Ballad of Love (Utah Lovin’ Book 1)

35. Epilogue

”Ads, what if she says no? or What if she hates the ring? or…”

”Braydon!” Adalynn cuts me off.

I snap my mouth shut, so she can talk.

”she”s not going to say no, and she definitely won”t hate the ring. now get off the phone and finish setting up. she is almost done getting her nails done.”

I hang up the phone and put it in my back pocket. I am currently standing in an empty Po”s diner, stringing fairy lights from the ceiling. Madison still has no idea that I am going to propose today. I had Adalynn convince her to have a girl”s day, so I could get everything ready. my hands are shaking from the nerves, which is making it harder to hang these lights. all the tables are pushed out of the way. candles and rose petals cover the floor. it took a hefty fee, and a lot of bribing for them to close the diner for a day. but it is all worth it. I have to leave in thirty minutes to pick up Madison. we are going to go have dinner, then Adalynn is going to come here and light all the candles and set up a hidden camera. sawyer is helping photography the whole thing. since he is big into photography, and Madison would kill me if I didn”t get pictures of our engagement. I take one last look at the set up before I head out to my truck.

I try to calm my nerves on the drive since I don”t want mads to suspect anything. before I know it, I am pulling into Madison”s driveway.

”Ok, you got this Braydon. just don”t blow it.”

taking a deep breath and grab the Boquet of wildflowers laying in my passenger seat. I open my truck door and walk about the steps of Madison”s front porch. i knock on the door even though I have a key. the door opens, and I am a little disappointed when I see my little sister on the other side.

”How are the nerves?” Adalynn asks in a whisper.

”They are through the roof, but I am so excited.”

Adalynn gives me a reassuring smile, and a cheesy thumbs up.

”A, is Braydon here?”

I hear Madison”s voice ask from somewhere upstairs.

”He is!” Adalynn claps excitedly.

I hear movement from upstairs, and my heart rate imediently picks up. I step further into the entryway, and my eyes lock on Madison standing at the top of the stairs. she is stunning. the short floral dress that she is wearing has a corset style top, then flares out at her waist. it has long flowy sleeves, and it looks like it is the perfect dress to spin her around a makeshift dance floor in. her long brown hair is in loose waves, and there is an adorable dusty blue hair scarf tied in her hair.

”what”s the matter, cowboy? cat got your tounge?” Madison gives me a sultry smile, and as if on cue Layla prances right in front of my feet.

”Boots, you look…” the words get caught in my throat because no words can do her justice.

”There are no words, Mads.”

”Well thank you. you don”t look too bad yourself, Cowboy.”

Adalynn clears her throat beside me, reminding us both of her presence.

”I am going to get going. you kids have fun.” Madison gives me a wink over her shoulder.

I meet Madison at the foot of the stairs, and hand her the bouquet of flowers that i was holding behind my back.

”For me?”

”Always, boots.” she takes the flowers from me, and disappears into her kitchen. i wander into the living room. there is half full boxes scattered everywhere.

”You moving again, boots?” I call over my shoulder.

”Yep.” my heart sinks a little. she isn”t leaving me again. she can”t be.

”Where to?”

Madison reappears from her kitchen. she grabs her cowboy boots sitting by the front door.

”Oh, just somewhere a little farther outside of town.”

”Oh.” I can”t believe this is happening.

I stand in silence for a minute and watch as she pulls her boots on.

”it”s a bigger house, and I will have two pretty great roommates.”

Madison brushes by me to grab her purse off of the couch.

”Bray? are you really that clueless?”

I stare at her in shock for a moment, still not understanding where she is going with this.

”You Braydon. I am moving in with you.”

”Oh. oh!” I clear my throat and try to regain my voice. ”Who said you could move in?”

”Bray, come on. since we started dating again, I have spent pretty much every night at your house. plus, you keep telling me it”s a waste for us both to have a house. so, I listed mine yesterday.”

”You didn”t have to do that.”

”Eh, its ok. I like your house better.”

”Oh really? and whys that?” I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to me.

“Because you are there.” Madison stands up on her tip toes and brushes a gentle kiss to my lips.

I begin to sway us back and forth. It’s so hard not to dance when I have my arms around her like this. I think it is because she is my ballad of love, so there is always a secret song playing between us.

“We should probably get going.” Madison whispers against my chest.

“Yeah.” I reluctantly pull away from her and lead us to the front door.

“So, I was thinking that we could go to that Italian place for dinner tonight.” I say, as I open the passenger side door for Madison.

She takes my hand, and I help her step into my truck. I look down at the contrast of our outfits, and I suddenly feel extremely underdressed. I threw on nice jeans, a light blue pearl snap shirt, my dress boots, and my cowboy hat. She is too perfect for, but she chose me.

”Oh, Italian sounds amazing.”

it is a short drive to the restraunt. Madison is in her own little world singing and dancing along to the music. our hands are intertwined on the center console, and I am tracing lazy circles with my thumb on her knuckles. Madison suddenly reaches forward and turns the music down, just as we are pulling into the restraunt.

”Bray?” Madison turns to face me with a serious expression on her face.

”Yes Boots?”

”I am not leaving. you are stuck with me. till death do us part. ok?”

”Madison, love, I will happily be stuck with you in this life, and the next.”

she nods her head, as if she accepts my answer. I park the truck, and we head inside hand in hand.

dinner doesn”t take very long, which I am grateful for. I shoot Adalynn a quick text letting her know that we are leaving the restraunt. Madison still seems to be oblivious to the whole thing.

”What do you say we go for a little drive?” I ask as nonchalantly as possibly.

”Ok.”

I help Madison into the truck and take a deep breath before I climb into the driver seat. heading in the direction of the diner, I try to distract Madison with music and random conversation. moments later we pull into the parking lot for Po”s diner.

”What are we doing here?” recognition flashes across Madison”s face.

”I figured we could get some dessert.” I wink at Madison, before I open my door and hop out.

”Bray, it doesn”t look like this place is open.” Madison says, hoping out of the truck and following after me.

”Huh, well let”s just go inside and see.”

I push open the door to the diner and Madison follows inside behind me.

”Bray, none of the lights are on. I think we are breaking and entering.”

”No, I think its ok.” Madison trails behind me, as we make are way farther into the diner.

”Ok, Bray this really isn”t funny, and I don”t want to go to jail.”

Madison turns to leave, but I reach out and grab her wrist. I spin her around and watch the recognition wash over her face when she sees the rose petals and candles. on cue ”this love” by Taylor swift starts playing from the speaker.

”Bray?” Madison breathes, turning to look at me with misty eyes.

I reach my hand out her, just like I did that night back in high school.

”Would you like to dance with me in this diner, Boots?”

Madison nods, and I lead us to the center of the floor. we sway back and forth for a few moments, and I let the anticipation build.

”Mads, do you remember what I told you the last time we were here?”

”y… yes.” I feel her nod against my chest.

”Well, I don”t make promises that I don”t intend to keep.”

I step back from Madison and pull out the ring box that has been burning a hole in my pocket. she gasps when she sees the royal blue velvet box. Madison grabs my arm, as I lower myself onto one knee.

”Madison Harmony Hale, you are my ballad. you are everything good in life that I never thought I deserved. I know you have only been back for a short time, but I don”t plan on letting you slip away again. so…”

”Yes! yes Bray! yes!” Madison interrupts me. I see a few tears roll down her cheeks, and I suddenly notice that I have been crying too.

my hands are shaking, and I realize that I haven”t even opened the ring box. Madison looks at me with a cute apologetic expression on her face.

”I”m sorry, I got too excited. you can finish.” we both laugh, because we are a hot mess. but we are so perfect for each other.

”So, Boots, will you marry me?” I pop open the ring box to reveal the ring that I designed.

it”s not really big and flashy but is simple and elegant. it is a tear drop shaped diamond that has a light tint of blue. there are small lavender diamonds surrounding it. the band is shaped to fit around the bottom of the diamond and resemble a sunburst. the diamonds in the band match the one in the center. on the inside band there is an engraving that says, ”My Ballad.”

tears roll down my face as I watch Madison bring her hands to her mouth as if in shock. I wait for a minute, and she doesn”t say anything, and I get a little nervous.

”Boots?”

”Yes. bray of course. a million times yes.”

I gently pull the ring out of the box and slide it onto her finger. I look up at Madison and see my whole world in her eyes. there was always a string tying us together. we were always meant to have our happily ever after. but life just had to teach us a few lessons first.

Madison plasters a cheeky grin on her face, as I stand back up.

”Well, are you gonna kiss me or not, Cowboy?”

this kiss is different from all our other kisses. this one feels like the start of the best kind of forever.

and I can”t wait to see where forever takes us.