Southern Storms (Compass 1)

My stomach was in knots, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw Yoana round the corner, guiding a blindfolded Kennedy.

“Why am I having a strong case of déjà vu?” Kennedy laughed. “Yoana, I already know what the house looks like. Is the blindfold really necessary?”

“It is,” I told her.

Kennedy stood straighter. “Jax?” she questioned. “What are you doing here?”

“We wanted to surprise you with the finished back yard.” I walked over to her and kissed her lips. “Are you ready?”

“I am!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Okay, and just remember, if you hate it, Connor did it,” I joked. I took the blindfold off Kennedy’s eyes, and she gasped upon seeing everything around her.

“Oh my gosh.” She teared up, looking around. When she looked at the trees and saw the butterflies, the tears began to fall. Then they began rushing down her cheeks as she saw the sign, and they never finished falling. Yoana cried from her sister’s emotions, and hell, I almost teared up too, because seeing Kennedy happy made my heart soar.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Like it? Jax, it’s everything and more. I never imagined something so beautiful. This is more than I could’ve ever imagined.”

I took her hand into mine and led her around. “Come on, let me show you.” I pointed out all the little details she probably didn’t even care to know about, but I was excited, and nervous, and fuck, it was hard to breathe.

I led her over to the bed of daisies and pointed down at the flowers. “These are special daisies. Rumor has it some are great at growing objects within them.”

She laughed. “What does that even mean?”

“Just look closely and see if you can figure it out.”

She narrowed her eyes at me then lowered herself down. She began looking through the flowers for whatever it was she was meant to find. “There’s nothing here,” she said, confused.

“That’s because I already picked it out of the bunch,” I said.

She turned around to find me down on one knee with a daisy in my hand. On top of said flower was a diamond ring, waiting for her finger to wear it.

Kennedy’s hand flew to her lips, and she let out a small gasp. “Jax…”

“Kennedy, the first time I saw you, I knew you were special. Sure, a little weird, but that was what made me fall in love with you.” She giggled through her shaky hands. “You are the definition of powerful. You are the brightest part of my day. Your love heals the cracks in my heart that I thought were doomed to be broken forever. You are my best friend, my soul mate, and my favorite flower, and if you allow me to do so, I’d love to be the one to make you smile for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she cried, pulling me up from the ground. She began planting kisses all over my face, making me laugh.

“You have to let me put the ring on, I think,” I joked.

“Oh, right! Of course.” She held her hand out, and everyone cheered around us. I couldn’t believe how my life had changed. It felt as if all the pieces were placed back together and the storm had finally passed to bring about better days.

I knew life would have its troubles, but I also knew I’d be okay because I was surrounded by love, by friendship, by Kennedy. She was my sun, I was her moon, and for the rest of our lives, we’d remember to dance in the rain.

Epilogue

Jax

Three years later

“Oh my gosh, Kennedy, I always knew you were something special! Didn’t I say that the first time we’d met her, Kate? Didn’t I go on and on about how special Kennedy was?” Louise swooned as she stood in front of a table across from my wife.

My wife.

I loved the sound of that.

It was amusing watching Louise, along with everyone else in town, swoon over Kennedy at the book signing in Havenbarrow for her most recent successful novel. Over fifteen months ago, Kennedy signed a deal with a major publishing company. When her book, Trespassing, hit the shelves, it became an instant success.

Kennedy cried the day Oprah’s Magazine included it on their ‘must read’ list. She just about vomited when she hit the New York Times—where she stayed for ten months so far.

After some convincing from the townspeople, Kennedy agreed to do a local signing, and the twins were the first in line.

While Kennedy could’ve been nasty toward the women who had been nothing but cruel to her since the day she arrived, she wasn’t. She was kind, thankful, and showed so much gratitude. Sometimes, I wished she could’ve been an asshole like me, but alas, she was the sun. She was my sun. I fell in love with the sun, and she kept my cold heart warm.