Epilogue
Nine Months Later
Ash
Blossoms bloomed on the trees everywhere Ash could see. Floral scents clung to the air. The Keagan family had expanded by one more baby, and now Emma was expecting. Ash stood back with Daniel. He still struggled with the loss of the friendship he’d had with Mason.
Charlie had told him more details about how their first kiss had gone down, but Mason wasn’t about to budge on his morals. If he’d had his way, Ash got the feeling he would have been arrested for that brief peck.
His eyes swept over to where Charlie sat on a picnic table beside her friend Isabelle. Beside them, Isabelle’s older cousin Aria laughed at something that had been said.
Daniel, ever the quiet observer, seemed to be watching the women, too.
Ash glanced to him and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, not sure how to go about asking what he wanted to know. A stiff breeze rustled through the branches of a nearby tree, tugging with it some blossom petals. Ash glanced up at the sky, which had started to darken.
“You might as well say it. We’re not getting any younger,” Daniel said, his eyes never leaving his sister and her friends.
Ash chuckled, bringing his focus back to his friend. “Am I so transparent?”
“ More ,” Daniel admitted.
He chuckled again. His friend was right. “I have a question, but I don’t know how to ask it.”
“Just ask.”
If only it were so easy. He swallowed hard. “I’d like to ask Charlie to marry me.”
“And you don’t know how to do it?” Daniel arched a brow, confusion in his gaze. “I’m sorry, Ash, but if you don’t know how to pop the question?—”
“I know how to pop the question,” he muttered with exasperation. “I’m just not sure how it’s going to be taken—by everyone here.”
“You’re going to ask her here ?”
Ash dragged a hand down his face. “What I mean to say is that I don’t know how your family will take it. A few of you are on board with our relationship. Tensions have lessened, but they’re still there. I could ask Wade. Or maybe I need to ask Mason? I just don’t know the protocol…”
Daniel huffed. “You ask Charlie.”
“But—”
“Look, while I appreciate that you want to do this the old-fashioned way, sometimes fathers aren’t in the picture. We all sort of helped raise her. We all look after her. But in the end, Charlie is going to make her own decisions. None of us could stop her when she wanted to date you. None of us stopped her when she broke things off over your job. And none of us?—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Ash continued to fidget. “So, you don’t think he’ll be mad?”
Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know what Mason is going to think. Frankly, it’s not up to him. He’s got his own family to worry about now.” He shifted his focus to the women. “Charlie is young, but she’s grown a lot over the last year. She’s learned a lot. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with knowing what you want and going for it.”
Ash nodded. “That makes sense.” Before he could thank Daniel for his little pep talk, Caleb, Mason, and Mateo moved over to their little group. Mason gave Ash a curt nod. Mateo had been in a grade older than Ash had been. Lately, Caleb had been helping out at the man’s ranch, where he raised farm dogs.
Right now, both Mateo and Caleb were as somber as the gray sky overhead. Ash got the feeling that they’d all be moving this party inside in a little while. From the looks of it, something was wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but he could sense it.
“Daniel, Caleb thought you might be able to help.” Mateo glanced among the men standing in their group. Ash wasn’t sure if he should slip away, considering the fact that he didn’t know Mateo as well. Beyond being the oldest of six and raising those dogs, the man ran in different social circles. Just by looking at him, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he was a charmer.
Daniel tilted his head, his curiosity piqued. No longer was he focused on Charlie. “What’s going on?”
Mateo blew out a long breath. “I hate to ask this of you, but we’ve already checked with the others.”
Daniel huffed. “And I’m the only one without a family to worry about. Is that it?”
Mason rolled his eyes. “No, you’re the one who doesn’t have any big events coming up. Some of us have an auction out of town. Those of us who are staying will be working to keep up with what’s going on here.”
“No one has told me what it is I’m available for,” Daniel said. “Maybe I’m not as available as you all think I am.”
Caleb forced out a smile.
Ash took in the conversation with curiosity. These brothers were all the family he had ever needed once upon a time. To this day, he could still see himself inserted in their lives.
Mateo sighed. “Sophia and I have to go out of town for a week. There are some family issues we’re resolving, and I don’t know that I can trust Rowan and the others to handle our place.”
“What makes you think I can?” Daniel snorted. “I don’t know anything about dogs.”
“The dogs will be taken care of. It’s the horses I’m worried about. Sophia is the head wrangler. She oversees all the horses and their feeding or grooming schedules. I need someone who’s good with horses to cover her shifts.”
Ash could sense Daniel considering the request before he glanced at Caleb. “You can’t do it? Aren’t you training over there most days?”
“Emma and I are going to LA next week.”
Daniel sighed. “So, you just want me to look after the horses,” he said. “For a week.”
“It might be more.”
Daniel’s head snapped up, and Ash bit back a smile. He should have definitely slipped away. In fact, he was going to do just that. The first plop of rain hit the back of his neck. Those around them had started to pick up their things, and just as Ash predicted, they were taking their chairs and tables to the side of the house.
Ash backed out of the group, patting Daniel on the shoulder just as he heard him agree to the request. He glanced over to the table, but Charlie wasn’t there anymore.
“Looking for Charlie?”
He turned toward the unfamiliar female voice.
A woman with long, dark hair, tanned skin, and full lips cocked her head as she looked him over. The wind had picked up and the strands of her dark hair whipped around her face.
“Aria, right?”
Her smile broadened. “That’s right. You must be really good with names if you can keep everyone straight.” She glanced around the space. “There are so many of them.”
“Yeah,” Ash chuckled. “There are.”
Her arms were folded, her painted fingernails tapping her arms as she surveyed the group.
“You know where Charlie went?”
“Inside, I think. She said she wanted to make sure there was enough space for everyone to be in the kitchen. If not, we might be moving to the barn.” She wrinkled her nose, then laughed. “I should have known better than to assume my cousins weren’t the hicks my siblings made them out to be.”
He gave her a funny look just as he got pelted by another drop of rain. “Thanks.” Ash made it to the kitchen door just as the rain started coming down in sheets. Squeals of surprise and laughter erupted as people rushed past him. He barely made it to the side of the doorway before he was crushed by their stampede.
Charlie laughed, and his head swiveled to find her smiling at him from where she stood a few feet away. The whole room was filled to the brim with the Keagans and their growing family as they overflowed into the living room.
He moved toward Charlie and took her hand in his. “Follow me,” he whispered.
“What? Ash! It’s pouring out there,” she blurted as he tugged her toward the still-open doorway.
“Humor me!” He laughed. “Just this once, humor me.”
Her eyes sparkled as he pulled her out into the pouring rain. She flinched at first, then turned her face up to the sky and let out a strangled laugh before lowering her gaze to him. “You’re crazy.”
He shook his head, not bothering to tell her he was simply in love. Around to the side of the house, he continued to tug on her until he pulled her under the roof’s awning and toward his body. She shivered, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Do you know what day it is today?”
She smirked. “May tenth.”
Ash nodded. “Seven years ago. On this very night, you and I stood out in the rain.”
Charlie blinked, the amusement in her eyes sobering. “Ash…” she whispered breathlessly. “You’re not serious.”
“I would never forget, Charlie.”
She stared at him, wonder in her expression. “You remembered the actual date?”
He nodded. “I remember everything about that night. The way you looked. The way you smelled. How angry I was at myself for what I’d done. And how terrified I was that I’d ruined your life. I thought for sure I’d be a dead man walking if you?—”
Charlie placed a finger to his lips. “None of that. Regrets can live in the past as far as I’m concerned.”
Ash stared at her, amazed by every aspect of her. “I told you then, and I’ll say it again. You’re perfect. You were perfect the way you were then, and you are today.”
She snickered. “And yet I’ve changed.”
“And I still love you.”
Her hand pressed to his cheek. “I love you, too.”
“And I still want to marry you.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I’m ready when you are.” It was something she’d said to him a lot over the last couple of months. Ever since New Year’s Eve, she’d teased him about them getting married and officially starting their life together. Only tonight, he wanted to make it official.
Slowly, he lowered himself to his knee. Her eyes widened. “Ash,” she blurted, “what are you?—”
“Charlotte Diane Keagan, I’ve known I wanted to marry you since I came back to Copper Creek just over a year ago. I knew I wanted to share my life with you long before then. Don’t make me wait any longer. Be mine.” He pulled a ring from his pocket; one he’d purchased last fall after they’d gotten back together. Ash lifted it upward, and Charlie gasped. “Be mine, forever, please?” he repeated.
She nodded, her hands covering her mouth as a happy sob escaped her lips. When she lowered her left hand toward him, he slid the ring on her finger. She only glanced at it for a second before she threw herself into his arms, her momentum causing them to stumble back into the downpour. Charlie’s lips crashed against his, and they sealed their promise in the rain.
Hello Sweet Romance Reader!
I hope you loved reading about the fire, heartbreak, and love in Charlie and Ash’s story!
Are you ready for the final Keagan love story? Here’s a little peek into what happens when Daniel Keagan meets the one woman he can’t walk away from…
Daniel Keagan has always been the quiet one—steady, strong, and protective of those he loves. But when Aria Rivera enters his life, he sees through her dazzling smile to the woman hiding behind it. She’s got secrets, and he’s willing to fight for her—even when she pushes him away.
But Aria’s past isn’t just painful. It’s dangerous. And when her controlling ex threatens to destroy Daniel’s future, she makes the only choice she can—walking away.
Daniel isn’t the kind of man who lets fear win. He’s never backed down from a fight. And when love is on the line, he won’t start now.