Joyfully His(Sterling Canyon Book 4)(21)
They stood there, awkwardly looking at each other, neither one apparently knowing what to do next.
“You coming back in?” He gestured toward the door with his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Kinda lost interest in celebrating tonight.” She wrinkled her nose. “And my feet hurt.”
He looked down and chuckled. “Amy dressed you, didn’t she?”
No use trying to lie. She nodded in shame. “I don’t know why I give in.”
“Me either.” He reached out and brushed a lock of her hair back. “I like you best when you’re being you.”
“Thank you.” She held perfectly still, hoping he would touch her again. “Do you like me enough to change your mind about leaving?”
“I’m not that easy.” He leaned even closer. His perfect, adorable grin popped into place. “It’s going to take more than one public show of support and seeing you in faded blue jeans to convince me to stay.”
She wanted to kiss his shallow dimples. “Don’t forget a job offer. You can’t ignore the fact that I’ve handed you your dream job.”
“Not exactly. My dream job is still occupied by a feisty blonde in high heels.”
“I knew you’ve wanted my job all along.”
When she playfully shoved him, he caught her hand and brought it to his chest. “No, Nik. Actually, it was you—only you—I wanted.”
“Past tense.”
“Past . . . present . . .” He raised her hand to his lips.
“Future?” Her heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
“Can you trust in me and my feelings?” He traced her scar with his fingertip, needing her to be honest.
She held her face still, refusing to turn her cheek away. “Can you stop worrying about the people who might never forgive and forget, and concentrate on all the people who do care about and respect you?”
Because, as much as she had her issues to battle, he had work to do, too.
“Fair enough.” He tugged her up against his body and kissed her like he’d been missing her for a year. “I guess we’ve got our New Year’s resolutions.”
“I guess we do.” She kissed him again. “Can I assume you’ll come back to work now?”
“As long as Don isn’t pissed at me for turning him down and doesn’t care if you and I have a personal relationship.”
That promise made her whole body sigh. “Maybe we should go back in and join the party.”
He shook his head. “Actually, I have a better celebration in mind—one involving an empty hot tub.”
“Hot tub?” That invitation perked her up in a jiffy. “I’d do about anything to get out of this outfit.”
Epilogue
Ten Months Later
Andy held his nephew, William Andrew Lowell, against his chest while his sister and Grey were helping Trip and Kelsey finish loading their car with the loot they’d received at the baby shower Avery and Emma had held at Emma’s inn.
“You look pretty comfortable,” Emma remarked.
“He’s the best.” Andy raised Liam overhead and jiggled him playfully. “Aren’t you, buddy?”
“This little guy has Kelsey even more excited about being pregnant.” Emma reached up to tickle Liam’s belly before Andy lowered him back to his chest.
“I think Trip and Kelsey’s baby has no chance of being as mellow as my nephew. Liam has a blend of Grey’s genes and my side of the Randall family tree. We’re very chill. Kelsey and Trip, on the other hand . . .”
“You’re probably right.” Emma laughed.
“What about you?” Andy had been surprised she and Wyatt hadn’t yet made an announcement.
“Working on it.” She cast a glance toward Wyatt, who was helping Nikki find her jacket. “And you? Any plans on making Nikki a permanent part of your life?”
He avoided looking at Emma, choosing to bury his nose into the pudgy cheek being offered by his nephew. “Liam, isn’t Emma silly? She thinks I’m going to spill my secrets just because she’s always so sweet to me.”
“Okay, okay. It’s just that you two seem so happy lately.” Emma gave him that soft, friendly look he’d known for so long.
“We are,” he said just as Nikki arrived at his side.
“We are what?” she asked, grabbing the baby from his arms. Nik had never been a traditional woman, but each time Andy saw her with Liam, it made his heart melt a little more.
“Happy,” he said, slinging an arm around her shoulder, which earned him her wide smile.
Avery and Grey returned for their son, so Nikki reluctantly handed Liam off. Everyone kissed and hugged their good-byes, and then Andy and Nikki returned home to the small Victorian house just outside town that Kelsey had found for them four months ago.
Andy had been slowly renovating its only bathroom and small kitchen, as well as building a partially covered deck off the back. He had a special plan today but needed to send Nikki off for a while in order to set it all up. Thankfully, he’d enlisted Amy’s help.
“I wish I didn’t have to go shopping with Amy. I’d rather just hang out around here and relax,” Nikki said as she exchanged places with Andy behind the wheel.
He leaned through the open window and kissed her. “Just have some fun.”
“You know she’s going to torment me and make me try on dresses and heels.”
“Tell her I said hoodies only.” He gave her another quick kiss and waved her off.
Once she was gone, he got to work, pulling out the box of wind chimes they’d been storing during the renovation. He hung them all from the rafters of the covered deck, which turned each breeze into a kind of tympanic symphony. Then he brought out the dozen hurricane lanterns he’d borrowed from Emma’s inn. Next he stacked logs in the fire pit, chilled a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice on the deck, and triple-checked the ring in the little black box in his pocket.
He didn’t have much money, so the ring wasn’t traditional with a big center stone. He’d found a funky brushed-silver band topped by a dainty gold flower with a small diamond center he’d thought she’d like. It was uniquely pretty, just like Nik.
Once dusk settled, he lit the fire pit and waited. Amy knew to bring her back around five thirty. Almost like clockwork, Nikki came through the back door.
“Andy?” She stopped on the porch and smiled. “It sounds so pretty!”
She skipped right past all the flickering hurricane lanterns and the champagne without noticing them and hugged him. “God, that was a long afternoon of shopping. Looks like you were much more productive than I was.”
“I guess I was.” He led her back up to the porch and poured her some champagne.
Her priceless look of confusion made him grin.
“What are we celebrating?” She took a glass.
“You told me once that you collected all these wind chimes because you wanted to sit on a porch surrounded by trees and listen to them sing.” He grabbed her free hand. “But I think what you really wanted was a place to call home and someone to share it with. From the moment we met, we were friends. Now you’re my best friend, my lover, my everything. Nik, there isn’t anyone else I’d rather spend my life with, or have be a mother to my children one day, than you. If you love me as much as I love you, please be my wife.”
Those words had been as easy to say as breathing because, like oxygen, the sentiment and Nikki were essential. He pulled the ring box from his pocket and opened it. “What do you say?”
Tears streamed down her face. She swiped them away and let him put the ring on her finger. “I couldn’t be prouder to be your wife, Andy. I love you so much. Always have, always will.”
“Lucky me.” He kissed her, thankful that somehow his mistakes had led him right to where he should be.