by Zoe Garcia
I turned back to my friends. Oaklynn sighed. “Well, I’m glad that one of us got her Prince Charming.”
She’d gotten over that guy, but I could tell she was heartbroken over the idea of never meeting the right guy.
I took her hand. “Hey, chin up, remember. Your knight in shining armor is coming. I know it.”
She gave me a small smile. “Thanks.”
Ruby gave her a hug. “I know how you feel, girl. We’re just gonna have to keep kissing frogs until we find our princes. And keep on having faith.” She turned back to me and stood up. “So,” she began, a smile on her face, “how was the make-up sex?”
I grinned. “Out of this world.”
Ruby put her hand on her chest. “Hm, I bet.”
“You are so lucky you found him,” Oaklynn said.
“I’m not lucky,” I replied. “I don’t deserve it any more than you. Remember that. I met Jeremy when I was least expecting it. Just wait. Yours is on the way. I just know it.”
And the funny thing was I had my asshole boss to thank for Jeremy coming back into my life.
If it hadn’t been for him asking me for that damn report that day and then me being late as a result, I never would’ve gotten pulled over by Jeremy.
And he wouldn’t be my boyfriend now.
I smiled and went back to making puppy eyes at Jeremy.
Maybe one of these days even my asshole boss would find a woman who could tolerate him.
Anything was possible, especially happily ever after.
Epilogue
6 months later
I had a feeling Jeremy was going to propose any day now.
We’d talked about it, and he bragged about being able to call me his ol’ ball and chain really soon.
He said he wanted to make me his wife more than anything.
So I wasn’t surprised when he planned a date night at my favorite restaurant, the place where we’d had our first date six months ago.
I was surprised when he didn’t get on one knee before, during, or after.
I shook off the unsettled feeling. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t going to pop the question tonight, and I’d gone all out with my hair and outfit for nothing.
Maybe he just wanted to do something romantic.
It was sweet. Really, it was.
I knew he’d pop the question sooner or later. I knew he was committed to me.
So as we pulled back into our place after dinner and a quiet walk just the two of us, I decided I didn’t want to ruin the night by wishing he had proposed.
It had been a beautiful night with the love of my life, diamond ring or no diamond ring.
“Did you have a nice night?” Jeremy asked as we walked up the driveway.
I nodded. “I did. Thank you.” The sunset off in the distance made me smile. “It was perfect.”
Just then, I heard Skye’s voice behind me. “Mommy!”
“Skye?” I said, turning around. “I thought you were at grandma and grandpa’s house.”
“We wanted to surprise you,” she said running into my arms. My mom and dad waved to me as they walked toward us from across the front yard.
I gave her a hug and then turned back around to ask Jeremy if he had done this.
He was on his knee, a little velvet box with a diamond ring in his hands. Just then, the trees in our yard lit up with hundreds of bright white Christmas lights. I gasped, not believing what was happening right in front of my eyes.
Ruby, Alexa, Oaklynn, and Penelope came down my front porch, wide smiles on their faces as they watched.
My eyes filled with tears.
This was it.
Jeremy stared up at me. “Camila, I promise to love and cherish you forever if you’ll have me. Will you marry me?”
Skye held my hand. With the other, I covered my mouth to keep from crying.
I nodded. “Yes.”
Everyone clapped and cheered, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the photographer and his camera capturing everything.
Jeremy slid the ring onto my finger. It was stunning, the kind of diamond ring I’d always dreamed about having.
Before I could go to hug and kiss him, he pulled another jewelry box out of his pocket. Inside lay a heart-shaped pendant.
Now I could see the tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat and turned to Skye beside me.
I covered my mouth again, no longer able to keep the tears from flowing down my face.
“Skye,” he began, holding out the necklace to her, “I love you as much as your Mommy. Can I be your Daddy, to promise to love and protect you forever?”
Skye wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yeah, yeah!” Then she turned to face me again. “Mommy, I finally get a Daddy!”
I knelt down to hug her and Jeremy.
After we pulled apart, Jeremy secured the necklace around her neck. “This represents the piece of my heart that will always be yours, baby girl.”
He kissed me on the forehead, and I tried to wipe away the tears. It was impossible. He hugged us both. “I’ve never been happier than in this moment,” he whispered in my ear.
Epilogue
1 year later
Sometimes it was still hard to believe that I’d ended up with that asshole Jeremy from high school, the one who had caused me so much pain and humiliation and misery.
But then I realized that the Jeremy that I knew was a completely different person than the teenager he’d once been.
The Jeremy I had come to know was kind and loving and compassionate.
And he treated me and Skye like absolute queens.
I had no idea what I’d done to deserve someone like him, but I couldn’t help but be thankful he’d come back into my life every single day.
Our baby was still on the way, but already he’d proven to be an exceptional father.
He took Skye on daddy-daughter dates and made sure she knew that the son we had on the way would never be loved any more than she was.
She was his just as much as the baby growing in my belly.
Jeremy came into the bedroom with a tray in his hands. Skye wasn’t far behind him with a messy apron on and a bowl of fruit.
My back was starting to ache more and more, and it was getting harder to get a good night’s rest.
If I kept getting any bigger, I was going to have to go on maternity leave early or be placed at my desk with the use of a crane.
“Breakfast,” Jeremy announced.
I sat up, and he placed the tray in front of me. He’d made my favorites, and it smelled absolutely delicious.
French toast, bacon, fresh fruit, and coffee. Yummm…
Skye climbed in beside me, hugging my belly. “Does the baby want to come out yet?”
I smiled. “Not yet, silly goose. But soon.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” she said, rambling on about how she was going to help with everything and be a good big sister.
Jeremy grinned at me. I could tell he was just as excited as Skye, if not more. He was nervous, but also happy.
Skye ran off, leaving us alone.
I put my hand on his face. “I love you.”
He kissed me. “I love you.”
I could sense there was something he wasn’t telling me, though. “What is it?” I asked.
He took my hand. “That promotion at work I mentioned?”
I nodded, wondering if he’d been passed up for it.
“I got it,” he replied. “Which means I’ll be getting a raise.”
I sat up and hugged him. “And you’ll get to do more of what you love, working with kids who really need you.”
He nodded. “Yeah. And it means we’ll finally be able to buy our dream home.”
That was why he’d told me. I kissed him. “You’re my home.”
That day I had decided to go out with him had changed my life forever.
I’d finally gotten my happily ever after.
Author’s Note
*LONG EXHALE*
<
br /> I can’t even begin to tell you about how and why this series was born.
Oddly enough, I think I first got the idea for it back when I was still married?
I am no longer married.
I divorced my ex-husband at the beginning of this year. We’d been separated for several months already.
That time of my life was probably the hardest of my adult life since I found out I was pregnant with my oldest at the age of 19.
I know.
During the whole last half of 2019, even before I decided I wanted to separate, I found it impossible to write.
As if the personal stuff wasn’t hard enough, now I couldn’t create. My earnings fell more and more each month, and still, I couldn’t make myself write.
How could I write romance when my life felt like the opposite of it?
In January of 2020, I finally got back up, and slowly but surely, got back to writing. Even though I’d written 16 books before that, I really believed maybe I couldn’t do it this time.
I did. I finished another book. A sweet young adult romance.
I proved how strong I could be.
Then I set my sights on this series.
This series would give me a hope as a new single mom.
Hope that I, too, deserved a happily ever after no matter what I’d gone through, no matter all the mistakes I’d made in the past and how everything had turned out.
This book, this series, is for all single moms.
Know that you deserve love and romance and Mr. Right just as much as any other woman.
Just because it hasn’t worked out yet doesn’t mean it’s not possible for you. It is.
It’s possible for both of us.
While I have finally found happiness just being on my own and with my two girls right now, I also know that there is someone out there for me.
Until then, I won’t settle.
Until then, I’ll love me. I’ll love my girls.
Until then, I’ll be 100% happy.
But I’ll have a happily ever after.
Not because of the man who ends up in my life, but because it’s already started, right now.
I hope you enjoyed this story. If you did, get ready because there’s more coming! I can’t wait to share them with you.
Zoe
P.S. Want to be the first to know when book 2 is available?
Want to find out what was going through Jeremy’s head when he stopped Camila that day? Or during their first date?
Grab this fun freebie and find out when book 2 is available.
Click here to join my newsletter now!
About the Author
Zoe Garcia is the author of several books, most of them young adult romance. This is her first foray into adult romance, and she is loving it.
Zoe is the single mom of two girls. She is determined to show them that there are no limits to what’s possible. The three of them spend their time watching Disney+ cuddled on the couch and playing tag at the park.
