Chapter 29 #2
Pausing in the doorway, I take in the touches that Mika added for me.
The extra candles, the red winter berries, and more greenery.
The trees and lights are still decorating the patio, and the fire has been stoked to life, just like the other night.
But with the setting sun, the space feels softer and more intimate. I’d dare call it romantic.
Off to the side, Mika is beaming, curled in Jude’s lap, and I shoot her a grateful look. Lochlan looks nearly as giddy, and even Rohan has a soft smile on his lips as he nods to me.
Eden’s paused in the center of the patio, right on the edge of a circle of candles and greenery. No one has said a word since she stepped outside, but she looks from our friends watching her to me. “What is this?”
I push off the doorframe, walking over to her. I will myself to stay calm. I’m not used to feeling like this. Maybe because I’ve never done anything this important.
Taking Eden’s hand, I step into the circle, and she follows after me. I turn my back to the tiny group in the corner and focus entirely on Eden. I really hope that I’m not fucking wrong about this.
I’ve been trying to let Eden in. Neither of us are very good at being vulnerable, but after the night I told her I love her, I’ve been working on it. This is the biggest leap we’ll have taken, though, and I really don’t want to be sent crashing to the ground.
“Eden.” My voice is pitched low enough to keep this moment private, my accent giving away my nerves as it thickens. “I love you.”
Her lips twitch, but she looks nervous. It does nothing to soothe the pounding in my chest. “I love you, too.”
I nod, trying to keep going. Lochlan coached me on this—with Mika’s input while Rohan and Jude laughed at my expense. They told me I couldn’t just put the ring on her finger and decide she was mine.
“From the moment I saw you, I knew that I had met my match. I’ve never met someone so strong-willed, so fierce, who always puts me in my place.”
That earns me a laugh. “Someone has to.”
I drag my thumb over her knuckles. “And I’m glad it’s you, mo chuisle .
” I suck in a deep breath. “Wintervale is supposed to be celebrating the end of a season, and the start of the next.” I sink down to one knee in front of her slowly, watching her hazel eyes widen.
There’s no hesitation or regret in her expression, just shock—and I think a little excitement.
It gives me the push I need to finish. “I don’t want to enter another season of my life without you, Eden. ”
“You have me,” she whispers.
I shake my head and pull my hand away. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the ring that I painstakingly selected.
A green, kite-cut center stone with streaks through it that reminded me of Eden’s love of nature and wild spirit.
Diamond accents are set on either side of the delicate gold band, shimmering in the soft light.
Eden stares down at the ring, lips parted and unmoving. Her reaction almost makes me want to tuck the damn thing away and tell her to forget I even brought it out. She looks completely stunned in a way I can’t read.
“I don’t just want you here,” I force out, my voice rough. “I want you as my wife. I want you to know that I might be shite with words, but you are my everything.” Her eyes turn glassy, and I don’t fucking know if that’s good. “Will you marry me?”
“Kieran…” she breathes, and my heart stops.
Someone shoot me. Please shoot me now before I have to hear her say ? —
“Of course I’ll marry you.”
I blink up at her. “What?”
She nods, a watery smile pulling at her lips. “Yes.” She crouches forward, cupping my face. “Yes, of course.”
Relief sweeps through me, crushing me. I wrap an arm around her waist as she kisses me, holding her to me as I stand. Behind us, our friends are clapping, but I’m lost in the feeling of my future wife kissing me.
When we finally break apart, I remember the ring I’m still holding. I slip it onto her finger, which fits perfectly, and she stares down at it. “Do you like it?”
She nods. “It’s beautiful.”
Just like she is.
I kiss her again, though she keeps it short. “What a way to start Wintervale.”
I grin. “Now we really have something to celebrate.”
And we do. We feast as the sun sets with our friends, who are overjoyed for us. We drink and take turns making toasts. And as the night goes on, the festivities devolve like they always do.
We tell stories in front of the fire. Lochlan and Mika talk all of us into a snowball war. Rohan drunkenly argues he can build the best snowman—which leads to a brutal competition filled with sabotage. Ultimately, Mika wins because she gets Jude and Eden—the traitor—to protect her.
The hours blur together after that. We end up at Rohan’s house to raid his whiskey and then Lochlan’s to steal his snacks.
We eventually make it back to the patio, where Eden pushes Lochlan into the pool.
He drags her in, and soon, we are all in the water—fully clothed.
After an outfit change, the girls call a rematch in the snow, and Jude builds a large fire between our homes to keep us all from freezing to death as the flakes keep coming down.
By the time the sun starts to come up, we’ve finished a painful amount of whiskey, eaten our weight in food, and are barely functioning. But Mika won’t let anyone go to bed without exchanging gifts—which are mostly whiskey or weapons, as usual.
I have to carry Eden away from her “favorite person”—her words, to my annoyance—just to get her in my bed. Only then do I get to celebrate our engagement the way I’ve been wanting to since I saw her in that red dress.
After she falls asleep, though, I don’t get more than a couple of hours of rest. I leave Eden in our bed to slip away, getting everything ready for her last surprise.
Jude meets me in the foyer with coffee, and it takes an egregious amount to keep the two of us on our feet as we head outside to where Rohan and Lochlan are.
Rohan naturally looks perfectly fine, but Lochlan is most definitely still drunk and wired.
It makes our task exponentially more difficult—but more enjoyable, too.
Two hours before sunset, I return to our room with food to wake Eden. She’s hugging my pillow, looking so fucking good in our bed.
“Eden.” I nudge her after setting the food on her bedside table. “ Mo chuisle , wake up.”
She grumbles, “I’ll stab you if you touch me.”
I chuckle. “I’m sorry, but you have to get up. I have one more surprise.”
She groans but drags her body upright. I settle the food on her lap and kiss the top of her head. A knock on our door tells me my time is up.
“Who is that?”
“Mika.” My lips twitch as I tease, “Your favorite person.”
She huffs a little laugh and pats my face. “Don’t be too hurt by that.”
I roll my eyes and go to open the door. On the other side, Mika is somehow bright-eyed and radiating excitement. “Does she know?”
I shake my head. “Not yet.” Stepping back so she can come in, I look over at Eden. “You two behave.”
Her brows scrunch together. “Where are you going?”
I just wink. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I leave Mika with Eden and walk over to Rohan’s house, where Jude and Lochlan are already. Though they are both sprawled out in the sitting room, asleep.
I chuckle as I help myself to Rohan’s whiskey and stare outside. In the center of the compound, the snow has been cleared and a wooden altar waits, decorated in greenery and white flowers. A fire pit sits behind it, ready to be stoked to life.
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to wait to marry Eden. I meant it when I said I didn’t want to start a new season without her. That’s why I arranged our wedding before I even proposed, hoping she’d say yes.
And now she has.
Two hours later, I meet her under that altar at sunset, stunned by how gorgeous she looks with her curls half pinned back and decorated with winterberries.
She’s in a dress that I selected, one that shows off her figure and has a high slit that gives her plenty of room to move—which I know is important to her.
And on our first Wintervale, fourteen months after I first saw her, I make Eden my wife.