Room for More (34 page)

The next picture was of me, Brody, the girls, and Zach. It was taken last Halloween when we all went trick-or-treating together. It was the first time we all hung out together for the girls’ sake. There had been many of those occasions since then, but that one would always be special.

I pulled the tab again.

“What picture are you at?” Brody asked.

I moved the View-Master down just enough to look at him as I answered. “The one of you and Andy from the night you were awarded the William M. Jennings trophy. You looked so hot in your suit.”

Picture number eleven was from just a couple weeks ago when we got another big rainstorm and Brody ran out and bought hot pink rain boots for the girls so they could jump in puddles with him. This picture was the most breathtaking shot of Lucy’s and Piper’s ecstatic faces just as they hit the ground and the water sprayed up around them.

The next one was another recent picture. It was a big group shot of me, Brody, the girls, Derek, Alexa, Tommy, Lauren, and their new son, Max. Tommy had his arm proudly around Brody’s shoulders and the way Alexa was standing, you could really see her pregnant belly starting to pop. I had a five by seven of this one in my bedroom. I would never get sick of looking at it.

Picture thirteen was of a Ferris wheel. I sighed. Our first kiss.

I pulled the tab again and immediately recognized the barn from Brody’s parents’ property. I squinted my eyes to look closer and gasped when I realized that Brody was standing next to it, pointing up at red letters painted on the side that read:

My knees suddenly felt like Jell-o and my hands started shaking.

“What is this last pict—” I lowered the View-Master and froze.

Brody was down on one knee, staring up at me as he held a black ring box open. He hadn’t even said a word yet, but tears started streaming down my cheeks faster than they ever had.

“Kacie, I’ve thought about what I wanted to say for a long time now, and I know I’m probably gonna mess it up, but here goes.” He took a deep breath. “I love you. I love you so damn much it scares me. But what scares me more is the thought of ever losing you. I have no idea what the future holds, or where my career will take me, but I
do
know that none of it is worth looking forward to if you’re not by my side. Please, let me love you forever. You
and
the girls. Will you marry me?”

I clutched the View-Master to my chest and let go of a sob I’d been fighting like hell to keep in while he talked. “Yes. Yes!” I cried, flying into his arms as he stood up. He caught me, thankfully, because I sailed into him with such force that I was surprised we didn’t both tumble into the lake.

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight, lifting me off the ground. “Say it again,” he mumbled into my shoulder.

I cupped his face in my hands, staring into the eyes of my best friend, my soul mate, my fiancé. “Yes, I will marry you.” I pressed my lips against his and closed my eyes, desperate to remember every detail of the moment so I could relive it over and over. He pulled me hard against him and slowly dipped his tongue in between my open lips. Our mouths moved together in slow, sensual waves feeding off of each other’s excitement and pure joy. My eyes danced around his face as I pulled back. “I’d marry you tonight if I could.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “We could be in Vegas in just a few hours.”

“Okay, no. I take that back.” I giggled. “I need my family there.”

“True. Both of our moms would kill us if we eloped.” He set me down and locked his hands around my waist. “Especially yours, she’s been as excited about this as me.”

I jerked my head back a little. “She already knows?”

A devilish smirk curled the corners of his mouth upward. “Who do you think set up the lanterns for me while we put the girls to bed?”

I looked around at the pier and shook my head. “I didn’t even think about that. You sneaky little brats.”

“I wanted you to be surprised.”

“Well, it worked. I’m blown away… and so damn excited to be Kacie Murphy.”

“Holy shit.” His eyes widened. “I love the way that sounds.”

“Me too.” I pulled him down against my lips. He slipped his hands around my waist and tugged me against him, returning my kiss.

He pulled back suddenly. “Wait.”

“What’s wrong?” I was left needy, wanting to feel his lips on mine again.

“We forgot the most important part.” He opened the ring box that was still in his hand. “Let’s make it official.”

I’m not a high-maintenance jewelry girl, nor do I know a lot about diamonds or rings, but when I looked at the ring he’d picked out for me, it took my breath away.

“Oh, Brody.” I covered my mouth with my hands. “It’s amazing.”

“It’s simple but beautiful, like you.” He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto my shaky left hand. “I hope you never, ever want to take this off.”

“Has my mom seen this?”

He laughed and shook his head.

“Come on!” I grabbed his hand and started pulling him back up to the house. “Maybe the girls are still awake. I can’t wait to tell them.”

“Let them sleep,” he argued. “If you tell them tonight, they’ll be too excited to go back to sleep.”

“They wouldn’t be the only ones. I don’t think I’m ever going to sleep again.” I turned and whispered as I walked up the deck steps.

Mom and Fred were sitting at the island drinking coffee when we walked in. They both turned toward the back door. I was barely through it when my mom covered her mouth with her hands and started crying as she ran toward me. We met in the family room and hugged each other tight, rocking back and forth as Fred came over and gave Brody a quick hug.

Mom pulled back from me and held her arms open for Brody. “Come here, my favorite son-in-law.”

Fred came over and put his arm around my shoulders. “I’m so happy for you,” he said as he squeezed me.

“Thanks, Fred.” I laid my head on his shoulder. “How perfect is this? First you and mom get married, now it’s my and Brody’s turn.”

“Lucy and Piper will be excited to be flower girls again.” He laughed. “They sure love dressing up.”

“Definitely.” I nodded, lifting my head and looking at my mom. “How long have you guys known about this? I can’t believe you didn’t slip. You’re terrible at keeping secrets.”

Mom waved me off. “What, Fred? Like two weeks?”

“Yeah.” He nodded nonchalantly. “Since that day at lunch.”

“What day at lunch?” I asked as I looked back and forth between them.

“A couple weeks ago, Brody called one morning. He knew it was a day you weren’t working and asked if we were free. He wanted to take us to lunch.” Fred sat on the couch and took his glasses off, rubbing his tired eyes. “Anyway, he told us about his plan and asked for our blessing.”

My jaw dropped as I turned to Brody. “You did?”

He shrugged. “I had to do it the right way.”

“Brody…” I sighed, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I don’t think it’s possible for you to get it wrong. Ever.”

So many wonderful people contributed to the making of this book and I want to take a second to thank them.

Thank you to Kelsey Kukal-Keeton at K. Keeton Designs for another amazing cover photo.

Thank you to my cover designer, Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations, for somehow crawling into my brain and seeing exactly what I envisioned for this cover and nailing it.

Thank you to Angela McLaurin at Fictional Formats for working her amazing, formatting talent on my book and making it just as pretty as the last one.

Thank you to Dina Lepczynski for your amazing eyes and proofreading this one last time for me.

To my sweet, fantastic editor, Megan Ward… I don’t even know where to begin. Getting this book ready was stressful for both of us, but you never gave up on me and for that, I will always be grateful. Thank you for cleaning up my messy story, thank you for pushing me to be a better writer, thank you for being my friend.

To my betas… Michelle Finkle, Chelle Northcutt, Kaci Buckley, Shelly Collins, Christy Elliott, Happy Driggs, Deb Bresloff, Pam Carrion and Jenn Haren… the input from you ladies was crucial to this story and some of your suggestions made everything ten times better. Thank you for taking the time to read, sometimes more than once, and share with me. I am eternally grateful.

To all the bloggers who have participated in reveals, tours, pimping and supporting me… None of us authors would be where we are if it weren’t for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do.

A big ole’ thank you to Michelle Kisner Pace for answering hours and hours of questions, sometimes the same one more than once. Okay, a lot of times the same one.

To my CP, Melissa Brown. You have fielded more neurotic phone calls from me and read more rambling, insane messages than any one human should ever have to. Thank you for not changing your number and blocking me, and for believing in me when I didn’t

Happy Driggs. “Shut up and just write.” If I had a dollar for every time you said that to me, we could go to every book event in all of 2014. And maybe 2015. I love you, asshole. Thank you for pushing me… even when I pushed back.

Tara Sivec… I’m glad our “babies” are being born so close together. We need to get them together for a play date soon. Perhaps at the Subway in Sturgis?

To my husband and kids, and my mom… Your support is the absolute foundation of my career. Thank you for making it a strong one. I love you all more than anything in this world. (I know I said that in the last book, but it’s true.)

Beth Ehemann lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her 4 children and her husband, Chris, who is really a big kid himself most of the time. She enjoys reading, writing, photography, martinis, and all things Chicago Cubs.

Twitter: @bethehemann

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/bethehemann

Email:
mailto:[email protected]

Blog: Coming Soon!