Backlit by the sunset, Draven dropped to one knee as he held the ring up between his fingers. “Addison Rooney, you are the best woman I have ever met. You are beautiful, kind, caring, intelligent, and driven to help others. Will you marry me and let me love you for the rest of our lives as you use your kindness, intelligence, and love to rule Bermalia by my side as our queen?”
“Oh my stars,” Addison gasped and Draven didn’t know if that was good or bad.
He looked up nervously at Addison who was smiling down at him, her hands clasped together over her heart. “Draven, I love you. King or not, it’s that simple. I have no idea what to do or how to be a queen, but I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Draven held his breath as Addison told him in his own language that she would marry him. “You’ve learned Bermalian?”
“I’ve been studying it since you dropped me off after our first date. Cassidy has been helping me. I knew then you were the one for me.”
Draven slipped the ring on Addison’s finger and noticed that his fingers weren’t the only ones shaking. She cupped his cheeks with her hands and then kissed him. Everything in this moment was perfection. The woman he loved was going to marry him.
6
Stella loaded the feed for the ducks that had begun to visit her and April at the pond into the back of her pickup truck. She looked down Main Street, and as the sun dipped lower in the sky, Stella decided to walk to find the café. She hadn’t really spent much time in downtown Keeneston yet. She’d been living at the garden center getting it ready or at her house in Lexington.
Stella walked down the street and stopped to look into the window of a cute hat shop. The display was filled with hats just waiting to be worn to the Kentucky Derby.
Stella looked down the side of the street and saw the bank. She decided to cross the street to check out some of the shops there. She saw the Rooney Law Office and felt good knowing that she was starting to make friends in town. She browsed the window front of an antique store and then stopped as she found herself looking into the lobby of Jace’s doctor’s office.
She checked her phone and saw that it was almost six. As if it were a sign from above, Jace walked into the front with a teenager. He said goodbye and held out the patient file to the woman at the front desk. At that moment he looked up and their eyes met.
Stella felt as if she’d been caught spying. She gave him a wobbly, embarrassed tilt of her lips and he motioned for her to come inside. The door opened and the teenage boy held it open for his mom and then waited for Stella to go inside.
“Thank you,” she told the boy as she walked slowly inside.
“Stella, I’m so glad you stopped by. Now we can walk down together. That was my last patient for the day,” Jace told her as he slipped off his white coat.
The woman with a sloppy bun sitting behind the front desk looked between the two of them with interest. “And where are you two walking to?”
“Oh, Sarah.” Jace almost seemed to have forgotten she was there and that made Stella feel better than she’d like to admit. “Sarah, this is Stella Winters. Stella, this is Sarah Pearson. She’s the best office manager a doctor could have.”
“How do you know our doctor here?” Sarah asked. She was polite, but clearly curious.
“Know who?” A petite young woman asked as she walked into the front. She was wearing light pink scrubs and tennis shoes, and her dark brown hair gleamed in the setting sun coming through the window.
“This is Stella Winters. She and Doc are going somewhere together. I just asked where they were off to,” Sarah said, filling in the nurse, who looked surprised.
“Stella, this is my nurse, Molly Lowe. Stella owns the new garden center and she’s also April Winters’s aunt,” Jace told them as he hung up his coat. “We are going to dinner at the café.”
“I’m eating there tonight, too,” Molly said as if she were a perky cheerleader. “I was going to see if y’all wanted to join me, but now I know you’re busy.”
“I’ll join you,” Sarah told her as she shut off her computer and stood up. “We can all walk down together. Your niece is adorable.”
They talked about April and all the work Stella had done to the Keeneston property as they walked to the café. Stella found herself easily falling into conversation with Sarah and Molly.
Today had been stressful. She’d met almost everyone from town and everyone had been so nice. She had a refrigerator full of casseroles, and desserts lined every counter in her kitchen. Stella had ignored all the texts from Rick asking about today. As she cast a glance at Jace walking beside her, she decided to block Rick’s number. It was past time for her to move on.
Jace watched as Stella talked to Molly and Sarah. He was thankful they were being so welcoming. His mother had even texted to say how much she liked Stella. Well, to be fair, she’d like anyone who was breathing at this point. But it hadn’t been just his mom who weighed in on the subject, all of his friends and family had called.
Piper, his oldest sister, hadn’t even known about the potential date when she texted to ask if Jace had met Stella yet. When Jace had said yes, Piper had instantly written back that he should ask her out. There’s something about her that makes her good for you, Piper had texted. Jace agreed. Stella Winters was a good person who loved her family and her job. Then there was the fact that she was beautiful, and suddenly Jace felt like all he wanted to do was to make her smile.
They walked into the café and everyone stopped to stare at the newcomer. Jace admitted to doing this once or twice . . . or twenty times before. Only this time was different. Stella was here with him and he wanted her to feel comfortable and welcoming.
“Hey, Stella!” a table full of diners called out.
What? People weren’t staring or ignoring her. They also weren’t interrogating her.
“Hi, Stella!” another group said as they waved at her.
They were all waving to her and chatting as if she’d been a part of their town for years. The firefighters were teasing her, and much to Jace’s irritation, flirting with her.
“What’s going on?” Molly asked with something that sounded like annoyance in her voice. “I was given the side eye for months when I started working in Keeneston.”
“I don’t know,” Jace admitted but he smiled as Stella fell into easy conversation with a table of his aunts and uncles. “Poppy, why isn’t everyone giving Stella the third degree?”
“We all met her at the garden center opening. She’s such a dear. You better lock that down because the men are going nuts over her,” Poppy warned.
Molly and Jace saw Pam Gilbert’s two grown sons joining Stella as they stood around the firefighters’ table. “I’m trying. We were supposed to be here for a date.”
“I’ll get a table for two ready for you then.” Poppy gave him a wink and set down two menus at the table in the back. Now Jace needed to get Stella away from the firefighters.
“New blood. Nice.”
Jace turned to see sheriff’s deputies Cody and Andy grinning like fools next to him.
“Where’s my little sugar baby?” Aniyah’s voice boomed as she and her husband, State Trooper DeAndre Drews, walked into the café.