“Come a little closer, babe,” he said, holding a hand out to me.
My heart and mind couldn’t seem to catch up with what I was seeing. Was this what I thought it was?
When I reached him, Wes took one of my hands in both of his. I still hadn’t managed to close my mouth, still shocked at the site of him on one knee. On. One. Knee.
“Hadley Ellis, I’ve never known anyone like you,” Wes said, his eyes shining with affection. “You make me want to be better in every way. You’re smart and tough, but you also have a huge heart. You don’t take any of my bullshit. You pick me up when I need it most. You and me and Annalise and Benny have become a family, and our family means—” He stopped to clear his throat, tears welling in his eyes. “Our family means everything to me. You mean everything to me. I should have told you sooner. If you’ll let me, I’ll tell you every day for the rest of our lives. I love you, Hadley. Will you be my wife?”
A single note of stunned laughter escaped my throat, and tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t believe this was real. Wes loved me. He was looking up at me with hopeful eyes as he reached into his pocket and took out a small blue box, popping open the lid.
“Hadley?” he asked softly.
A smile spread across my face as I cried, “Yes! Yes, of course I will!”
He jumped up and swept me into his arms, spinning me in a circle as everyone cheered.
“There was no big animal, Aunt Hadley!” Annalise said from on top of Lars’s shoulders. “I made that up to get you out here!”
“You had me scared there for a minute,” I said, playing along.
“Let me put this on you,” Wes said, taking the ring from the box.
It was a simple, round platinum solitaire, and it was enormous. I smiled, tearing up again as Wes slid it onto my ring finger.
“I measured your finger while you were sleeping the other night,” he said. “That was fucking nerve-racking. I was so worried you’d wake up.”
“We’re getting married?” It came out as a question, because I still couldn’t believe it was real.
“We are. I was thinking this summer.”
“This summer?”
“I’m not waiting ‘til next summer,” he said, frowning.
“But there’s so much to do. What if we can’t get a venue booked? And I have to find a dress.”
“I kind of thought we’d do it right here, in Ben and Lauren’s backyard. It’s as close as we can get to having them here. One last great memory here before we buy a new home of our own.”
I absolutely adored he’d thought of that.
“I love that idea,” I said, wiping the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. “And I can find a vintage dress if I can’t get a new one fitted in time.”
“The saleswoman at Tiffany said we can get a vintage wedding band for your ring, too. I thought you’d want to pick it out yourself.”
I put my palms on his cheeks and leaned up to kiss him. “Look at you, being all thoughtful.”
He kissed me back, a laugh rumbling in his chest. “If Ben and Lauren could see us right now.”
It was definitely not a turn of events I had seen coming. I’d been so wrong about Weston Kirby. He was actually an incredible catch. And he was all mine.
Annalise tugged at Wes’s legs, asking him for a piggyback ride. Our moment alone was over, but we’d make up for it tonight.
“Welcome to the family, Hadley,” Nina said, hugging me.
“Thank you.”
All the other Mavericks players there hugged me, too—except Lars. He gave me a warm congratulations, though.
Wes leaned down and whispered in my ear. “You’re gonna be my old lady. Can you believe it?”
I gave him a look and said, “Call me your old lady again and you’ll have to find someone else to wear this ring.”
He laughed and kissed me lightly. “There’s that fire I love so much. Don’t ever change.”
As I looked around the yard, and thought about this place, this new life I’d found myself in, I felt Ben and Lauren here with us. Life had taken all of us in directions we never saw coming. The two of them were gone now, but still with us in so many ways. I’d lost my best friend in Lauren and found another one in Wes.
She would have laughed so hard if she could see us now. Until tears were running down her cheeks. Lauren would have loved every single thing about seeing me and Wes together. And thinking about it made me just the tiniest bit happier than I already was.
Epilogue
Wes
I wore a suit every single time I played a hockey game, but something about wearing one in the backyard of our house as I waited for Hadley to walk down the aisle to become my wife was different. My collar itched; it felt like the buttons of my double-breasted jacket were too tight, and my feet felt sweaty in my leather dress shoes.