Rush

There weren’t any tears. We played music and laughed, and Mickey tossed a baseball on the beach with his Papa.

Delaney enrolled Mickey in school for the fall semester, and it’s going well. I tutor him a couple of times a week when I stop by the condo that Case rented for them. It’s not on the beach, but it does have a view of the ocean.

Case held on to the Manhattan apartment. It’s where we stay whenever we head east. He bought the apartment for Apollo, so he said that it only seemed fitting that his brother’s son has a chance to stay there and experience Lester and the view. That will happen when Delaney takes her son back to see his family in Manhattan.

Case rejected the offer from Pam and Rod, but they didn’t seem to mind. They purchased another unit in the building.

We shared an elevator ride with them when we were in Manhattan a few weeks ago for the Letter Leap launch party. Once we got off on the twelfth floor, Case joked about how I thought he had slept with them right after we met.

We laughed until we fell into bed together. The laughter stopped when he crawled between my legs.

“How’s your brother?” Cadby asks with a wink. “I heard that he’s got a couple of babies on the way himself.”

Jane’s pregnant with twins and Drake is terrified.

Case and I have worked things out with him. Our relationship may never be the same, but it’s all out on the table now.

Drake has a life to live in London, and I have one next to the man I adore.

Speaking of him…

“Where’s Rush?” I ask his grandfather.

“He’s on the water.” He points to the beachfront that sits right outside our door. “Why don’t you go and find him?”

It’s near dusk now.

I put in a full day at the office, before I came home to a perfect dinner of pizza, a bottle of red wine and a box of cupcakes baked by Delaney.

She found a job at a bakery only a mile from here. Cadby watches over Mickey after school. It gives them time together that they both treasure. A Sweet Bluebells location in San Francisco is in the works, but it’ll take time to sort through everything to make that a reality.

I smooth my hands over the lapel of Cadby’s suit jacket. “You’re dressed to the nines tonight. Do you have a date?”

“You do.” He motions to the door. “Go see my grandson.”

“I’m on my way.” I reach over to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, sweet girl.” He tousles my hair. “I’m going to steal one of those Bright Bagels to toast for breakfast and then I’m going home. You go find that boy of yours.”

I laugh as I watch him dip his hand inside one of the bag of bagels that were delivered this morning. “That bag is for you.”

“All for me?” He winks.

Nodding, I start toward the door. “Your grandson knows how much you love them.”

“I know how much he loves you,” he calls after me.

***

“Rush?”

I expected him to be out on the ocean on his surfboard, but he’s gazing at the water. He’s dressed in jeans and a white button-down shirt.

When he turns to face me, I smile.

“You shaved?”

He runs a hand over his smooth chin. “Do you like it?”

I race toward him, my bare feet kissing the sand with each step I take. “I love it. I love you.”

“I love you, Emma. Do you know how much?”

I stretch my arms out to my sides. “This much?”

“No.” He shakes his head before he drops to one knee. “This much.”

I grip the skirt of the white sundress I’m wearing to keep my hands from shaking. “Oh my God.”

A ring box sits in the palm of his hand. “Marry me, Emma. Let’s make it official. We’ll have kids. I want us to love each as much as we can forever.”

I gasp when he pops open the box. The beautiful ring is set with an emerald in the center with small diamonds surrounding it. “This was my grandma’s ring. Cadby gave it to me the day after we came home from New York.”

“Really?”

“He said it belonged to you, and it was my job to get it on your finger.”

I hold out my left hand. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re saying yes to marrying me?” He inches the gold band up my ring finger. “Tell me you’ll marry me, Emma.”

“I’m saying yes.” I gaze down at the ring. “It’s perfect.”

He moves to stand. Taking me in his arms, he presses his lips to mine for a deep, lush kiss. “I’m the luckiest man ever.”

“Did she say yes?”

We both laugh as we hear Cadby call out the question.

“She said yes,” Case yells back.

“I knew she would. Goodnight,” Cadby responds before we hear his whistling fading into the distance.