There were people everywhere.

If anything, it seemed as if the entire town of Preston was in their living room. Carter knew that wasn’t possible, but there certainly were more people than he was expecting.

They were celebrating Molly’s first birthday. Even though the thought of a party for a baby who wasn’t going to remember any of it seemed a little ridiculous, he knew he and Daisy would look back on this milestone and smile.

Right now the guest of honor was sitting in her high chair with a party tiara on and a bib that covered her from the chin down. He couldn’t help but laugh even as he took a couple dozen pictures of her. She smiled at him—a smile that he swore was meant for him and him alone—as she waved her hands in the air. One thing was becoming abundantly clear—his daughter loved being the center of attention.

And for today, he’d allow it.

Well, for part of today anyway.

Daisy called out to get everyone’s attention, and the room went quiet for a brief moment right before they all started to sing “Happy Birthday.” Molly’s face lit up as Daisy walked toward her with the cake and the lit candle on it. Teddy tried to horn in and get a spot by Molly’s feet—mainly because he knew the baby dropped a lot of food—but Carter gently nudged him aside.

He stood on one side of the chair and sang while Daisy stood on the other. When it came time to blow out the candle, they each helped her, and she squealed with glee when everyone clapped for her.

And then he took another couple dozen pictures.

The cake on her tray was specifically for her to destroy—which she did by putting her fists in it and then rubbing icing all over her face. Behind him, Teddy whined loudly because even he could tell that this was a gold mine of opportunity to get some real food. Carter shot him a look, and the dog skulked away to his bed in the corner of the living room. He looked up and saw Daisy slicing and serving the second cake they’d ordered to their guests.

“She’s going to need a long bath tonight,” Daisy said from beside him a few minutes later as she did her best to actually get a taste of the cake into Molly’s mouth.

Carter crouched down beside her and laughed. “A long bath? We may have to hose her down first. I don’t know if we’ll ever get all this frosting out of her hair.”

“It’s a rite of passage, right?”

“I believe so,” he said. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the dog watching them. “Of course, we could just let Teddy at her for a few minutes. I can pretty much guarantee that she’ll be clean in no time.”

“Ew, Carter!” she said with a laugh. “That’s gross!” Then she paused and looked at him. “Please tell me you’ve never let him do that before.”

Carter could only laugh and took over trying to get Molly to actually eat some of the cake.

Daisy’s parents and Carter’s dad came over and took pictures of the three of them and commented on all the ways the two of them had done the same thing at their first birthdays. While the imagery was funny, Carter was regretting that they hadn’t opened presents before having cake.

“We may need to hose her down before she opens her gifts, don’t you think?” he asked. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not too keen on holding her while she’s this messy.”

Before Daisy could respond, her mother swooped in and playfully lifted Molly from her chair to get her cleaned up. He appreciated the help—actually, all the help they’d received in the past year.

From the time Molly had come home, the entire community seemed to embrace them. For those first two months while he was wrapping things up in Norfolk and preparing to move, he hadn’t had to worry about a thing because so many people were around to help Daisy when she needed it. It wasn’t ideal, and he’d hated every single second that he was away from them, but at least he knew they were being taken care of. And he still couldn’t believe how welcomed he’d been upon moving. Besides the job with the town, Carter had found that there was something to be said for living in a small town. Knowing Chris and Heather helped, but he’d made so many new friends in the past ten months that it was still hard to wrap his brain around.

“You’re looking pretty fierce right now,” Chris said as he walked over. “Everything all right?”

Carter nodded. “Just thinking about all the changes in this past year and how much I’m enjoying small-town life.”

With a knowing smile, Chris nodded. “I know the feeling. I never thought I’d want to come back to this, but once I did, I knew it was the right decision.” He paused. “Actually, it was the best decision.”

And Carter knew his friend was speaking the truth. Chris and Heather were getting close to celebrating their second wedding anniversary, and he’d just found out they were expecting their first child too. He was happy for them and beyond grateful to them—if it hadn’t been for their wedding, no doubt Carter wouldn’t be here celebrating today.

Casually he nodded. “I hear ya. I can honestly say that I totally understand.”

“So,” Chris said after a minute, “you ready for all this? Molly’s getting pretty mobile, and it already looks like you’re outgrowing the place. Have you thought about where you want to move to?”

He shrugged. “We’ve talked about it, but we love this place, and I think we’re going to stay put for a little while longer. There are some other things we need to work out first.”

Chris arched a brow at him but didn’t say anything, and Carter was saved from having to explain himself when Daisy walked over.

“My mom is a pro at the fast bath thing, and she’s getting Molly changed now. Why don’t we set up the camera to get video of her opening her gifts? Most of the presents are on the coffee table and around it, so I can hold her on the couch if that will work.”

“You got it,” he replied, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.

Moving around the room, Carter set up the tripod he had gotten for just this occasion and put his phone on it and set it up in video mode. It took a little bit longer to get Molly cleaned and settled, but as soon as she was situated in Daisy’s lap, Carter started the video.

For almost thirty minutes, Daisy made a big production out of trying to get Molly to help rip the bows off and to tear the wrapping paper, but his daughter was happy to be playing with one of Teddy’s squeaky toys. The look on Daisy’s face was a combination of comical defeat and exasperation.

And he had it all on video.

“Well, I know when to throw in the towel,” Daisy called out. “Thank you, everyone, for the amazing gifts. I know that she may not be showing it right now, but I know that Molly appreciates all of them!”

Everyone laughed, and it seemed like people were about to start moving around again when Carter spoke up.

“Um… Daisy,” he began, “you missed one.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“The small box under the table,” he said, pointing to the square box wrapped in silver paper with a pink bow.

Reaching under the table, Daisy took it out and showed it to Molly, who had zero interest. Daisy gave an apologetic look to their guests and then looked for a card. “I think we lost the card somewhere…”

But no one claimed the gift as theirs.

She unwrapped it while talking to Molly about how pretty it was and even gave her the big pink bow to play with but to no avail. His daughter was all about making the squeaky toy squeak.

“Sorry,” Daisy said with a small laugh.

Carter motioned for Chris to take over with the video and then stepped into the camera frame and came up beside Daisy. She looked up at him and smiled and then opened the box in her hands. Looking into the box, she seemed confused.

Then pulled out another box wrapped in silver paper with a pink bow.

Without missing a beat, she took the bow off and carefully removed the paper before opening that box.

“Look at me,” she said out loud, and Carter smiled at the note that was inside that box. Slowly Daisy’s eyes met his. “I don’t… What is…?”

Carter dropped to one knee beside her and took one of her hands in his.

“The first time I saw you, I had never been so happy to be at the kind of event that I normally avoid,” he began, and several of their guests laughed softly at his admission. “I spent the first half of Chris and Heather’s wedding simply watching you and wishing I had something clever to say to you as a way of introducing myself. Then—much to my surprise—you came over to me.”

Daisy blushed, and he knew she was hoping he wasn’t going to share with all their guests what really happened on that fateful day.

“And you’ve been surprising me ever since,” he said as he winked at her. “I look at you, and I see this amazing woman who is brave and strong and loving. I look at you, and I see my future.” Then he reached over and took the box from Daisy’s hand and placed it on the floor before reaching into his pocket and pulling out an even smaller box—only this one wasn’t wrapped. It was small and velvet, and when he opened it, everyone in the room gasped.

Including Daisy.

He looked at her with a lopsided grin. “I could have done this when we were alone or out on a date or someplace romantic, but nothing about our relationship has ever been what most people would expect. There’s been a lot of speculation about us—who we are, what we’re doing—and I thought the best way to ensure that everyone was in the know was to do this while they were all here.”

With an exaggerated pause, he looked out at the crowd and was thrilled to see so many faces smiling back at him.

“Daisy, I love you. I love the life we’ve created together—not just with our daughter but as a family. And there’s nothing I want more than to take this life we have and make it even better.” He took the ring from the box and held it out to her. “Marry me,” he said gruffly. “Be my wife, my partner, my everything. Let’s spend the next fifty years or so showing our daughter how much we love each other and how good life can be.”

Tears were brimming in her big, beautiful eyes even as a smile crossed her face. She didn’t speak—she didn’t seem to be able to—instead, one hand went over her heart, the other over his as she nodded.

His hands shook as he slid the ring on her finger right before he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her—pouring everything he felt into the kiss and knew Daisy was doing the same. All around them, people clapped and cheered and Molly cried out at all the noise, but Carter’s father was there to pick her up and distract her.

When they broke apart, Chris gave him a thumbs-up from behind the camera, and everyone began congratulating them. It seemed like the party went on for hours, and even though they were initially supposed to be celebrating his daughter, it quickly turned into an engagement party. He had given both Chris and Kirk a heads-up about his plans, so they both walked out and came back in with a couple of bottles of champagne for everyone to toast with.

All around him were the people who meant the world to him. With his arm around Daisy’s waist, he realized that Chris’s earlier words really did ring true—coming to Preston, moving to Preston—really was the best decision he had ever made.

Well… that and taking a chance on seducing a sexy redhead in the back room of a wedding reception.

***

If you haven’t yet read them, be sure to read the first two Preston’s Mill books, about Heather and Chris and about Isabella and Jace.

 

If you’ve enjoyed the Preston’s Mill books, you might enjoy the Protectors series by the same authors. We’ve expanded, revised, and repackaged the original books, and they’ll be coming out in August. On the following pages, you can read an excerpt from the first one, which is now called Protecting His Best Friend’s Sister.