The Season of Falling

33. Chapter 33

Epilogue

9 Months Later

Dean

“Dean, where are we going?” Kasey tugged on my hand, but I wasn’t deterred.

“If you don’t recognize it yet, you’ll just have to wait and see,” I called over my shoulder. August was coming to an end, and the beautiful colors of fall were just beginning to appear. Dried leaves crunched under foot as I led Kasey through the trees.

“You’re not taking me out here to hide my body, right?” she joked. I squeezed her hand but didn’t feel the need to dignify that question with a response. After a few more minutes and some definite backtracking, we finally made it.

“Here we are.” I announced, gesturing like Vanna White to the clump of trees and rocks forming a little hidden cave. Kasey looked at me like I was crazy, but after a moment, I watched the confusion clear from her beautiful face.

“Wait, is this where—”

“You realized you were madly in love with me?” I folded my arms across my chest in satisfaction.

“I think you meant where you realized you were falling for me. I knew I was madly in love with you practically from the day we met.” She laughed and started to take a step closer, but I stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.

“Kasey, wait.” Once she was facing me, I took both of her hands. “It’s hard for me to pinpoint an exact moment when I knew I loved you. I look back, and you’ve been part of my life for so long and there’s so much I’ve always loved and admired about you. But even though I didn’t realize it, I’ve been falling for you from the beginning, too. And these past months with you, really being with you, have been incredible. More than incredible. They’ve been a dream come true. And it's helped me realize that I don’t want any life that doesn’t include you.”

Kasey

I knew what was coming next. Ro had sent me money and basically begged me to go and get my nails done the day before, and her not-so-subtle hints had me giddy all day. But even though I longed to hear the words, a flood of nerves washed through me. Dean smiled softly and got down on one knee in front of me, smoothly slipping a small black box from his pocket as he went.

“Kasey Marie Whiting.” His actions and words were achingly tender as he opened the ring box. “I love you. With your friendship all these years, I’m already the luckiest man. But will you make me the happiest man ever and marry me?”

Tears filled my eyes and I blinked rapidly to keep them from spilling down my cheeks. Dean smiled sweetly up at me, and the answering smile that spread across my cheeks was bright enough to power a building.

“I love you too, Dean.” I reached out and rested a hand against his cheek. He turned his head enough to brush a quick kiss to my palm.

“I’m so glad you do, but you didn’t answer my question.”

I was so caught up in the butterflies doing somersaults in my stomach due to that little hand kiss that it took me a minute to make sense of his words. “Oh, yes. Of course I’ll marry you, Dean!”

He got to his feet and slid the ring onto my finger. It was simple but elegant. An oval diamond in the middle surrounded by little clusters of smaller diamonds. It was exactly the sort of thing I’d pick out for myself.

“I love you, Kasey,” he said again as he dipped his head to press a lingering kiss to my lips.

The butterflies were back, but I forced them to behave, at least for the time being. “I think this calls for a special celebration, don’t you?” I asked with a mischievous smile.

“Like what?” Dean asked, the amusement clear in his voice.

“I’ve had a lot of dreams about sitting in that alcove with you. I think reliving that moment might be in our best interest.”

Dean grinned, and my heart swooped. Even though I was treated to his smiles daily, I still wasn’t accustomed to them, and I hoped I never would be.

“I like the way you think, fiancée.” Dean winked and grabbed my hand, pulling me along to the alcove where we’d shared our first kiss. There were no nerves or tentative touches like the first time we crawled into the small space. This time we were sure of ourselves and sure of each other. Each kiss we shared was a testament to the love we felt and planned to continue showing for the rest of our lives.