Chapter 29 Kinley #2
I gasped when I realized he was holding a ring box in front of me. He raised the lid, revealing the biggest diamond I’d ever seen.
“Wyatt!”
It shone beautifully under the twinkle lights. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom, Elsa, and Emily flash big smiles.
“I want to spend the rest of our lives together, Kinley. For you to be my partner in everything for always. Will you marry me?”
“God, yes. I’d love nothing more than to marry you, Wyatt.”
Saying it aloud felt almost strange to me, but it was 100 percent true.
Wyatt’s words from earlier came to me—that I’d changed him.
The reverse was true as well. Before him, I’d completely sworn off the idea of marriage.
I’d been so scarred from my last relationship that the thought of marrying anyone would have completely terrified me in the past, but now I couldn’t be happier to do so. I was embracing all of this.
I wasn’t afraid in the slightest to spend my entire life with Wyatt. Together, we could get through whatever life might throw our way.
As he put the ring on, I became aware of the sound of clapping surrounding us. It echoed throughout the entire vineyard.
“I fucking love you, woman,” Wyatt whispered in my ear.
“And I love you so much. God, I wasn’t expecting this at all.”
He tilted his head. “Really? Not even today?”
“No,” I said.
He smirked. “Good. That means I’ve still got it when it comes to surprises.”
“And being sneaky about them,” I pointed out just before he kissed me deep and hot. Oh my! It reminded me of our first kiss that happened right here under the twinkle lights all those months ago.
When he pulled back, he whispered, “This kiss doesn’t have to stay here. I want the whole world to know about it.”
I laughed sheepishly. “I was thinking about that evening too.”
“It’s why I chose to do it here. It means a lot to both of us.”
“It does.” I sighed dreamily. “God, I love you, Wyatt, so much. I can’t believe I’m going to be your wife.”
“You’d better believe it.” He winked at me, then straightened up as his parents came up to us.
“Sorry to overshadow your earlier announcement,” Wyatt told them.
“Oh, nonsense. We old birds aren’t important—the two of you are. If we’d known that you planned to do this, my boy, we never would have announced our news,” Bruce said.
“We don’t mind,” I said wholeheartedly.
I wasn’t one of those people who needed to have the spotlight on them. In fact, it made it more special to share it.
“We are so happy for you,” Susan said. “Though we did have a feeling after the tasting that something like this might happen.”
Wyatt stared at his parents. “What are you talking about? What gave it away?”
“Your body language was a little different back there.” She pointed toward the building where we’d done the tasting. “You were looking at Kinley all the time, and there was just something different about you.”
I poked his ribs. “Huh. Can’t be sneaky with your mom. She knows you. She really does.”
“Of course I know my boys. And this one is very much in love.” Susan put an arm around her son’s waist and gave him a motherly hug.
“Mom, you’re hogging them. We want to say congrats too,” Knox cut in. “And if anyone else wants to shock us, can you please wait until tomorrow?” he said to no one in particular.
“Yeah, I agree with Knox. Although this wasn’t as much of a shock,” Finn said as he kissed my cheek. “You did seem to have something on your mind, brother,” he added as he shook Wyatt’s hand. “It was written all over you back there during the tasting.”
I started to laugh as Wyatt shook his head. “Well, I still say it’s a win that people thought I was planning something but couldn’t tell what.”
“Hey, your mom did. She said she saw this exact thing coming,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, Mom is different,” Wyatt replied.
Hannah came up to me after Knox and Finn and squeezed me tight. “I’m so happy for the two of you. Wyatt is a great guy, and he’ll make you super happy.”
I grinned. “I have no doubt.”
After she let me go, Elsa, Emily, and Ryan stood in front of us with my parents.
Emily immediately held her hands up, and I knew what that meant.
She wanted me to pick her up. Oh my goodness.
She hadn’t done that since she was tiny.
I’d missed it so much. I automatically lifted her up, and I swear I nearly broke my back. She was much heavier than I remembered.
“I’m so happy for you, Aunt Kinley. Mom says that this is amazing.”
“It really is, isn’t it?” I replied.
My sister beamed at me, as did Ryan. It was so great that they were both here. I had so much respect for all Ryan did professionally, but we were all more at peace when he was home. They were the perfect family, and I loved seeing them together.
“Congrats, man,” Ryan told Wyatt. “Welcome to the family.”
“Thanks, man. Means a lot coming from you. Kinley’s updated me on your service, and I can only tell you what an honor it is to finally meet you,” Wyatt replied.
Emily kissed my cheek, and then I set her back down. I felt as if my spine had permanently changed angles from holding her just those few minutes.
Jeremy wiggled his way in between Ryan and my parents, saying, “Uncle Wyatt, congratulations. I want to be ring bearer at your wedding.”
“No, I’m going to carry the ring,” Emily countered, turning to him. “Girls can do it. They don’t just have to carry flowers.”
Damn, that escalated quickly. I glanced at Wyatt, who shrugged.
“I have no say in this.” He pointed at me.
Oh, really? He was putting me in the middle of it?
I looked down at them both. “How about you each carry a ring?”
Jeremy nodded and said, “That’s fair.”
“But I want to do it by myself,” Emily pouted.
“Emily,” I said, touching her left pigtail. “You’re both important to us, and it’ll be nice for you to share the task.”
Emily considered this for a few seconds, then said, “Okay, I guess I’ll share it.”
“How do you two even know about ring bearers?” I asked.
“Oh, we saw it in a movie.”
Elsa grinned at me. “Yeah, I might have made the two of them watch too many rom-coms. My bad.” Ryan put an arm around my sister’s shoulder and kissed her cheek.
My parents started to laugh, and Mom took me in her arms. She didn’t say anything, just squeezed me tight. I sank into her embrace, soaking up her love, as Dad congratulated Wyatt.
“You’ll do the right thing by my girl?” Mom asked him over my shoulder.
“Always.”
She beamed and squeezed me again.
Dad added, “I’m trusting you completely, Wyatt.”
“Thank you, sir. That’s a great honor.”
I felt utterly complete with the man I loved by my side, surrounded by our families.
Mom didn’t let go of me for a while, but once she did, I realized the rest of the Sterlings were waiting to congratulate us.
I loved how they all took this very seriously.
Marriage was not just a thing to do for them; it was a commitment for life, which was how it should be.
Duncan and Riley were the last ones to say their congratulations.
Riley grinned. “You know, we’re going to have enough girls to challenge you men for a water polo match pretty soon.”
“No, you don’t,” Duncan replied, frowning.
“Not yet, but at the rate things are going, I’m thinking that Knox and Finn might surprise us yet.”
Though, looking over at Knox, who’d apparently overheard Riley’s comment, I wasn’t very sure about that. But you never knew what surprises life would present you with.
After that, we all sat down. Sage came over to us a few moments later.
“It goes without saying, but a big congrats from me too,” she said.
I smiled at her. “Thanks, Sage.”
“I knew something was up with the two of you from your first visit, but I thought I’d keep my mouth shut.”
“That’s not like you,” Wyatt teased her.
“I didn’t want to put my foot in my mouth just in case I was wrong. I’m glad I wasn’t.”
Sage straightened up as the catering team arrived, carrying chafing dishes and whatnot. Everyone got up from our table except for me and Wyatt.
He leaned into me. “Can’t wait for tonight.”
I gasped. “Wyatt, your whole family and mine are in that B&B.”
“We don’t have to stay at the B&B.” He wiggled his eyebrows and took my hand under the table, interlacing our fingers.
“I love you so much. This proposal was epic, and I never, ever expected it.” Which was true, but now it seemed like the most natural thing that ever could have happened between us.
He grinned as he kissed the corner of my mouth. “I’m going to surprise you for as long as I’m alive, Kinley. Anything to see you radiant like this.”
“You’re so romantic tonight.”
“Am I not always?”
“Well, yes, you are sexy and romantic and sneaky, as proven by this whole operation.”
“I promise I’ll be that way all the way to the end.”
Oh, I believed him. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we’d always be happy. No matter what challenges life threw at us, we would find solutions and come out winning one way or another. Anything else was simply unthinkable.
The air was brimming with laughter and joy as everyone dug into their dinner. I’d never felt so happy and whole in my entire life. It was just the beginning of a wonderful new stage, and I was looking forward to it.