Page 148 of A Better Place

“We saw Vince. He was doing his best to intimidate Jack and Carly. Jack was holding him back, but when he saw me, he went off. Just like we expected him to.”

“You took the beating, huh, Dad?”

“Damn straight, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“You two… mama and papa bears,” Jack says chuckling.

“You know it. No one messes with our babies,” I say, making James’s eyes flare.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Lily cries.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, Carly,” Lily says, and immediately the tears that I finally stopped come flooding back.

“I love you, too, baby.”

“Um, Carly? What’s this?” Lily asks, holding up my finger. A brilliant smile covers Lily’s face.

“Wait. What the hell is happening in here?!” Barrett shouts. “Did we… did we miss that too?” Barrett looks around the room, glaring at everyone like he’s the only person left out of the loop.

“James asked Mom to marry him.”

Tess gasps and Lily squeals, tackling me in a hug that makes me fall backward.

Everyone is saying their congratulations at once while Lily, Jack, James, and I stand up, together, hugging and laughing, before Tess interrupts.

“Dammit, I want my hug!” she shouts, causing us to laugh.

“Alright, little sister,” James says, making his way toward her.

“Not you, idiot. My new sister.” Her slender body barrels into me, almost causing me to stumble backward again. “What did I tell you?” she whispers into my ear, still hugging me tightly. She releases me just slightly, hands still on my shoulders. “Couldn’t have chosen a single better person to love my brother. I love you, Carly. Welcome to the family,” she says, tears slowly falling from her eyes.

“Thank you, Tess. I love you, too.” My smile is watery, but my heart is overflowing.

Soon all our friends and family are surrounding us, with Cole and Mia on FaceTime. Lauren and Josh, Andy and Christine, Bri, Grady, Maggie, Harper, even Brandon, who I’ve only met once. The love and support of the Cole family should overwhelm me, but it doesn’t. It’s like hot cocoa and popcorn after sledding on a winter day. It fills me up, warming all those parts of my soul I didn’t even realize needed attention.

“Show me that ring!” Lauren shouts as she comes through the door with Josh, Andy, and Christine. “And just to say, I’m never too old to be a bridesmaid,” she says, fist-bumping Tess.

“Wait, how did you know already?”

Everyone looks over to Barrett, who just lifts his phone and shrugs.

“I got excited. Sorry.”

“You knew for thirty seconds, and you had already texted them?” James laughs.

“Tweeted it, too.”

“You tweet? Who are you?”

“I like being kept in the know!”

“So, you won’t Facebook, but you’ll tweet?”

“I like Instagram, too.”

I look over to Jack, who looks like he’s ten seconds away from throwing up.

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