“Go, Nikki! Faster! You can do it!”

Ian’s shouts of encouragement were rich and deep. Cole’s were smaller and squeakier, but I heard both as I climbed the wall, inch by painful inch. My fellow racers and I had just crawled on our bellies through the mud, so it was very hard to get a good grip on the rope. Once the top of the wall was in sight, I edged my feet up higher, hooking my lower leg around the top of the wall. With a mighty cry, I performed the most difficult abdominal crunch ever and hoisted myself over the wall.

Jumping off, I landed in water, swimming a few strokes before my feet touched the ground. I passed one woman getting out—she lost her footing on the slippery grass beyond the water.

Sprinting at full force, I ran toward the next obstacle and grabbed onto a rope in mid-air. This one I didn’t have to climb, fortunately. I just hung on and let go when rope swung toward the platform on the other side. Somehow, I timed it just right and sailed through the air a little longer than the woman next to me. Consequently, I got to the monkey bars before her.

Upper body strength still wasn’t my thing, but I’d been training regularly at the gym. Our gym—the one that Ian and I ran together.

As fast as I could, I crossed hand over hand, trying not to pause even when the metal bars in front of me started sloping upwards.

I reached the other side, and I heard Cole and Ian urging me to go faster, go harder. And I tried. I really did. A balance obstacle was next. I leaped from one little round disk to the next. They got smaller and smaller as I went along. Surrounding them, as always, was muddy ground. I really didn’t want to end up in the mud again.

The noise of the crowd told me I was getting close to the end. Moving quickly, I flew through one of the final obstacles which required scrambling over some low walls and crawling under some others. Really, it wasn’t much more difficult than when Ian set the picnic tables on their sides for Cole and me.

Directly ahead of me was the last obstacle, and it was a big one. A padded rolling log had been set across yet another pit of mud. As I approached it, I remembered Ian’s advice. Go fast with long strides. Touch the log as little as possible. The more times my feet landed on it, the more chances it would have to spin.

Fighting my natural instinct to slow down, I pushed ahead, jumping from the platform without hesitation. The log shifted underneath me the first time I set my foot down, but I sprang off too quickly for it to throw me. Another long leap took me halfway across, but a sudden shift almost dumped me in the mud. I took a few quick steps to recover, flailing my arms, but then I straightened and ran forward. Two more steps and I was safely on the other side. And there was the finish line right there—I watched as a woman with mud in her long ponytail broke through the ribbon.

With my last bit of strength, I pushed myself forward, crossing the finish line, several women on either side of me. I wanted to collapse on the ground, but Ian had told me it was best to keep moving, so I walked in little circles, trying to slow my heartrate while people clapped and cheered around us.

Finally, I slowed, bending over and resting my palms on my thighs. That’s when Cole came racing up. “You did it!”

Laughing, I hugged him, trying not to get mud on him. “I know. I completed the course!”

Ian jogged up next to his son. “No, he means you placed.”

“What?”

Cole jumped up and down. “You got third place!”

“Really?”

“See for yourself.” Ian put his arm around me and turned me toward the scoreboard. Sure enough, there I was. #37 had gotten third place. “I don’t believe it,” I said hoarsely.

“Does she win a prize?” Cole asked his dad.

“I think she gets a trophy.”

A trophy. Holy crap, I’d never won a trophy for anything in my entire life.

“She should at least get a prize,” Cole said.

Ian grinned at me. “If she wants a prize, I’ll give her one.” He reached down and picked me up, spinning me around.

Laughing, I told him to put me down. But he planted a big kiss on my lips before he did so.

When I was back on my own two feet, I scolded him. “You got mud all over your clothes.”

“That’s okay,” he said, treating me to a sexy wink. “They’re going to get muddy anyway when I do this.”

Confused, I looked at him. “Do what?”

“This.” He took a step back—and then got down on one knee.

Oh.

My.

God.

Suddenly he was holding a little velvet box up. Inside was the prettiest ring I’d ever seen.

Tears spilled from my eyes as Cole beamed at my side. Audience members and racers alike formed a circle around us as I blinked back tears.

“My darling Nikki,” Ian began, and everyone fell silent. “I thought my best years were behind me. I’d had my career. Had my marriage. Had my wonderful son.” He shot a smile at Cole when he said that last part.

“But you showed me how much more is ahead of me. How there are years and decades to fill with new adventures. New horizons. And as you taught me that, I realized that there are only two people in this entire world I want to share that time with. One is already family—he’s my son. The other is you. The woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. The woman I want to become my family… now, in the future, and forever. Nikki Foster—would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice strong despite the tears. “I want to more than anything.”

Ian slipped the ring on my finger and smiled in a way that nearly stopped my heart. Rising up, he wrapped his arms around me. He leaned back, and suddenly I was lifted off the ground. Everyone cheered, but Cole’s voice was loudest of them all. “She got third place! She said yes! She’s going to be my stepmom!”

That thought brought fresh tears. Yes, I would be his stepmom. And older sister. And friend. Because we were family now. We had been for quite some time, but this made it official. Ian loved me. Cole did too. A year ago, I didn’t feel worthy of love. Now I knew that not only was I worthy of love, I had lots of it in my heart to give others.

Like the man I’d marry. And the boy I’d help to raise into a man.

I had love.

I had a family.

I worked every day with the man I adored.

I had everything I’d ever wanted.