by C. A. Harms
As we drove along at a steady pace, Madelyn held on to my sides firmly. In the distance, I could already see the flickering lights over the lake. That was Shannon’s idea, and at first I wasn’t sure about it, but it actually looked beautiful. She’d ordered these floating candles that apparently were solar powered and placed them on the lake. Now it appeared as if hundreds of twinkling lights covered the water.
She’d also had the idea of stringing battery-operated twinkling sets of lights around our tree. Jeb and Liam had taken on the task of stringing them throughout the branches and around the trunk. I’d told them to hang lanterns or something, but I liked this so much better. Shannon was a genius.
As I slowed to a stop, I smiled as I noticed the tent set up only a few feet from the tree. I wasn’t sure if we’d stay here tonight, but I did plan on spending a little time here.
“Where are we, you goof?” Maddy asked as she tickled my sides.
“Hold on, woman,” I said, trying to gain some distance. Moving around these days was much easier. Not only had my shoulder healed, but my leg felt great; the benefits of having a therapist at the stadium and a live-in one at home. They worked wonders, but being truthful, I preferred Madelyn. I was biased, but my girl’s hands made miracles happen.
Once I was off the four-wheeler, I stood for a moment and enjoyed Madelyn’s expression. There she sat with her eyes covered by a single strip of material tied securely behind her head. Her lips were pinched together and her nose was wrinkled, giving her that sassy look she’d long ago perfected.
I thought I’d be nervous, but I was calmer than I’d been in the last few weeks of planning this all out. My heart didn’t race and my hands didn’t shake, because I knew I wanted this more than anything. Though we may have gotten off course for a bit, I believe this was exactly where Madelyn and I were meant to end up: together.
“I can feel you watching me,” she said with a tilt of her head. “Did you put this thing on me so you could make obscene gestures and be all pervy, and I wouldn’t know?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. She was a spitfire and she could always make me laugh.
“I do that without you being blindfolded, babe,” I said as I placed my hand on her elbow. “Now stand up and let me help you off.”
“It’d be easier if you just took it off and I climbed off myself,” she argued as she always did, but she came along anyway.
I led her toward the tree and placed her just beneath it. “I’m gonna take it off now,” I said as I moved in close. “But first,” I whispered as I placed my hand on the back of her neck, “I need to do this.” I pressed my lips to hers, wrapped my other arm around her waist, and pulled her in close. For a moment we got lost in the kiss as her tongue skimmed over my lips, asking for more.
Each kiss still felt like the first time as we sweetly explored one another, giving and taking all we could. Before things got carried away, I pulled back and took a minute to breathe evenly with our foreheads pressed together as I held her tight.
“You blindfolded me so you could take advantage of me, didn’t you?” she whispered.
I smiled, still feeling slightly breathless. “No, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I may have to try that later.”
Her smiled widened as she pushed against my chest. “Take this thing off, Lucas.”
I untied the material behind her head. As it fell away she blinked a few times and looked at the lake before turning her eyes to the tree beside her. “What is this?” she asked, bringing her gaze back to mine.
“It’s our place,” I said, refusing to look away. Again, she looked around in awe as she lifted her hand to her chest and held it there for a moment.
“It’s beautiful. How did you do all this?”
I shrugged. “I may have had a little help.”
The lights twinkled along the water and above our heads. Complete silence surrounded us. This place was all ours as it always had been, and I always wanted her to remember it that way. It held more memories for Maddy and me than any other did. We grew up here, day after day, swimming and swinging in this very tree. It was the perfect place to ask her to spend the rest of her life making more memories with me.
I reached into my pocket for the ring, still watching her eyes scan over the lake as a smile covered her perfect lips. She didn’t seem to notice my movements until I lowered myself to one knee before her. Then her eyes grew wide.
“I remember this cute little girl with pigtails once told me, ‘I’m gonna marry you one day, Lucas Rivers.’” Madelyn’s eyes grew glossy as she tried her best to hold back the tears. “She said, ‘I’m gonna pack your lunches, kiss you before you leave for work, and be waiting for you when you get back home.’ She made promises of late-night snuggles on the couch and morning coffee just like her momma and daddy shared.” Her lower lip trembled as she pressed her fingertips against it, trying to keep control. “She said I’d call her darlin’, and she’d call me handsome.”
“I can’t believe you remember that,” she whispered.
“I remember everything you ever told me, but back then I didn’t realize just how true your words were. I want all those things, Maddy. I want them all and more.” I took her hand. “I want them all with you.”
I lifted the ring and held it out before us as her eyes grew wide. “We don’t have to rush; it can be next month,” I said with a wink, because if I had it my way, it would be even faster. “But one day, Madelyn, I wanna marry you. I wanna have babies with you and grow old with you. I want it all.”
Tears rolled along her cheeks as she stared down at my hand still holding the ring. A silence settled over us, and for the first time since we left the house and drove out here, I felt nervous. She still hadn’t responded, and I’d pictured an entirely different reaction. Yeah, this proposal was unexpected, but we’d talked about getting married a time or two over the last couple months.
“Madelyn,” I said, and she looked from the ring to me, then back to the ring. “Is this your way of torturing me because I made you wear a blindfold?”
She snickered, lightening the tension that had settled in my stomach. “No, it’s just—” She took a deep breath and place her palm against my cheek. “I pictured this day so many times. You on bent knee, offering me all the things I wished for.”
I wanted to say, So okay, then. Now what? But I let her carry on. I wasn’t a patient man, but I was trying to be.
“Now here you are, kneeling before me, asking me to marry you, and I feel like it’s a dream.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to mine in a soft kiss. “Because it’s all so much more than I ever imagined.”
Relief washed over me, yet still I longed to hear her say yes.
“Of course I’ll marry you,” she whispered.
I leaped up from the ground, hooked her around the waist, and lifted her into the air. “Damn, woman,” I said with my head tilted back. “You scared the hell outta me.”
She laughed as I turned in a circle before lowering her back to the ground. “I’m sorry,” she said with a smile. “I was surprised, but never once did the word no come to mind. You’ve always been my forever, Luke. I’ve just been waiting for you.”
I slid the ring on her finger and held her tight against me. “I love you,” I whispered into her hair. My heart raced from the adrenaline rushing through me. She was mine, all mine.
Epilogue
MADELYN
Five years later
I rolled to my side and held my stomach, and a soft groan escaped me as I stretched out my legs and wiggled my toes. Ah, my toes. Oh how I missed my feet.
Luke and I got married, at the same location where he asked me to marry him: beneath the big oak tree, with twinkling lights wound through the branches and placed all along the lake. It was perfect. Our friends and family were there to share that special moment and the reception that followed. Every day since then had been better than the one before. He treated me like a queen.
But lately, especially over the
last couple months, I’d blamed him daily for my swollen feet and ankles, and the excessive heartburn. Not to mention the fact that each morning I found getting out of bed without assistance to be harder and harder.
Even worse, Luke was an overachiever who never did anything the easy way. One bun in the oven wasn’t enough; he had to go for a set. Both were boys, according to the doctor, and I was pretty sure they were gonna play ball like their daddy. On most days I felt as if they had a full-fledged game going on inside my stomach, complete with tackling and field goals. It was havoc on my bladder, and lying down without fifteen pillows behind me wasn’t a good idea. It made breathing a little hard.
But even though I was eight months pregnant and feeling frumpy and miserable, I couldn’t be happier. I got the guy and the babies.
I graduated with honors and have since started working at Texas Physical Therapy Specialists. I love the staff and the patients. Recently, however, I had to take maternity leave due to my inability to move around as easily as I used to. If Luke had it his way, I’d remain home with the boys, and I had to agree that I loved the idea too. But one day I’d return to work, because I loved being able to help people.
“Is my girl stuck again?”
I looked up to find Lucas standing in the doorway grinning.
“Funny, smartass,” I said, rolling my eyes. A few seconds passed and I tried to find the strength to get up, but no matter how I worked it out in my head, I couldn’t. “Fine,” I said, looking at the ceiling and dreading what I was about to say. “Yes, Lucas, I am stuck and need help.”
His deep chuckle carried through the room as he walked toward our bed. He took my hand and lifted me carefully, and I stood before him, looking down at my monstrous belly.
“Good morning,” he said before leaning in and kissing my forehead. “And before you say how awful you look, you look beautiful and I love you more today than yesterday, because each day I fall in love with you a little more.”
He said that to me daily. Like I said, I felt like a queen.
He placed one hand on each side of my stomach as he lowered himself before me and pressed a kiss to my belly. “I love you too,” he whispered, “both of you. Go easy on your momma today, boys.” He looked up at me with a grin before standing up once more. “You hungry?” he asked and I arched my eyebrow. “Okay,” he said with a laugh, “stupid question.”
I was always hungry, or thirsty, or tired.
He led me down the hall toward our kitchen, where I found he’d made breakfast and had it already waiting on the table.
Stepping up behind me, he wrapped his arms around me and placed his open palms over my stomach. “I thought today we could lie around and veg out watching movies. I’ll rub your feet and shoulders, and you can tell me how amazing I am.” I laughed when he kissed my shoulder. “You can moan my name as I work out all the kinks and aches. I miss that.”
“What, me moaning your name?” I asked and he kissed my neck.
“Yes,” he whispered near my ear.
“You do see where moaning your name got me, right?” I pointed toward my belly.
“Oh yes I do.” He bit my earlobe and I moved away from him. “What do you say, no outside world today, just you, me, and our boys?”
I loved the sound of that.
I’d gotten my happy ending. I’d gotten the guy I wanted, the life I dreamed of, and before we knew it, we would be sharing our home with these two little linebackers.
I no longer remembered the times Lucas broke my heart all those years ago. The good memories we shared completely outweighed the bad. My life was full of such joy that those times seemed as if they were a lifetime ago.
We’d found our way to one another, and we’d grown so much. Now looking back, I think everything worked out the way it was supposed to. We had to experience life without one another to know that we were at our best when we were together.
LUCAS
Three months later
My life hadn’t gone exactly as planned. I didn’t have the big house in the hills and more sports cars than I could drive in a week. I didn’t have sponsors who put my name and face on all their bestselling products. I didn’t have my own line of shoes or sports gear, but I had something much better than all those things combined.
I had a beautiful wife and two amazing sons. I had a love so deep I swear sometimes I couldn’t breathe from the immensity of it. I woke up every morning with a smile, and I fell asleep each night with the girl of my dreams tucked safely at my side.
I got to spend my days working with what I saw as the greatest college football players. I had the best colleagues, and the support I received was incredible. I’m a lucky man.
Brandon and Brayden were the perfect boys, both happy and healthy. Whenever they cried, there was a clear reason. Otherwise they were content. They were almost two months old now, and each day that I witnessed them changing and growing made me realize I wanted more. I wouldn’t mention that quite yet to my wife, though, because she may lock me out of the bedroom. But one day we’d try for our girl. One with blonde hair and a smile like Madelyn’s. A sassy little shit to give us all a run for our money.
My favorite part of my day was coming home to my family. It still amazed me that I had a family, and not just any family, but the best. I never thought I could love someone so damn much it hurt, but I did. I’d do anything for the three of them; they were my world.
I opened the front door slowly, fearing the boys may be napping. I placed my bag on the floor near the closet and carefully moved farther into the house. As I rounded the corner toward the kitchen, I found all three of them happy and alert. Each of the boys were in a bouncer seat in the center of the room as Madelyn stood over the stove, stirring something that smelled amazing in a big pot. She lightly sang along to the song on the radio as both boys kicked their legs and squealed.
I leaned against the doorframe, wanting to witness this for as long as I could before she noticed me there.
Since the birth of our boys, Madelyn had lost the majority of the baby weight. She was a little curvier than she was before, but she was the sexiest damn woman alive. I loved the changes in her body, though she’d shy away from me when I told her how gorgeous she was. It was something we were working on, and she’d get it eventually, I’d make sure of it. She was and would always be my one and only. Each stretch mark indicated the gift she’d given me—or the gifts, I should say. She made me a father and a husband. She gave me a purpose: to protect them and love them with everything inside me.
“Daddy’s home.”
I looked from my sons to Madelyn, who stared back at me with a smile. Being referred to as Daddy gave me such a rush. I’d be lying if I said it felt like the rush I’d get when I’d stepped onto the field in Alabama before each game. It was so much more than that. Being a father outweighed every other emotion I’d ever felt, and nothing compared to it.
“Hey, sweet girl,” I said, pushing off the wall and moving toward her. The moment I stepped into the boys’ view, their little legs and arms moved even faster. I hooked Maddy around the waist, pulled her close, and kissed her like I’d been thinking of doing all day—a deep, appreciative kiss that told her there was more to come later. When I pulled back she sagged against the counter and I offered her a wink before turning toward my boys.
My attraction for Madelyn was all-consuming. I’d never craved anything more than her body against mine. She soothed me and gave me the peace and comfort I never knew I was missing. I was amazed at how one simple touch from her could change my day within seconds.
This was my life.
They were my life.
Forever.
THE END
Acknowledgments
THE CHARMED GIRLS, YOU ARE all amazing. The continued support you show me is something I will never be able to express just how much it means to me. Thank you all for sharing my work and for just being you. You are all the greatest bunch of ladies.
To Kristen Lazarus-Wood
and Jean Maureen Woodfin, thank you both so very much for making the perfect image. It is breathtaking and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. You both set forth on a missing and the mission was a great success. Working with you both on this project could not have been more stress free. Thank you so very much.
Melissa Gill, MGBook Covers and Designs, once again absolutely beautiful, and you are amazing. Thank you for making this cover exactly whatI had hoped for and more.
Thank you, Lydia, because you are a true friend and motivator, always making me laugh and smile. We are an amazing team, and your friendship means the world. Thank you for being one of my biggest cheerleaders.
Beta Team, you know who you are. Thank you all so very much for taking this journey with me. Your feedback and encouraging words along the way made this story mean so much. Without you all, it would be what it is now.
To my husband and children, thank you for being the best part of my days. For tolerating me when I get lost in the world of fiction and understanding that sometimes dinner may be a little late. Jayden and Tayler, no matter how many books I write, you two will always be my best creations.
My readers, I am always so humbled by your support. Those random messages I received after you read my books, whether it be something big or small, I truly love them. Hearing what you think, in my eyes, is one of the greatest things about releasing a new book. I am never too busy for you.
About the Author
A little about me, let’s see where to start.
I love HEA stories, as long as they come packing a little heat. I need some excitement, some angst, and moments that make me fan my face, those are always good too. I am an Illinois girl, born and raised. Simple and true, it honestly doesn’t take much to make me happy. I love the little things, they truly mean the most. I may have a slight addiction to my new Keurig—oh my, that thing is a godsend. And so fast too. I have two children who truly are my very best friends. Their faces never fail to put a smile on my face. I have been married to my husband for sixteen years, and even though at times I want to beat him with a stick, I would never change the years we have had. We have learned and fallen, only to pick each other up, dust off the aches, and help each other make it right.
