Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Right now.”
I smile down at her and then find Breena, who’s sitting with her cousins on a bench in the garden.
“Well, hi there,” she says, her face lighting up when she sees me. “I was wondering where you’d wandered off to. Lucy was just telling me that she’s going to open up her fence line and add more garden space, which I think is an awesome idea.”
“That will be great, but it’s not what I want to talk about.”
Lorelei and Lucy share a look and then excuse themselves. Breena frowns.
“What’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing.” I can feel everyone gathering around behind me. I know they think they’re being inconspicuous, but they’re not. And that’s okay. If I wanted this to be private, I would have waited to do it at home later. “You’re absolutely gorgeous today.”
Her frown smooths out into a smile, and her eyes soften. “Thank you.”
“Then again, you’re beautiful every day.” I kneel before her and take her hand in mine. Suddenly, all the nerves I’ve carried with me over the past few days are gone. I know exactly what I want to say to her. “Breena, you’re an exceptional person. I know that you don’t always think so, but I do believe I’m going to make it my life’s mission to make sure you know, every single day, how amazing you really are.”
“Oh.” She breathes the word softly, and tears fill her eyes, but I keep talking.
“I feel foolish that I never realized before now how truly perfectly suited we are for each other. I knew that I was pulled to you, but I was stubborn and resisted that pull. Then, when someone”—I flick my gaze to the side where I know Lorelei is standing—“let it slip that you had loved me for a long time, it was as though all the puzzle pieces finally fit into place.”
“I was so mad,” Breena says, brushing at a tear on her cheek. I laugh.
“I know. But I’m so grateful that it happened because it brought us here. Everything that’s happened over the past six months, give or take, has led us right here, so I can’t wish any of it away, no matter how scary or difficult it’s been.”
“Yeah,” she says, nodding her head.
“I knew that I liked my house before you came to live in it, but it was only once you joined me there that it truly became my home. You and Merlin have breathed life into it, and I can’t imagine going back to a time when it was just me rattling around in there with a ghost. I can’t fathom not having you by my side, no matter where I am, until the day comes that I’m no longer here.”
She sniffs, and I pull the ring out of my pocket. I can feel Percy smiling proudly behind me.
“This ring isn’t new, but it’s precious, and I think you’ll like the story behind it.”
“That was Percy’s mother’s ring!” she exclaims, and more tears fall down her cheeks. “I saw it in the shop, and I might have pined for it a time or two. It’s so pretty, and I just loved Mary so much.”
I can hear the sniffling from behind me now.
“I didn’t know you’d seen it.”
She nods, her eyes hungry for the ring, but I hold it back until I’ve finished saying what I need to say.
“I still have to ask the question.”
“Oh, right.” She laughs and looks up into my eyes. “Go ahead.”
I smile and chuckle along with those behind me. “Breena, love of my life, will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?”
“Of course, I will!” She launches herself into my arms at the claps and cheers of everyone we love. “I thought you’d never ask.”
She holds out her hand for me to take, and I slide the ring on.
“I love you,” she says and frames my face with her hands. “And I’m so happy.”
“Me, too.” I kiss her, long and slow. “And I plan to keep you happy for a very, very long time.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Breena
“I have a hole in my dress.” This can’t be happening. It just can’t.
“Where?” Mom circles around me, looking for what I saw. “I don’t see anything at all amiss with the dress. It’s absolutely perfect.”
“There.” I point down at the full skirt of the princess-style dress and will my tears to stay at bay. “We have less than twenty-four hours until the wedding, Mom. And that’s not on a seam, which means it has to be patched. And how, exactly, do you patch a wedding dress?”
“Hmm,” is all Mom says before wiggling her fingers. Right before my eyes, the threads of the skirt magically weave themselves back together, and it’s as though the hole was never there.
“I didn’t know you could do that.” I turn away from the three-fold mirror and stare at my mother in wonder. “Why didn’t I know about that? And why aren’t you the one making the tapestry?”