Stella’s eyes had bugged predictably when she met Lucas, who’d laughed at the reaction he and Landon had gotten their entire lives.
They got to meet baby Chase, and Stella had adored meeting Savannah, Caden and Callie, too.
Simone had welcomed Stella to Butler and promised to introduce her to all her friends so Stella would know lots of people before they started school again in the fall.
When Dude and Skeeter came by to welcome Amanda and Stella home, Dude brought another surprise Landon had arranged in advance—a yellow Lab puppy that Dude handed to Stella.
“She’s mine?” Stella asked, her eyes big with wonder.
“All yours,” Dude said, “but only if you’re willing to be responsible for taking care of her.”
Stella hugged the puppy to her chest. “I am! I’ll take such good care of her.”
“I heard you were a very responsible young lady who would provide a good home for her.”
“I already love her so much. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” To Landon and Amanda, Dude said, “I brought a crate and all the stuff you’ll need to get started.”
Amanda startled the older woman by hugging her. “Thank you so much, Dude. I can’t tell you what this means to us.”
Dude patted Amanda’s back awkwardly. “I’m happy to see her go to a loving home.”
They managed to have a combination Sunday dinner, housewarming and memorial for Kelly all in one afternoon. The official memorial for Kelly would be held later in the summer in the Iowa town where she’d attended college.
When everyone had left and Stella and the still-unnamed puppy had gone upstairs to bed, Amanda sat with Landon on the porch swing, holding hands and listening to the crickets as they swayed gently back and forth. “This was one of the best days of my life, and it was all thanks to you.”
“It was one of the best days of my life, too, and it was all because you and Stella came home. It’s so good to finally have you guys here.”
“I’ll never, ever, ever have the words to tell you how much it means to me that you created this home for us.”
“I loved every minute of it. I’m just glad you like it.”
“I love it.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “After the fire, when I took stock of everything, I thought I needed to take really big risks to feel fully alive. But running around isn’t risky. The biggest risk I never took was committing to someone else. Falling in love with you, making a home with you and Stella, that’s the greatest risk.”
“How so?”
“If something goes wrong, I can’t just up and move.”
“Nothing will go wrong.”
“Of course there’s no way to know that, but if it does, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Me neither. See? It’s rather risk-free. I love you. You love me. It’s all good.”
“It’s so good, and being here in Butler, getting to know your family and spending time with people like Mildred and Elmer, it’s shown me that everything I could ever want and need is right here.”
“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. And the puppy? That was okay?”
“That was awesome. Did you see Stella’s face when Dude said the puppy was for her?”
“I did. I loved how happy it made her.”
“So now we have a child and a puppy.”
“Gramps always says, ‘Go big or go home.’”
She smiled at him. “I’m so glad to go big with you in our new home.”
“Right back atcha.”
“You know what would make this perfect day even more so?”
“What’s that?”
“Sleeping with you in our new bed.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when he’d scooped her up to carry her inside.
“Get the door.”
Laughing, Amanda pulled open the screen door, and he kicked the inside door closed behind them. She thought he’d put her down, but he carried her straight upstairs and put her down only when they were standing next to the bed.
“I have one more surprise for you.”
“How can there be more?”
“It’s under your pillow.”
She reached under the pillow and found a velvet box. Gasping, she turned to find him down on one knee. “Landon!”
“Remember the day we went to Montpelier so I could pick up Dani’s ring while you shopped for a dress?”
Nodding, she blinked back tears as she gazed down at him.
“I got one for you, too.”
“That was weeks ago!”
“I already knew then that there’d never be anyone else but you for me. Will you marry me? Will you let me adopt Stella? Will you have more babies with me and make this our home?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “One million percent yes.”
He stood, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “Check out the ring. Like everything else, it can be changed if you’d rather have something different.”
Her hands trembled as she opened the velvet box to find a simple, perfect solitaire diamond in a platinum setting. “I love it.”
“Are you sure?”
“One billion percent.”
He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her again. “Welcome home, Amanda.”
Epilogue
“And then there was one,” Linc said to Elmer over coffee two mornings after Landon and Amanda got engaged. With nine of his children settled into happily ever after with partners he would’ve hand-chosen for them, Linc was feeling rather pleased with himself.
“We’ve done some good work,” Elmer said.
“Yes, we have.” He and Elmer believed they were the reason all the kids had found their perfect mates, and they weren’t going to let anyone tell them otherwise. “I adore Amanda, and she’s absolutely perfect for Landon.”
“I agree. But I have to be honest, he and Lucas definitely surprised me.”
“They surprised everyone, but I think they were ready to settle down.”
“Call me crazy,” Elmer said, “but I could’ve sworn there were some sparks flying between our Max and Cabot’s niece Caroline.”
“Indeed there were.” Linc leaned in so he wouldn’t be overheard. “Rumor has it they spent the night of the wedding together.” Linc knew Elmer wouldn’t be shocked by that news. Having eighteen grandchildren had taught him to go with the flow.
“Is that right? Well, good for him to be getting back in the game. I’ve worried about him.”
“Molly and I have, too. He’s a wonderful father to Caden, but he hasn’t been the same since Chloe made him a single parent.”
“How could he be? That’s an awful lot of responsibility, no matter how old you are. What do you think of him with Caroline?”
“She seems like a lovely girl, but there’s some significant geography between them.”
“True. It’s not insurmountable, but it’s a challenge, for sure.” Elmer stirred cream into the cup of fresh coffee Megan had poured for him. “On another note, did you notice that after she finished taking pictures at the wedding, Izzy danced the night away with Cabot?”