Everything I Desire (Lupine Valley #3)

24. Epilogue

Epilogue

Adelaide

One Year Later . . .

“Adelaide, are you ready?” Porter yells impatiently from the kitchen.

“Almost!” I yell back.

I stand in the bathroom smiling at my own reflection, the test I just took burning a hole in my hand. It’s serendipity that we are hiking to our spot tonight, and I can’t wait to tell Porter he’s going to be a dad.

I tuck the test into the pocket of my leggings, and head downstairs with the sweatshirt I said I was coming up to get as a cover.

I walk into the kitchen and see Porter waiting with Kayla and Eric. His foot tapping on the floor like he does when he’s nervous.

Does he know?

“Sorry. I couldn’t find it.” I hold up the sweatshirt.

“You know it’s seventy degrees outside right?” Eric asks .

I ruffle his hair, “Yes. And I’ll be the only one without bug bites on my arms.” I raise my brows to him and Kayla laughs.

“Is your Mom meeting us at the trailhead?” I ask Kayla.

“No. She’s at the diner waiting -” Porter shoots her a look. “Um, for the Sheriff. She wanted to take him out to dinner to thank him for everything he did to help her,” she answers too quickly.

I turn to Porter and narrow my eyes at him.

“Okay! Let’s go, we’re running out of time, as usual.” He says ushering us out the door.

I follow the three of them out, too happy about my news I have to share to dwell on the weirdness of that interaction.

I need to tone down my smile before Porter gets suspicious.

My leg shakes the whole way over to the trail, a nervous habit I’m afraid is going to give me away.

I just want to blurt out my secret. But this opportunity to tell him by the sunset is too great to pass up.

When we get to the top of the mountain I’m a little discouraged by the amount of people up here. I’ve never seen it so busy, not many people know about this trail.

Then I realize that I know every single one of these people.

Mom, Scarlett, Preston, Lacey, Colton, Willow. Sheriff Miller and Stacey. Ronnie and Patricia. Maria and Tony. Maura. All the important people in our life.

“Porter? What is going on?” I ask, taking in the group in front of me.

He laces his fingers in mine and pulls me to the edge where you can see the valley below. Then he drops to one knee.

My jaw drops open, “Porter?”

“Adelaide Harper, you are everything to me. You helped me realize the man I can be, and that is a man that will treat you like the queen you are every single day. A man who will always better himself to be everything you deserve and more. You make me a better man. And I was hoping that you would want to do that forever with me. Adelaide, baby, will you marry me?”

He produces a muted lavender velvet box from his pocket, and flips open the lid.

“Porter, I -” I’m stunned speechless.

“Say yes!” One of my sister’s yells from the crowd.

“Oh my gosh, yes! Of course yes! But -” I pull out the test from my pocket and hand it to him. “I thought this would be a special place to tell you that you’re going to be a dad.” I smile at him.

He picks me up and spins me around, “A husband and a dad in one day?”

He places me down on the ground and kisses me so deeply the others start to clear their throats.

He pulls back and takes my left hand in his to slide the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen on my finger. It’s rose gold, with a pink diamond in the center.

Once the ring is on, we are both hit with such a force from all the people we love, I thought we were going down the side of the mountain.

“A brother or a sister? Seriously? This is the best day ever!” Kayla screams.

We both laugh, and walk over to a picnic from Gunnar with everyone we love, everyone who plays an important part in our life to celebrate .