Page 82 of Hooked on You

He shook his head, giving her a smile she knew was only for her. “Tenth grade.”

Riley laughed. “Yeah, right.”

His brow went up as he took her hand. “Are you mocking fifteen-year-old me?”

She paused, her mouth partly open as she searched for the teasing glint she expected to see in his eyes. “You’re not kidding.”

Hayden squeezed her hand. “No, I’m not. Fifteen-year-old me wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box, though. If I had been, I would have asked you out back then. But the feelings were there.”

His honesty touched her. “They were there for me too. I think we had to go through everything we went through, both good and bad, to get to this point.”

He put his arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against him. “See, I was thinking about how many years I wasted being apart from you, but your explanation is better.” He pressed his lips against her hair. “By the way, I love you too.”

A thought popped into her head, and she didn’t think twice about it. “Now that we have that settled, let’s get married,” she said, surprising herself with the proposal, but she didn’t regret saying it.

“Wait, what?” His arm dropped from her shoulders and he faced her, his handsome face filled with shock.

“Married. Your house is almost done. The store is open, the hardware store is doing well. The chamber of commerce is willing to look at your revitalization ideas. Mimi is back to her usual self.”

“That all sounds so logical,” he said flatly.

“It does? Well, I can change that.” She grinned and put her arms around him, kissing him soundly. From inside the store she could hear the Bosom Buddies applauding and a few shrill whistles from Anita, who had killer whistling skills. Riley laughed as she pulled away from him, still smiling.

“Wow, you’re serious, aren’t you?” he said, looking bewildered. “You want to get married.”

“Yes. I do.” Then she paused, doubt filling her. She was springing the idea on him right before she would have to spend the day dealing with what she hoped would be a barrage of customers. That wasn’t exactly fair. “If you want to wait, though, that’s fine too—”

He helped her to her feet, threw open the door, and gently pulled her inside Knots and Tangles.

“Guess what?” he said to the nosy women who were crowded together only a few feet from the windows. “We’re getting married!”

Erma gasped, her gaze darting from him to Riley. “What?”

Hayden turned to Riley. “We should make it official.”

She leaned toward him, lowering her voice. “I thought it was, since I proposed to you already.”

“I can’t help that I’m old-fashioned.” He dropped to one knee. “Riley, will you—”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Harper strolled over to them, wearing a casual outfit of kitten heels, white slim pants, and a purple checkered blouse. “You can’t propose without a ring.”

“Yes, hecan,” Riley pointed out.

“Harper’s right.” Anita appeared next to her, the bangs from her pixie cut touching her brown eyebrows. “Where’s the ring?”

Hayden, still kneeling, said, “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

Olivia crossed her arms and peered down at him. “So, you’re doing this backward? What kind of proposal is that?”

“Help,” he squeaked, raising his desperate gaze to Riley.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Erma grabbed a skein of Riley’s brand of hot-pink yarn, then walked back to the counter. A few minutes later, she handed a strand of it to Hayden. “Use this.”

He took the yarn from her and tied it on Riley’s left ring finger. “Will you marry me, Riley?”

“Yes.” She leaned down and took his face in her hands, kissing him until he nearly fell over as applause filled the store.

“It’s about time!” Bea said.

“Oh, we have a wedding to plan!” Viola clapped.

“This is so exciting!” Peg bounced on her tiptoes.

The women gathered together, all abuzz, the grand reopening of the shop forgotten. Riley met her grandmother’s gaze. Mimi nodded and smiled, then joined her Bosom Buddies and the younger women. The two generations hugged each other.

Hayden slipped his arms around Riley’s waist. “There’s no backing out now,” he said. “If we did, we’d have the BBs and Musketeers after us.”

Riley leaned against him, her heart filled with love as she visually embraced the women who had all become surrogate mothers to her and sisters to Mimi. They, along with Riley’s new girlfriends, were the family she had always longed for.

She glanced at the bow on her finger, then turned to Hayden and matched his smile with one of her own. Soon he would be the husband she’d always dreamed, but never dared hope, she’d have.Happy endings are true after all.