He escorted me through the dining room, where there just happened to be two flutes of champagne waiting. He handed one to me, and we exited through the sunroom doors onto the deck.
“SURPRISE!”
I took a step back and clutched a hand to my heart as a large portion of the citizens of Knockemout cheered from the yard below.
“It’s not a surprise party, you guys,” I told them.
There was a ripple of laughter, and I wondered why they were all looking so happy, like they were anticipating something.
My parents stood off to the side of the deck with Liza and Waylay, all grinning at me.
“What’s going on?” I turned to Stef, but he was backing away and blowing me kisses.
“Naomi.”
I turned and found Knox standing behind me, his face so serious my stomach dropped.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, twisting around and looking to see if someone was hurt or missing. But all our people were here. Everyone we cared about was right here in this yard, smiling.
He had a box in his hand. A small, black velvet box.
Oh my God.
I peered over my shoulder at Waylay, worried I was ruining her party. The day was about her, not me. But she was holding my mom’s hand and bouncing on her toes, the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face.
“Naomi,” Knox said again.
I turned back to him and pressed my fingers to my mouth.
“Yes?” It came out as a muffled squeak.
“Told you I wanted a wedding.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice anymore.
“But I didn’t tell you why.”
He took a step forward, then another one until we were standing toe-to-toe.
I felt like I couldn’t quite catch my breath.
“I don’t deserve you,” he said, sending a glance over my shoulder. “But a smart man once told me that what matters most is that I spend the rest of my life trying to be the kind of man who deserves you. So that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna remember how fucking lucky I am, every single day. And I’m gonna do my best to be the best for you.
“Because you, Naomi Witt, are incredible. You’re beautiful. You’re sweet. You’ve got a fancy-ass vocabulary. You make people feel seen and heard. You make broken things whole again. Me. You made me whole. And every time you smile at me, I feel like I hit the lottery again.”
The tears were threatening to spill over, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. He opened the box, but I couldn’t see anything through the waterworks. Knowing Knox, the ring was over-the-top and somehow still exactly perfect.
“So I told you once. And now I’m gonna ask you. Marry me, Daze.”
I didn’t point out that he hadn’t exactly asked—it was more like he ordered. I was too busy nodding my head.
“Need you to say it, baby,” he coaxed.
“Yes.” I managed to get the word out and found myself against the very solid, very warm chest of my fiancé. Everyone I loved was cheering for us, and Knox was kissing me—in a very inappropriate way for having an audience.
He pulled back just an inch. “I love you so fucking much, Daisy.”
I gave a hitching sigh and tried not to start wailing. I managed a not very dignified nod.
“Now you can say it,” he prompted me, cupping my face in his hands, those gray-blue eyes telling me exactly what he needed to hear.
“I love you, Knox.”
“Damn right you do, baby.”
He held me tightly, then released one arm and opened it. Waylay appeared and slid under it, grinning up at me through tears of her own. I wrapped my free arm around her, binding the three of us together. Waylon wedged his head between us and barked.
“You did good, Knox,” Waylay said. “I’m proud of you.”
“You about ready for some cake?” he asked her.
“Don’t forget to make a wish, honey,” I told her.
She grinned up at me. “Don’t gotta. I already got everything I wanted.”
And just like that, the tears were back.
“Me too, honey. Me too.”
“Okay. New family rule. Neither of you is allowed to cry ever again,” Knox said, his voice hoarse.
He sounded pretty serious about it. That just made us cry harder.
Later that night, after the party was over, the guests had gone home, and Knox had gotten me naked again, we lay in the dark in our room. His fingers traced lazy lines up and down my back as I cuddled against his chest.
Down the hall, half a dozen girls giggled in Waylay’s room.
Liza had wasted no time making good on her promise. She’d packed a suitcase and the dog dishes and was spending her first night in the cottage.