“Your shop, the one you carried for your father for so long, lead me to you. And that, love, is the greatest gift of all.
Evelyn Samantha Lane, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” my sister cried out, covering her mouth with both hands when I glared in her direction. “Sorry,” she whispered, her face as red as it could go.
“I know I have her blessing,” Cassidy said with a laugh,
“but what do you say?” She held a beautiful band between us, one made of white gold with Celtic designs carved into it. “If I’m moving too fast, just—”
I throw my arms around her and kissed her on the lips.
Hard.
With my heart pounding in my chest and the entire room turning sideways, I somehow managed to catch my breath enough to say the one thing she needed to hear from me most of all.
“Yes,” I squeaked as tears slowly ran down my cheeks. “Of course, I’ll marry you!”
She slipped the band on my finger, then took me in her arms, kissing me back as the store went in and out of focus.
“Of all the memories I have in this shop,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, “this one is the greatest one of all. I love you, Evie.”
“I love you too, and if you’ll have me, I’ll stand by you forever.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Okay,” my sister said from the sidelines, walking up to us with a box of tissues she had to use. “If we’re all done crying, I think it’s about time we opened the store.”
Looking to Cassidy, I took her hand in mine and said,
“Should we retreat to the tower?”
Cassidy smiled, then looked at my sister.
Reminding me of our mother, Bridget threw her arms in the air and sighed. “Go. You’ll be of no use to me down here. I also don’t need to see all that mushy stuff.”
“Admit it, you like it,” I said, batting my eyes at her.
“No, I like it when you’re happy,” she corrected me, throwing her arms around both of us before going to unlock the front door. “Just keep it down up there, will ya? I don’t want our customers to get any ideas.”
“We’ll lock the door,” I promised, taking Cassidy’s hand in mine before hurrying to the back of the store.
“And we’ll be quiet as a dormouse,” Cassidy called back over her shoulder.
“You’d better, because if I hear one peep out—”
“Peep.”
“Peep.”
My sistered released a loud groan, then went about her work, opening the shop as Cassidy and I retreated into the tower.
Together.