Page 94 of You Met Me There

Ty bumps my shoulder with his. “Did you get all that, sis?”

I beam at him. “I got all of it. Even the part when you fumbled with the ring and almost dropped it in the lake.” I wink at him.

“Yeah, that would have been a bummer, huh?” He runs a hand through his hair. “Thanks for taking the photos. I know Sandra will want to have them.”

“Of course. I’m happy I got to be here for this.” I hug him.

“You were right,” he says. “About just going for it. Making it official. Thanks for the talk.”

I just smile at him, feeling like the proudest sister in the world.

Sandra walks up and wraps her arms around my shoulders.

I hug her back—my new sister. “Congratulations,” I sing. “Did you know this was going to happen today? You look amazing.” I gesture to her dress as she steps back, linking her arm with Ty’s.

“No. I had no idea. I’m just glad I packed something more than athletic shorts and flip-flops.” She looks up at him with the happiest smile.

“Babe, you’d look amazing in anything,” Ty says. She swats at his chest, and he tips down to kiss her, pulling her chin toward him with a gentle hand.

“I’ll just be …” I thumb my hand toward the house, but they don’t bother looking up, lost in their kiss. I can’t blame them.

I leave them to their private moment, stepping across the grassy yard while tapping through the photos I captured on my camera.

Luke appears, brushing his hand against the lower part of my back once more. I secretly can’t get enough of all the ways he keeps touching me.

My eyes lift to him. “So you knew this was going to happen today?”

He shrugs. “Ty said he had a surprise for Sandra and wanted us to be here, but I didn’t know what it was. I had a hunch, though.”

“You know,” I say, lowering my voice. “This basically happened because of me,” I joke. “I’m the mastermind behind getting him to propose.”

“How so? They’ve been dating for, like, seven years, Nat. Getting hitched was bound to happen at some point.”

I shove him with my arm. “Yeah, but I talked to him at the fair about why he hadn’t popped the question yet. We had a little heart-to-heart.”

“Little sister advice. I like it. What was his reason for waiting so long?”

“He was scared.”

He screws up his face. “Tyler? Scared? That guy doesn’t seem scared of anything.”

“It seems that way because he’s so outgoing and funny. But he said he was nervous about the stuff that comes after the proposal. He wasn’t scared of marriage or the wedding itself, really, just the planning and how stressful all that might get.”

“But the bride does most of the planning,” he says. “What’s there for the groom to be scared of?”

I scoff. “That may be true—although it shouldn’t be. Brides need all the help they can get, especially from their groom.” I give him a pointed look, and his footsteps slow as we reach the wooden steps to the porch above. I stop to look up at him.

“Tyler said he was nervous about how planning the wedding and waiting for the actual wedding day might turn Sandra into a bridezilla. He didn’t want to see her change.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t happen to everyone. It’s only a few brides who actually act like that, right? It’s more of a reality TV hoax thing. They do it for the show.”

I look across the yard to where Mom and Dad have started kicking a soccer ball with the boys. Bright smiles reach across each of their faces, and Jules and Cam stand by the lake talking with Ty and Sandra.

“Sometimes,” I say. “But sometimes the reaction to big changes and the stress of it all is real.” I pause, forming my next words carefully. “I can’t help comparing his reasoning with the way you see the potential of losing a baby. He was scared of the in-between, just like you. But he took a leap of faith, trusting it will all turn out the right way. Not every bride turns into a bridezilla, and not every pregnancy ends badly.”

I reach out and rest my palm, featherlight, against his cheek. He hasn’t shaved in a few days, and the scruff prickles at my skin. He’s quiet, watching me. Taking me in.

“I just want you to know, I’m not afraid of the in-between,” I say. “I’d be with you through whatever happens. If we have a healthy, perfect baby, we’d be the happiest people on Earth. And if we get the chance to raise a child who maybe needs a little more help and love than others, we’d be equally as blessed. I don’t know what will happen if we try, but I also know I won’t let myself change. I know you don’t want to imagine losing a baby, but if it happens, I’ll be okay. I have you, and you have me. We’re a team. I’m not saying we have to have kids anymore—I’m not giving you an ultimatum. I’m simply saying everything good usually comes after a leap of faith.”