Page 111 of All For You

Darcy was perched at the top. “I’ll help.”

“No, don’t wait for me. Go! Save the ring! If it falls off, we’ll never find it!”

With a determined nod, he jumped off the fence and took off after the dogs.

Praying no one was behind me, I hiked up my dress around my hips so I could climb over the fence. There was a full moon out tonight. Once at the top, I went to jump, but my foot caught the dress slightly, and I flew into the air.

I landed splayed all over the place but, thank God, not on anyone. Scrambling to an undignified all fours, I got to my feet and tucked my dress into my knickers so I could give chase. Then Oodles and Max tore off around the field.

I tried to run in front of Oodles, but he knocked me over, and I tumbled back—on top of Darcy.

“Holy shit,” he cried out from where he was under me. “Are you okay?”

I took a mental inventory of all my limbs. “Yes. You?”

Before he could reply, Oodles looped back and licked my face. Darcy quickly reached out and grabbed his collar. Thank God.

“Gotcha, you little ring-stealer,” Darcy said through gritted teeth.

“Well done, you.”

I held on to a squirming, squealing Oodles, while Darcy untied the satin pouch from around Oodles’s neck. With a wary eye on the dogs, Darcy took out a gold box from the little bag. He opened it and pulled out the ring to show me.

“Oh, Darcy, it’s beautiful,” I said, sprawled beside him.

An emerald—my favorite—surrounded by diamonds.

“Not as beautiful as you. It reminded me of your eyes and the forest in the sun when we walk together.”

The dogs bounced away, uninterested now that we weren’t after them. I could vaguely hear voices and bleating in the background as the Balfours tried to herd the animals into the next paddock.

“Are you okay?” Knightley called from the other side of the fence.

“We’re okay. We got the ring.” And I found the man of my dreams—someone I’d thought only existed in my books. I looked at Darcy’s eyes crinkling with happiness as he held that stunning and meaningful ring. My heart was full. Nothing else mattered now.

“Do you want a hand?” Knightley asked.

“We’re all good,” I called back.

“I’ll get the dogs, then,” Knightley said.

“Okay, we’ll be inside in a minute,” I called, unable to tear my eyes away from my man. The love of my life. The keeper of my heart.

Darcy looked at me like nothing else existed. “Quickly, let’s put this on your finger before another animal gets it in their head that it’s food or something.”

He held my hand, ready to slip it on, his hair falling over his forehead, but then he paused, seeming a little disconcerted. “You haven’t said yes yet.”

Oh, right. That small technicality. Unable to control my joy, I whispered, “Yes, yes, yes.”

Darcy

Islipped the ring on her finger.

Relieved, I laughed—she’d said yes,andwe’d retrieved the ring. Lizzy laughed too. The night had turned out to be a total shitshow, after I’d spent months organizing the dance, swearing everyone to secrecy. But none of this turmoil mattered, because Lizzy had been able to laugh about it all.

“Oh, Darcy, what a wonderful party,” she said, wiping her eyes.

“Yes, itwasgoing to be a wonderful party.”