His grin grew wider as he motioned for her to close the distance between her and him, and he got down on one knee at the goal line.
Stubborn as always, she held her ground and put her hands on her hips. I could feel Wes beside me, breathing and watching and waiting to see what would happen, but he didn’t make a peep. None of us did as Cassie and Thatch faced off.
“Why do I have to come to you?”
Thatch looked fit to be tied, but in the good way. Instead of tied in knots, he wanted to be tied to her, stubborn indignation and all.
Climbing to his feet again, he walked to her, and just when I thought he’d stop, he scooped her up, one arm behind her knees and the other around her back as he carried her back over to the end zone and set her down again. He didn’t drop to his knee this time, instead pulling their joined hands to his chest and holding them there. “I was told I needed to up my proposal game.”
“Is a fourth proposal really necessary?” Kline called out, and I gasped at the unexpected interruption.
Wes’s hand reached out and took hold of mine.
Thatch just smiled and pointed to the scoreboard. All of our eyes followed his direction obediently, and it wasn’t a second before the Fourth Down graphic flashed and swirled on the screen.
“Thanks, Kline,” Thatch yelled, and I knew then that this was all part of the plan. “I’m so glad you asked that.”
Wes barked a chuckle beside me, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking up at his smile. He didn’t look at me, though; his eyes were on his friends.
“Sometimes,” Thatch went on, “it takes four tries, to really get it right.”
“We usually try to avoid fourth downs,” Sean Phillips called out, and I bit my lip to contain my tears. I wasn’t big on crying, but everything was so obviously exactly as it should be. These people were so meant for each other, I was overwhelmed. Wes’s hand tightened around mine.
Thatch nodded again, obviously excited that everyone was doing their part. “I know. Another excellent point, Sean.”
Cassie laughed, and the sound of it echoed through the space and straight on to Thatch’s already smiling face.
“Fourth downs, though, they have something special, don’t you think?”
He didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “They’re the final frontier, the last chance, the time to make it happen. So that’s what I’m doing here.”
The big screen flashed the words “Wedding Day,” and that was when I knew. This was happening, right here, right now.
“I’ve decided that I don’t want to wait another second to make you my wife.”
Cassie looked around and noticed her parents, Thatch’s parents, all of us—everyone who meant something to her—for the first time.
“You are the very best thing that has ever happened to me. You’re my best friend, Crazy, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you because you are my life. Marry me right now.”
“As in here, right now?”
He nodded.
“On a football field?”
He nodded again.
“Are you crazy?”
“I think you’re rubbing off on me,” he teased.
He didn’t have to ask her again because she was nodding her head yes and then tossing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She whispered something into his ear, and he leaned back to meet her eyes. “I love you too. Now,” he said as he stood up with her still in his arms, “Let’s go get hitched.”
Thatch carried her across the field toward the small group of their smiling family and friends standing on the fifty-yard line. Wes dragged me to follow, since we hadn’t even made it out of the edge of the tunnel before everything had started to go down.
As they stood, before their loved ones and the minister who was there to make it all official, I couldn’t quell the surge of emotion. I was happy for her, so very happy for her, and I was finding that, deep down, I wanted to experience that kind of love. Overwhelmed, I swiped a few tears from my cheeks, and to my surprise, Wes smiled gently in my direction as he untangled his hand from mine and discreetly handed me a small handkerchief.
Who still carries a handkerchief?
“Thanks,” I whispered, but his hand didn’t come back.
I wished I didn’t miss it.
He nodded and went back to watching the bride and groom say their vows.
I stared at him for a long moment, memorizing the soft expression on his face as he witnessed one of his best friends marry the woman of his dreams.
Maybe Wes Lancaster had a heart buried beneath that steely, unwavering exterior after all?
Maybe he wasn’t as brooding and surly as I originally thought?
Maybe I wanted to peel away those layers and get to know him?