What was it with people and showing her notebooks today?
“My doctor told me when I was feeling anxious to write down what was in my head. So, I did.” He set them in front of Audrey.
“Do you want me to…?”
He nodded.
She opened it up to a random page.
Ladybug
You flit into my life
Landing on my heart
So beautiful
So delicate
Like a sunshine ray
I don’t breathe
I don’t speak
I don’t move
For fear that you’ll fly away
She turned another page.
Blink
My eyelids shut and I curse them
For those seconds they stole
The time they took from me
Not able to gaze upon your beauty
Your face
Your lips
Your smile
There is nothing more perfect
More sacred
More captivating
Just you
She flipped through several more pages reading more entries. Gravity. Shadow. Angel. Mine. Each one heartbreakingly beautiful.
“They’re all about you. Every single one.”
She lifted her eyes to his and felt tears starting to well. “They are?”
“Yeah. I know that you say I saved you the day we met, but the truth is you saved me the day you came back. I was in a really dark place and you were like a breath of fresh air. You let me breathe again. You gave me hope. And I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it and, as Nonna likes to say, get my head out of my butt. I love you, Audrey. I always have and I always will.”
“I love you, too.” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his mouth.
He cupped her cheek with his hand and when their kiss broke, he rested his forehead on hers. “I know it’s bad form to ask someone to marry them at another person’s wedding. So I am not doing that. But, I am telling you that I have Nonna’s ring in my back pocket and the second you’ll let me put it on your finger, it’s yours.”
“Okay,” she smiled from ear to ear.
“Is that a yes?” he asked with intensity in his deep brown stare.
“Yes.”
The back of her chair was bumped, bursting the bubble of two that she had been floating in. She turned and saw one of the servers going out the makeshift door of the tent with one of the platters. Before the curtain fell back into place she noticed something and stood up.
She pushed the curtain out of her way and walked outside. Josh followed behind her.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“This is it.” She pointed to the large boulder in the center of the grass area beside the tent.
“What is it?”
“This is where I was standing when we met.” Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at him.
Josh looked around and recognition dawned on his face. “You’re right. This is it.”
He took the ring out of his pocket and got down on one knee.
“I thought you said that this is bad form.” She sniffed back tears she was holding in.
“It is. I don’t care. Audrey Faith Wells, I love you. I want to marry you and have slow dance Sundays, and cheat during quick draw, and take AcroYoga classes with you, and adopt all the rescues in the world. Will you marry me?”
She nodded as tears fell down her face. “Yes.”
He slid the simple, solitaire, oval diamond on her finger and stood up pulling her into a hug. He kissed her forehead and she looked up at him at the exact time that fireworks exploded behind his head. She’d totally forgotten that the Valentine’s Day Festival had fireworks.
A sense of déjà vu overcame her. He was looking down at her. She was crying. Fireworks were going off behind his head. But this time instead of sunglasses he put a ring on her finger.
She finally got her Hope Falls Effect. And it was perfect.
THE END
Flirting with Fate
Available for Preorder
Don't miss the final installment in the Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings series featuring reader-favorite (and Jessica Rabbit look-alike) Vivien Wells who is the only Wells sister still standing from the Hope Falls Effect coming 3/10!
Author's Note: Flirting with Fate is a single dad, next-door neighbor, road trip, small-town romance.
A NOTE FROM MELANIE AND SHAWNA
Hello! *waves wildly* We hope you enjoyed this visit to Hope Falls! Audrey and Josh were a lot of fun (also frustrating, I’m looking at YOU Josh) to write. We tried to get back to basics with this one and give you (our readers) a character driven love story filled with quirky, well-meaning side characters in a town that we both wish was real. We hope you enjoyed the ride!
If you haven’t picked up Ava Wells’ story Falling in Fate, or Grace Wells’ story Trusting Fate make sure you do! They both have very swoony heroes, if I do say so myself. ;) And next up is Viv’s story Flirting with Fate. Fun fact: Viv is our most requested side character ever. She’s shown up in many a previous Hope Falls story and we get A TON of requests for her to have her own book each time she’s made a cameo. Well, the wait is almost over!
Her book will be the final Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings book and will be completing this series, but do not fret, that does not mean we won’t be visiting Hope Falls again. *she says being intentionally vague*
Now down to business, Melanie and I love connecting with our readers and there’s a few ways that we do it.
Our Facebook page, our reader group: Club HEA with Melanie Shawn and our Instagram. (we’re not cool enough for TikTok or Snapchat, lol)
Oh, and if you want to check out Audrey & Josh’s playlist it is below.
Say You Won’t Let Go — James Arthur
Butterflies — Max (ft. Fletcher)
Like I’m Gonna Lose You — Meghan Trainor
If the World Was Ending — JP Saxe & Julia Michaels
All of Me — John Legend
Thinking Out Loud — Ed Sheeran
Amazed — Lonestar
A Thousand Years — Christina Perri
Your Body is a Wonderland — John Mayor
One Call Away — Charlie Puth
Bleeding Love — Leona Lewis
Just the Way You Are — Bruno Mars
Perfect — Ed Sheeran
If you want to keep up with new releases, sales, and general book and life shenanigans make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
And as always we wish you love, laughter, and happily ever after! XO
Shawna & Melanie
ALSO BY MELANIE SHAWN
The Hope Falls Series
The Crossroads Series
The Crossroads Bodyguards
The Crossroads Bachelorettes
The Southern Comfort Series
The Steamy Weekends Series
The Wishing Well Texas Series