She was smiling now, the mist plastered her hair to her face. “Turn something negative into a positive.”
He ran his fingers into her wet hair. “Tell me yes.”
“You didn’t ask me anything yet.” Her smile was radiant.
“Tell me you’ll say yes when I ask.” Because he’d be damned if he was going to propose to this woman standing in six inches of mud.
She lifted on her tiptoes, put her lips next to his. “Yes, Colin. I will say yes.”
He picked her up again and spun her around.
EPILOGUE
A breeze blew the wind chimes into a soft, welcoming song.
Colin handed Jase the last box from the pile of Mallory’s personal possessions.
Parker tilted her face to the sun and sky and wondered if her parents were watching.
It had been nearly a month since the last rain, and Colin’s crew was cleaning up what they all felt was the last of the muck for at least another year.
Parker had called the insurance company back and was waiting on checks before they started digging the new path for an entirely new water main. The fire hose setup Matt had helped put together was better than a garden hose, but still not the real thing.
In the end, it was all stuff. Stuff that broke . . . stuff that needed to be fixed. And mud to be shoveled and taken away.
Colin placed an arm around Parker’s shoulders and held her.
“That’s the last of it,” Mallory told them as she walked out of the house to join them.
Parker felt her eyes swell with tears and did everything she could to hold them back.
“Don’t go doing that,” Mallory chided.
“I’m not crying.” Parker held her arms open for her sister to hold her.
Out from the garage, Austin walked holding a paint roller. “Last chance, Mallory.”
Mallory broke free of Parker’s arms and moved to her brother. “You dork. Give me a hug.”
Colin once again held Parker, kissed the top of her head. His support was everything she needed to get through each day. Although he hadn’t yet asked her the question that she’d already promised to say yes to, they both knew it was coming, and that somehow made everything about them complete.
“It isn’t like she’s moving out of state,” Jase told them.
Parker raised a finger in the air. “Don’t you dare!”
Mallory broke free of Austin and stood in front of Colin. “Keep her from going crazy, will ya?”
“I’ll try.”
They hugged.
“Remember, dinner on Sunday,” Parker called out when her sister jumped in the car.
“I haven’t even left yet.”
Jase got in his car. “I’ll meet you at home,” he told Mallory.
Her sister was all smiles as he drove off.
It was nice to see her so happy.
She turned over the engine and hung out the window. “I left you something in the living room.”
“What is it?”
Mallory didn’t answer, she just blew her a kiss and then drove away.
“If you need me, I’ll be de-chick-a-fying my new bedroom,” Austin exclaimed as he strutted back into the garage. Scout barked and followed Austin inside.
“One down, one to go,” Colin teased.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Austin is turning Mallory’s bedroom into the man cave.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time.”
They started back in the house. “I talked with Ed this morning.”
“How did that go?”
“Like I thought it would. It’s a conflict of interest for me to be the point man on this project if I’m living here.” Colin hadn’t completely moved in. But he stayed over more days than he spent in his own home.
“He took you off the job.” It wasn’t a question.
“No. He kept me on the job.”
Parker narrowed her eyes. “I’m confused.”
“I think he wants me to screw up so he has an excuse to demote me. I had a conversation with Fabio, and he’s up for double-checking any and everything.”
“You think that will keep you out of trouble?”
Colin opened the door for her and stepped inside the house.
“It can’t hurt.”
A large, brightly wrapped box sat against the wall in the family room. Mallory must have put it there after they’d all walked outside to say goodbye.
“What did she do?”
“No clue.”
Parker picked up the box and brought it to the sofa. A folded card next to the bow had a message.
Time for a new chapter.
Parker unwrapped the gift to find a box. She ripped off the tape holding it together and reached inside.
Her fingers fell on a frame, and before she could even get the picture free, she knew what it was going to be.
Parker, Mallory, Austin, and Scout stood huddled together. The picture hadn’t been staged, no one in their right mind could think otherwise. It had been taken the day after the fire. They’d been dirty, hair sticking up, clothes a mess. But they were all smiling. So happy that they had a home to get back to.
It was perfect.
The tears she’d held back from saying goodbye to her sister were flowing now as Parker looked up at the image of her parents looking down over the fireplace.
Colin walked up behind the couch and leaned over, wrapped his arms over her shoulders and looked at the picture with her. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah.” She sniffled. “It is.”
He kissed her cheek.
“Would you mind putting it up?” she asked.
Colin glanced up at her parents. “You sure?”
“Yeah. It’s time to move on.”
And when Colin had removed the old family photo and placed the new one, they both looked at it and smiled.
“Next year I see you up there in a white dress and me in a tux.” He held her close as he spoke.
“I need a ring first,” she said, chuckling.
“Patience, Miss Oakley . . . patience.”