“I can’t believe the day is finally here,” Pippa says from the passenger side of our SUV. She presses her forehead to the window, trying to get an early glimpse of the event.
“You’ve not so patiently been waiting for it,” I tease, flicking the blinker on to turn into the parking lot. It’s already full, even though the event doesn’t start for another hour. I search the lot, finally finding a spot that happens to be right next to a Jennings Ranch truck.
Good. Mare told me she’d make sure she and Cade and Jasper would be here early. I’ve been working on this surprise for Pippa for months, and now that the day is finally here, I’m incredibly nervous.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” she mutters, looking at the space in the distance.
“It’s about to become a lot more real,” I tell her, putting the car in park. My hand reaches into the pocket of my suit, making sure the little box tucked into the inside pocket is still there.
“Wait,” Pippa says when I open the passenger door. She twists in the seat, looking at me with anxious eyes. “Before we go in there, I just want to say thank you again for this. I know I’m about to be a sobbing mess, and before I see the completed project, I need you to know how much this means to not only me but my family and, quite honestly, the rest of Sutten.”
I push her legs open, letting my fingers trail up the skirt of her sundress. There are little blue flowers all over it. I itch to push it up and get a better view of her tan thighs. We’re in the middle of summer, nearing a year since I first opened the gallery in Sutten, and I’ve gotten attached to the golden glow of her skin from spending so much time outside.
When I feel like she’s close enough, I grab her by the hips and pull her just a little closer to me because I can.
She speaks up before I respond to her. “I know there’s so much we could’ve done with the money, but it means the world to me you decided to do this.”
We argued a lot about the money Pippa and the rest of the town raised from their fundraiser. All of the owners on the block wanted me to keep the money in an effort to repay me for buying it. I wouldn’t hear it. The moment I could, I put all of the properties in their respective names. I wasn’t lying when I said it was never my intention to rent it out to them. I’ve gotten to know every single one of them in the months since I permanently moved to Sutten. They’re all incredibly hardworking and deserve to own the space they’ve dedicated their lives to.
It didn’t sit well with any of them—including Pippa. After enough fights about it, we decided to put the money toward something for the town.
It was my idea to create a space for the community to gather. And thus, the Linda Jennings Community Center was formed. It’s been a labor of love to create and bring to fruition, but its opening today has been something we’ve been looking forward to.
In more ways than one.
“You scare me when you’re quiet,” Pippa teases, fiddling with my tie. “You’re not second-guessing this, are you?”
I scoff, my hands trailing up her bare skin underneath her dress. I grab at her ass, rocking her hips back and forth. “I should punish you for even thinking that,” I hiss. “This is one of the most special things I’ve ever been a part of. I’m excited to see it all come together. My only regret is that I never got to meet the woman it’s honoring.”
She smiles.
I nip at her neck, wondering if we could spare five minutes to climb into the back seat of the SUV so I could make good on my threats. We don’t have the time, and I’m anxious with the way her hands travel over my body that she’s about to brush along the box hidden away in my jacket.
“She would’ve loved you, Camden,” Pippa mutters as I take a step away. I hold my hand out, assisting her out of her seat.
“I hope,” I answer honestly. I’ll forever wish I could’ve met the woman who made Pippa who she is. I’ve heard countless stories about Linda from not only Pippa but Jasper, Cade, and Mare and the rest of the town. I know she would’ve been a person I loved immediately. I just hope this community center ends up being a positive reminder to the community of the incredible human Linda Jennings seemed to be.
Pippa and I walk hand in hand toward the building. It isn’t massive, but the indoor space is large enough to have four basketball courts, a gymnasium, and five large rooms that’ll host weekly classes for the community. One of them being sculpture, taught by myself now that I have a lot more time on my hands. The gallery pretty much runs itself in Manhattan. And I help fill spots with the art at the now expanded Wake and Bake, but I mostly have time to create my own art.
We reach a fork in the sidewalk. One path leads to the front doors of the community center, while the other leads to the outdoor space of the center. I tug on Pippa’s hand, leading her to the back of the building, where a surprise waits for us.
“Why are we going this way?” she asks, letting me lead the way.
My heart begins to hammer in my chest as I realize she’s about to see what I’ve spent hours and hours on the last few months. It’s been the hardest secret of my life to keep from her, and I just hope she loves it when she sees it.
We walk to the community garden. There are rows of garden boxes for anyone to use to harvest. And behind that is a space full of beautiful flowers, with rocking chairs pointed to the mountain view. Pippa and her family were always talking about how much Linda loved to sit in a rocking chair and look at the mountains at night. We wanted to bring her love for that here, creating a space where anyone could gather and spend time together.
Pippa aims a hesitant glance my way when we round the corner, the crowd of people waiting outside coming into view.
“What is this?” Pippa asks, her eyes traveling over everyone smiling at us. I make eye contact with the people who have welcomed me with open arms in the last year. I never thought I’d be someone to form attachments with so many people, but as I look at them as we make our way to the end of the path, I think about how much happier my life is now that I have all of them in it.
“Keep walking,” I tell her, my eyes landing at the end, where Jasper, Cade, and Mare all stand in front of a large piece of cardboard as tall as Cade.
“What’s going on?” she presses, her hand tightening around mine. If she can feel my hands begin to shake, she doesn’t say anything.
“There’s one more surprise,” I say, stopping in front of her family and the piece of cardboard. I pull her back to my front, wrapping my arms around her middle. Leaning down, I line my mouth up next to her ear. “I’ve been keeping a bit of a secret from you, shortcake. And it’s time for me to come clean.”
She looks over her shoulder at me with a hesitant smile. “Camden…” she begins, looking at everyone surrounding us. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
I never thought I’d do this with so many eyes on us, but it didn’t feel right for us to be alone at this moment. So much of our story is tangled in the lives of the people around us it felt right to have them all here to share in the moment.
I press a kiss to her cheek before nodding to Cade. He looks at his dad, the both of them taking the hint and grabbing either side of the cardboard.
She must feel my rapid heartbeat against her back as I place my chin on her shoulder, cuddling her close as I take a deep breath. “I’ve learned so many wonderful, incredible things about your mother from countless people,” I begin, for the moment speaking to her and only her. “And I’ll always wish I could’ve met the woman who raised you. But even though I never got the chance to meet her, I love her. I love her for who she helped you become and who she was to every single person in this town. When planning this place of community in honor of her, one thing always seemed to be missing.”
I nod. Cade begins to walk backward, his dad following his lead as they pull the piece of cardboard to the side.
Pippa gasps, her hands going to her mouth as she bends over with a sob when her eyes land on what’s behind.
I follow her, crouching down with her and holding her as powerful sobs overtake her body. “I wanted to memorialize your mom forever. I know she did that herself in the hearts of everyone in Sutten—including my own through the stories people have told—but it felt right to create this, too.”
I give her a moment, looking at the real-life statue in front of us. I’d spent countless hours perfecting the frame and features of her mom in stone. I’d pored over image after image of her, wanting to make sure I made this tribute to her absolutely perfect.
“Oh my god,” Pippa weeps, one hand reaching out to the ground to steady herself. “I can’t believe you did this.” I let her soak it in, even allowing her to take a few steps closer and trace the features of her mother I replicated.
“How’d I do?” I ask anxiously.
All I can see is her back as she pays close attention to every detail of the statue. I use the opportunity to drop to one knee, pulling the velvet box from my suit jacket.
For a few moments, I’m stuck in the position as she doesn’t turn to face me. Everyone around us goes quiet until finally she turns around.
There are streaks of mascara on her cheeks. “What?” she gasps, letting out a loud sob.
Her legs seem to shake as she takes the two steps back to me.
“Pippa Jennings, I always thought I was a man who needed structure and order in my life,” I begin. She wraps her hands around my outstretched hand holding the ring box, stopping it from shaking with nerves. “But it turns out the structure I thought I craved was all kinds of wrong for me. You chaotically entered my life and threw me for a loop at every single turn of our story. Even when I thought I hated you, I was giving you pieces of myself. And it didn’t take long for me to realize the feeling in my heart I had for you was love.”
“Camden,” she cries. I want to reach out and wipe the tears away, but I can’t move. I’m too caught up in the moment between us. I need to get these words off my chest.
I need my ring on her finger, to solidify that she’s mine forever.
“You taught me everything I know about love, and every single day, I wake up wanting to be a better man for you. You’ve turned me into the man I want to become, not the shell of the man I used to be. I’ve known from the moment I told you I loved you that I wanted you to be my wife, but I wanted to give you time. I wanted to give us time. And while I wish with everything in me your mom was here with us to watch me ask you to be my wife, I thought maybe if I did it here, with all the people who loved her surrounding us, that it’d be the next best thing.”
She lets out another sob, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them back up. “She’s here. I can feel it.”
I nod. “I know, baby. I can feel it, too.” I just now realize that I’m getting choked up. My tears well up at the sheer overwhelming emotion in the moment.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life that I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife. I want to have some big, elaborate wedding here if that’s what you want and then take you on a honeymoon to France and go to every single French pâtisserie we can find. I want to share coffee with you every morning and have kids with you and really just grow old with you. I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I’m the man you think I am.”
I open the box, letting her look at the custom ring I’d spent hours designing with the jeweler. She gasps, her eyes widening at the cushion-cut pink diamond on a band of smaller diamonds.
“Pippa Jennings, will you marry me?” The words are barely out of my mouth before she’s catapulting her body into mine, her arms wrapping around my neck.
“Yes!” she screams, crying into my neck. “Yes, yes, yes,” she continues, her entire body shaking.
An overwhelming sense of peace settles over us. I wrap my arms around her even tighter.
“You feel that?” Pippa says into the crook of my neck.
“Yes,” I answer.
“It’s my mom. I just know it is. She approves,” she whispers.
I laugh. “Thank god.”
People around us cheer as I clutch the love of my life to my chest. It seems like everything slows down as we both embrace the moment. She cries, and I think I might cry, too, from the sheer magnitude of happiness overcoming me.
For the rest of my life, I’ll be thankful that this small little town brought me and Pippa together. And that both of us opened up enough to each other to tempt our fate.
