Page 118 of Sunshine Love

“June,” he says, blue eyes holding me in place. “Sorry we had to get you up here with subterfuge, but we figured it’s the only way you’d visit the quarry again. You’ve been avoiding this place.” He comes closer and takes my hands. “And I told you, we’re going to make this place our own.”

Alex hangs out on a bench next to a picnic table at the lookout point, watching us halfway between joy and cringe.

“June,” Cash says, “you’ve made our family complete. You’re the only mother Alex has ever known. Ganny loves you. So do Dad, Lily, Jesse, Leo, and Hannah. You’re part of our family now, and the only thing missing is the Taylor family name. I love you. I love you with everything I have.”

My heart pounds in my chest.

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a ring box. He drops to his knees in front of me. Not just one knee, but both.

“June Jackson,” he says, opening the ring box, “will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

“Cash. Oh, Cash.” I drop down with him and throw my arms around his neck. “I love you. I love you so much.”

He squeezes me to his chest, and I hold onto him for dear life, like he’s my raft in a sea of chaos, because that’s what he’s become. That’s what our life has become.

“Is that a yes?” Alex calls out, and she’s got her phone out recording the moment.

“That’s a hell yes!” I laugh, tears on my cheeks.

Cash wipes them away as he always does, and then he removes an elegant ring from the box and slips it onto my finger. The diamond is surrounded by two smaller stones.

“Three,” Cash says. “One for each of us.” He wraps me in his arms and holds me close.

After a couple of minutes, Alex comes over and joins the hug, and even her eyes are moist. “I love you guys,” she whispers. “Seriously. I love you guys, a lot, but can we have a picnic now?”

Cash’s laughter rumbles out over the water. “Yeah. Let’s eat.” He heads back through the trees and returns with a picnic basket that’s superior to the trail mix we were going to have. And we spend the afternoon drinking fizzy soda to toast our engagement, eating M&M’s and grilled cheese sandwiches.

It occurs to me, while I’m lying against Cash’s chest, listening to Alex regale us with tales from her summer, that this is it. This is everything I’ve ever wanted.

A cozy home to call my own, a man to love, a child who loves me, and a future full of love and hope and sunshine.

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