’s my wedding, so I make the rules.”
She laughed. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He’s changing his shirt,” I said, glancing over to where he stood tucking it into his pants. “I sort of cried all over the first one.”
They both smiled. “So when will the wedding be?” his mother asked.
“Mom, what did I say about that?” Cole, a white shirt beneath his charcoal jacket now, came to sit beside me. “We’ve only been engaged for five minutes. No pressuring us yet.”
She held up one palm. “Okay, okay. I’m just excited is all.”
“I am too,” I said. “Maybe this spring or summer?”
“I think that would be perfect,” Mrs. Mitchell said, beaming. Mariah looked overjoyed too.
“We should head down to dinner,” I said. “We’re late for our reservation. But I was so excited, I couldn’t wait until afterward to tell you!”
They laughed again. “Congratulations, darlings.” Misty-eyed, Mrs. Mitchell blew us a kiss and Mariah waved happily. “We’ll see you when you get home.”
We waved goodbye and ended the call. “I’ll call my mom from the table,” I said, rising to my feet. “Let’s head out.”
He took my hand and we left the room. “Were you serious about getting married this spring or summer?” he asked as we walked down the hall.
“Yes. Why, you think it’s too quick?”
“Not at all. I’d marry you tomorrow if you said you would.”
I laughed as we headed down the grand staircase into the lobby. “Tomorrow might be a little bit soon, but I don’t really want to wait very long.”
“Good. I don’t either.” We reached the bottom of the steps and headed for the restaurant.
“I waited long enough for you,” I teased as we approached the hostess stand.
“Are you always going to give me hell for that?”
I laughed. “Probably.”
“Your name?” asked the hostess.
“Mitchell,” Cole answered.
She smiled at us. “Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell.”
Cole looked at me and squeezed my hand, his mouth curving into that smile I’d loved for so long.
I smiled back and walked with him, hand in hand.
He held on tight.
THE END
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Thirty-Five
Pancakes for dinner
Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond four
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1) Mix dry ingredients in large bowl
2) Add wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes before cooking.
3) Heat large nonstick griddle or skillet to medium low. Once it is heated, spray with cooking spray. Ladle about 1/3-1/2 cup of batter into the skillet. Wait for bubbles to rise to the surface and the bottom of the pancake is a deep golden brown before flipping. The pancake will be almost all the way cooked through at this point. This will prevent The batter from going all over the place when you flip! Once the other side is golden, remove from pan and place in warm oven until read to serve.
Thirty-Six
Crispy Asian Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sriracha
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) In a large bowl, toss the Brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread onto baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or until browned.
3) Meanwhile, place all sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
4) Once Brussel sprouts come out of oven, immediately pour the sauce over the sprouts and toss until coated.
Thirty-Seven
Mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and leek
Ingredients
2.5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
1 head garlic
2 leeks
1.5 oz butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
Salt
Ground pepper
Start by roasting the garlic and leek.
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Slice off top of the head of garlic and drizzle with oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and place on pan. Roast for around 40 minutes, or until golden and very soft. Let cool.
3) Trim off the leeks’ dark green leaves and rinse thoroughly with water to remove any dirt. Pat dry. Slice the leeks lengthwise, whites and pale green, and cut into 4” chunks.
4) Place leeks close together cut side down on a pan lined with foil or silicone mat. Drizzle with olive oil and rub the oil onto the leeks to coat both sides. Season with salt and pepper. Cover leeks loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes, and remove foil. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until soft and golden brown.
5) Meanwhile, cook the potatoes. Peel potatoes and cut into 1” cubes. Place in large pot with 1 tsp of salt and enough water to cover the potatoes by 2”. Cook potatoes until soft and easily broken apart with a fork (about 15-20 minutes). Drain well.
&
nbsp; 6) Add milk, butter, sour cream, 1 tsp. salt and plenty of ground black pepper to hot potatoes and mash with potato masher until smooth.
7) Place roasted leek and garlic into food processor and pulse 10-15 times until a paste starts to form. Mix the paste into the mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Thirty-Eight
Sweet Potato Mash with Chimichurri
Ingredients
2 lbs. sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher Salt and Black pepper
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 Fresno pepper, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
3/4-1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2) Rub potatoes with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt. Place potatoes cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment, aluminum foil or silicone mat. Roast for about 25-35 minutes, until very soft.
3) While the potatoes are roasting, make the chimichurri. Place parsley, cilantro, Fresno pepper, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, water, salt and pepper in food processor and blend until very finely chopped (almost a paste). Remove from blender and place in medium bowl. Stir in olive oil. If the mixture is too thick, you can stir in more olive oil a tablespoon at a time until a pourable consistency. You can also add more salt to taste.
4) Once the potatoes are cooled slightly, remove the skins and mash the flesh together with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Transfer mash to platter and spoon chimichurri evenly over the potatoes.
Thirty-Nine
Carrot Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. fine salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground black pepper
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots, peeled)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
•8 ounces cream cheese, soft
•6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•3 and 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper cupcake liners.
2) Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in medium bowl. In a large stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the brown sugar, oil and eggs until well combined. Add the carrots, applesauce and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
3) Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4) In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir on medium heat until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, around 5-8 minutes. Let cool and solidify before making icing.
5) Once cooled, beat cream cheese, browned butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, another 3-4 minutes.
6) Once the cupcakes are cooled, ice cupcake using a piping bag or spatula. Top with toasted pecans or dust with cinnamon!
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Also by Melanie Harlow
The Frenched Series
Frenched
Yanked
Forked
Floored
The Happy Crazy Love Series
Some Sort of Happy
Some Sort of Crazy
Some Sort of Love
The After We Fall Series
Man Candy
After We Fall
If You Were Mine
From This Moment
The One and Only Series
Only You
Only Him
Only Love
The Cloverleigh Farms Series
Irresistible
Undeniable
Insatiable
Unbreakable
Unforgettable
The Bellamy Creek Series
Drive Me Wild
Make Me Yours
Co-Written Books
Hold You Close (Co-written with Corinne Michaels)
Imperfect Match (Co-written with Corinne Michaels)
Strong Enough (M/M romance co-written with David Romanov)
The Speak Easy Duet
The Tango Lesson (A Standalone Novella)
Want a reading order? Click here!
Acknowledgments
Once again, I need to thank Dina Cimarusti for all the delicious recipes in this book. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I do!
As always, my appreciation and gratitude go to the following people for their talent, support, wisdom, friendship, and encouragement…
Melissa Gaston, Brandi Zelenka, Jenn Watson, Hang Le, Devyn Jensen, Kayti McGee, Laurelin Paige, Corinne Michaels, the entire Social Butterfly team, Anthony Colletti, Rebecca Friedman, Flavia Viotti & Meire Dias at Bookcase Literary, Nancy Smay at Evident Ink, Julia Griffis at The Romance Bibliophile, proofreaders Michele Ficht, Shannon Mummey, and Alison Evans Maxwell, Stacey Blake at Champagne Book Design, Katie Robinson at Lyric Audiobooks, narrators Aiden Snow and Andi Arndt, the Shop Talkers, the Sisterhood, the Harlots and the Harlot ARC Team, bloggers and event organizers, my Queens, my betas, my proofers, my readers all over the world…
And once again, to my family, with all my love, especially my sweet Violet, who introduced me to the song that inspired this book.
About the Author
Melanie Harlow likes her heels high, her martini dry, and her history with the naughty bits left in. She’s the author of the Cloverleigh Farms Series, the One & Only series, the After We Fall Series, the Happy Crazy Love Series, and the Frenched Series.
She writes from her home outside of Detroit, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not writing, she’s probably got a cocktail in hand. And sometimes when she is.
Find her at www.melanieharlow.com.
Make Me Yours: The Bellamy Creek Series Page 32
