Epilogue
Emma stared at the plastic stick in her hand. She gave it a little shake, as if that might somehow change the plus sign to a minus. Because yeah, she was two weeks late, and she felt like she might throw up, but pregnant?
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees until the spinning sensation in her head had stopped. This was so not part of her plan right now. She and Mandy had just taken over Artful Blooms. She was knee-deep in the Silver Springs Lodge project and a few weeks into her first semester of business school.
She didn’t have time for a baby right now. A baby. Her eyes welled with tears. Holy crap. She and Ryan had made a baby together. That was…amazing…and terrifying…and wonderful.
How would he react? They’d only been together a few months. Their love was still so new. They’d never even mentioned marriage, let alone starting a family. Something warm grew in her chest, spreading through the panic clutching at her insides.
A baby. Her and Ryan’s baby.
She let out a shaky breath, tossed the pregnancy test in the trash, and walked outside to her car, unable to wait another moment to tell him. She drove straight to Off-the-Grid and parked, still in somewhat of a daze.
“Hey, Emma,” Ethan called, waving as he walked toward the zip-line course.
“Is Ryan around?” she asked.
“He’s down by the ropes course fixing a loose board.”
“Thanks.” She walked briskly down the path until the ropes course came into view.
Ryan sat straddling the top of the climbing wall, hammer in hand. A huge smile covered his face when he saw her. “Hey, Em. What’s up?”
“I’ve got something to tell you, but you might want to come down from there first,” she said, anxiety knotting in her stomach.
Ryan’s smile faded. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just come down. Please.”
He dropped to the ground and walked to her, taking her hands in his. “You’re shaking. What’s wrong?”
“I’m…” She sucked in a breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Ryan was silent for a beat, his expression hidden behind his mirrored lenses. Then his arms were around her, her body crushed against his as spun her around, kissing her like crazy. “No shit?” he said as he lifted his head.
She nodded, her heart pounding against her ribs. “I just took a test. We’ve been careful, but?—”
“So this is what they warned us about in all those sex ed classes in high school,” he said, but he was grinning widely, his arms still warm and tight around her.
“I guess. It’s the worst possible timing.” Tears welled in her eyes. “With work, and school, and you and I just…”
But Ryan was shaking his head. “Remember that night at the commons? We were eating cupcakes, and we talked about how the best things in life are the ones we never saw coming. This is one of those moments, Emma. This might be the biggest moment in our lives.”
“Really?” She dabbed furiously at the tears spilling over her cheeks.
He released her, and she took a step back. He reached down and pressed his hand against her stomach. “A baby. Our baby. I don’t know when it happened, but I know it’s amazing.”
“Our baby,” she whispered, resting her hand over his.
“I bet it was that night a few weeks ago when we christened the back of the truck.” He was still grinning, and if she wasn’t mistaken, tears glistened in his eyes, too.
“That was quite a night.” She laughed through her tears, remembering how they’d made love in the bed of his truck, a pile of blankets beneath them, a blanket of stars overhead.
“Emma,” he said, his voice gone low and serious.
“Yeah?”
He walked to the edge of the clearing and bent down. When he came back, he had a flower in his hands, one of the red poppies she’d planted there last month. He went down on one knee in front of her, and everything spun out of balance…
“This isn’t how I imagined doing this, but then again nothing between us has ever gone the way I thought it would. I thought you were just my friend, but I was wrong. I love you more than I ever knew it was possible to love anyone. We haven’t talked about it, but I’ve known for a while I want to spent the rest of my life with you and start a family together.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth, too overcome to speak.
“And there’s nothing I’d love more than for you to say you’ll marry me.”
“Yes.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper, her throat painfully tight. “It’s what I want, too, more than anything.”
He took her left hand in his and wound the stem of the flower around her finger, creating a makeshift ring. She stared at it, that beautiful red poppy nestled on her finger as a symbol of Ryan’s love and their future together. It was more perfect than any ring he could have given her.
“I love you so much, babe.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t fucking wait to marry you and start our life together.”
Neither could she.
Four weeks later,they stood on a grassy overlook at the bluffs. Not the top. Emma’d had some ideas, but Ryan had won out as the voice of reason. They simply couldn’t ask their wedding guests to hike to the top of the bluffs, and neither was he about to let his pregnant wife-to-be climb up there in her wedding dress.
Emma stood before him now, wearing the same dress Ethan had seen photos of on Gabby’s phone. It had little pink flowers across the front and a long flowing skirt, and Ryan could hardly draw breath she was so fucking gorgeous.
Mark stood in front of them, looking awfully damn official in a black suit, their vows in his hands. He’d gone and gotten himself ordained for the occasion. Ethan, Gabby, Trent, Carly, Sam, Mandy, and Jessica rounded out their little wedding party.
“By the power vested in me by the State of North Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Mark said.
Emma leaped into his arms with a kiss that set his heart ablaze with love. For their future, and their family, and a lifetime of happiness. Everyone rushed in to congratulate them.
“I still can’t you believe you beat me to the altar,” Gabby said in mock anger, tears streaking her cheeks.
“I can’t either.” Emma’s giggles were mixed with her own tears. “But we’ll be doing this again for you and Ethan in just a few weeks.”
Trent stood beside Ryan, tugging at the ever-present beanie on his head. “Congrats, you guys.”
“Thanks, man.” Ryan clapped his brother on the back. “So glad you’re back.”
Emma flung her arms around Trent. “I’m so happy to have you as my brother-in-law.”
Trent had come back to Haven last month and was taking classes at the local community college, working toward his degree at his own pace while still DJ’ing once a week at The Music Factory. He and Emma often commiserated about homework.
“Can you believe it?” Emma whispered in Ryan’s ear, her arm going around his waist.
“I’m afraid to blink sometimes. So much has changed.”
“Yeah.” She was beaming, the happy glow in her cheeks the only visible sign of the baby who’d jump-started their happily ever after. “When I said I wanted to shake things up this year, I had no idea what I was starting.”
“This may be the wildest ride of all.” He leaned in to kiss her. “I’m absolutely crazy for you, today and always.”
“Me, too,” she whispered against his lips. “Me, too.”