When I had woken up this morning, Gunner was gone and a note was lying on his pillow. I had rubbed my eyes, then sat up and taken the note to read:
Meet me at the tree house
Confused, since the tree house was not on Nonna’s property but on the former Lawton estate’s property, I had decided to go with it. Maybe he was moving it today so that Bella could use it when she visited Nonna. Deciding that was most likely what was happening, I hurried to get dressed, then grabbed one of the brownies Nonna had sentover on my way out of the house. No one else seemed to be at home, or they were still in bed.
Deciding not to park at the former Lawton estate since the new owners may call the cops if a strange car was in their driveway, I parked at Nonna’s and took my old path to the tree house. It had been over six years since I’d taken this walk. That had been the day that Gunner first told me he loved me. Smiling at the memory, I headed down to figure out what he was up to.
Maybe he had wanted me to bring Bella… but then he hadn’t mentioned it. The note had been simple and exactly like the one he had left for me six years ago. As I came through the woods into the clearing, I saw him leaning against the tree with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me. His eyes met mine, and he smiled.
“We’re trespassing, you know,” I told him as I reached him.
He shrugged. “I’ve never followed rules. You know that.”
I laughed. “I’m hoping the owners know what we are doing.”
He nodded slowly. “They do. They’re very aware of what we are doing.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Okay, that’s good. Are you going to tell me what we are doing?” I glanced up at thetree house. It was neglected and in need of repair. I hoped we weren’t going up there, because I wasn’t sure we would be safe.
“It needs some work,” he said to me, noticing where my gaze had gone.
“Are you moving it to Nonna’s property for Bella?” I asked him. Knowing that my sister was going to be a part of our life now made the ache inside me from all I had missed ease. The idea of making something for her permanent at Nonna’s felt good.
“If you want to move it we can,” he replied with a secretive gleam in his eyes.
“Definitely. I thought that was what…” But whatever words I was about to say stalled on my lips as Gunner Lawton walked to stand in front of me, then sank down on one knee.
Of all the things I could have imagined would happen this morning, this was not one of them. My world had been a roller coaster of emotions since I had sat down at Nonna’s for pie yesterday morning. Today I had planned on spending more time with Chance and Bella while Gunner went to the field to help Ryker and Nash do some things. Never had I thought we would be here in this moment.
“I fell in love with you in this spot, twice. I felt like it was the only place worthy of this question,” he said as heopened the ring box and the most beautiful oval sapphire outlined in tiny diamonds glistened in the sunlight. “It’s been forever for us since the beginning. We both knew it. I’ve waited until the right time, and that time always seems wrong. It’s never special enough. But yesterday our life changed. For the better. You’ve been given a chance to have your family back. I want us to be a part of that. The time is right now. I’m ready to make our forever official. Willa, will you marry me?”
I reached down and touched the ring in his hand, then lifted my gaze from it to look at him. As wild as this sounded in the middle of all that was happening, I knew that this moment was right no matter when and where it happened. With all the changes that were coming to my life I wanted this one to be a part of it. “Yes. You know it’s a yes,” I said softly.
He smirked and shrugged one shoulder. “Let’s just say I didn’t have any doubts.”
Laughing at him, I took his hand and pulled him back up so I could properly kiss him. He held up his hand to hold me off. “Wait,” he said. “Patience.” He then took my left hand and slid the beautiful ring onto my finger. “Now, have your way with me,” he said as his hands took my waist and pulled me against him.
I kissed him, holding his face in my hands. I’d knownone day we would take this step, and now that we had, my chest felt so full I was sure it would combust with happiness. The despair that had filled me yesterday had slowly began to fade after last night at Nonna’s. This morning, Gunner had managed to take it all away. To give me even more of a reason to have hope for tomorrow and all that was to come.
“I love you, Gunner Lawton,” I said against his lips.
“And that makes me the luckiest bastard on the planet,” he said, pulling back from me and breaking the kiss. I wasn’t done yet. I was even considering testing the tree house out.
“We have time for that later. Lots of time. But first I thought you’d like to look around our house, just for a refresher, so that you can start buying furniture,” he told me as he took my hand and started walking farther away from Nonna’s. “We have plenty of bedrooms, so if you want to bring Bella by later today, she could pick out one she wants. You can decorate it with her, then she can come visit anytime she wants. Maybe spend summers with us. Chance will need a break.”
I didn’t move. “What house?” I asked as the realization started dawning on me. The possibility of what he meant sinking in.
He grinned at me. “You miss it here, don’t you? You miss your nonna. Being close to her,” he said.
I nodded. “Yes, but with you is where I belong. Wherever you are.”
He growled and pulled me against him. “Keep talking like that and I’m going to take your sexy ass right up against that tree.” Then he pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “It’s a good thing, then, that you’ll get all you want. Because I bought back the Lawton estate. This will be our home in a few weeks. Give Bella a bedroom. Hell, give Chance a fucking bedroom if it makes you happy.”
“Are you serious?” I asked him, my jaw falling open. Unable to believe this was happening. I hadn’t even realized he wanted to come back here. I thought that he hated it here. I wouldn’t even bring it up. But now… he’d… done this.
“Yes, baby. This is all yours. We’re home. Lawton is where we belong.”
RYKER AND AURORA