Page 65 of Whispers at Seaside
Matt reached for her hand, repositioning on one knee, and said, “As soon as she says yes.”
Ohmygosh.Mira felt dizzy. “What…?”
He unfurled his other hand, presenting a light blue Tiffany’s jewelry box, and draped his other arm around her little boy, who was looking at Matt like he was his whole world.
She reached for Matt’s shoulder to steady herself. She was completely flummoxed by the new information about his dream job and this proposal. A collective gasp surrounded them, but all Mira heard was the thundering of her heart.
“Your brass ring,” she said in a shaky breath.
“Never even a consideration,” Matt said confidently.
A sob escaped her lips, and as she went to cover her mouth, Matt took her hand in his. The smile she’d fallen in love with during that amazing day at Parker and Grayson’s engagement party almost a year ago spread across his handsome face.
“You and Hagen are my brass ring. Mygoldring. Thepinnacle of my life. You have become my whole world. I want to carry Hagen on my shoulders until I can no longer manage it, and answer his litany of questions until he knows every fact there is to know. I want to know he’s safe and loved, and if you’ll let me, I want to adopt him so he knows he’ll have a father who will always love him, through good, bad, and frustrating days. A father who will build boats and read about anything his heart desires.”
Tears tumbled down her cheeks.
Matt rose to his feet. “And I want to love, honor, cherish, and adore his beautiful mother. I want to follow your whims and chase your dreams until every one of them has been achieved—and then I want to make more and continue chasing them until Hagen has to push us around in wheelchairs and chase them for us. I love you, sunshine. You and Hagen. Will you marry me?”
Sobs stole her voice, and all the girls said, “Yes!” as she nodded.
“I’m not marrying the girls,” Matt said.
“Oh yes you are,” Hunter mumbled, and everyone laughed.
Matt opened the Tiffany’s box, revealing a gorgeous canary yellow diamond ring. “I need to hear your answer, baby,” Matt said, stepping closer and curling his hand around hers. “I want to remember this moment forever. Are you ready to start our next adventure together, as a family?”
She fell even harder, which she didn’t think was possible.
Hagen tugged on Mira’s skirt. “Sayyes, Mommy! I helped pick out the ring when we were at theapple.”
More sobs burst from her lungs.
“I swear I didn’t ask him to keep it a secret,” Matt said. “I know how you feel about that.”
Matt had become her anchor, her lover, her partner, and a father to her son, but not once had he tried to become her savior, and she was madly, passionately in love with him.
She nodded vehemently, forcing her voice past the lump in her throat. “Yes, Matt. I’ll marry you.We’llmarry you.”
He slipped the sparkling diamond ring on her finger, and she threw herself into his open arms. Their friends and family cheered as they were passed from one set of loving arms to the next.
“A quadruple wedding!” Sky yelled.
“Yes! Please!” Jenna bounced, which started a flurry of hopeful coercion.
Neil embraced Mira and said, “Looks like the business will stay in the family after all. Maybe you’ll consider letting Poppi watch Hagen when you and Matt take your honeymoon?”
Fresh sobs engulfed her. “Of course.” She hugged her future father-in-law again, the man who had treated her and Hagen like family since the very first day they’d met.
“May I?” Matt drew Mira from his father’s arms and gazed into her eyes, making her body melt and thrum at once. “Are you ready to begin our next adventure, sunshine? Want to join the Lacroux wedding party?”
“More than you’ll ever know.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A GENTLE BREEZE swept off the bay as the sun began its slow descent from the sky, leaving ribbons of colors in its wake. The perfect backdrop for the quadruple wedding. Matt pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a secret smile tugging at his lips as he waited for his future bride to appear on the crest of the dunes. He’d worn the glasses just to catch that brief moment of surprise, followed by the entrancing lust he knew so well in his bride-to-be’s eyes. It had been five weeks to the day since Matt had asked Mira to marry him, and one week since she and his father finalized the preliminary paperwork with their new business partners for the co-op. Matt and his siblings each put in an equal share and bought a stake in their father’s business to further ensure it would never leave the family.
Matt was about to become a husband and a father. Wow, did that thought hit him square in the center of his heart. Standing beneath the driftwood arbor Grayson and Hunter had built for the wedding, Matt had no qualms about his decision to leave teaching. His writing was going well, and his editor was making noises about a second book deal if the first sold well. More importantly, he was back among family and starting a family of his own with the woman and child he adored. He’d snagged his brass ring and so much more.
