The driveway up to Luke’s home must be almost a mile, so it takes me a couple of minutes to notice it.

There’s music playing. Loud too, pumping out of some kind of outdoor speakers. There are cars parked in the yard too — not as many as last night, but at least half a dozen.

Ted pulls the SUV to a stop right up near the house, and comes around to let me out. I step out of the car, but I almost don’t want him to leave me just yet. I can hear voices carrying from the back yard area but I don’t see anyone and I still have no idea what’s going on.

And then I see him.

He appears from around the corner of the house like a mirage. Like a miracle. Jace, looking handsome as hell in the same black polo shirt and jeans he was wearing when he left the hotel this morning.

I wave a quick goodbye and say thank you to Ted, and then cross the lawn over to Jace.

“Hey,” he says, leaning in for a kiss. He looks tired but happy to see me.

I let him graze his lips against mine, but then I pull back. “What’s going on? I thought we were going for dinner.”

He grins. “I thought we could do something a little different.”

“Like what?”

He pauses, then points up at the air, gesturing for me to listen.

I stop and finally pay attention to the music that’s pumping out through the yard.

“The Steve Miller Band,” I say, laughing. My face fills with a giant grin. “What’s going on Jace?”

“Come on,” is all he says, slipping his hand through mine.

I follow him into the backyard. It’s dark except for a huge roaring bonfire in the middle of the yard.

I look at Jace, still confused, but he just squeezes my hand.

As we get closer, I slowly start to make out voices and figures, and I realize they’re all here: Hannah and Trent, Luke, Sloane, Ally, Jace’s mom Evelyn. Even …

“Rori!” I shriek when I see my best friend and then she’s leaping across the yard toward me.

I wrap her in a huge hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Hanging out,” she laughs. “Sorry I couldn’t get back to you earlier. I was just about to get on the plane when you called.”

“I still don’t understand.” I’m looking back and forth between Rori and Jace, and both of them are wearing such sly smiles that I feel like I must be totally missing something.

Finally Jace laughs. “Don’t look so scared,” he teases. “I just remember someone saying they wanted to go to a bonfire. Maybe with a little Steve Miller playing.”

“You did all this for me?” I ask incredulously, as Rori heads back to grab a seat near the fire, next to Sloane and Ally.

He nods solemnly. “I did.”

“But why?”

He shakes his head, incredulous, as if he can’t believe that I even have to ask that question.

“Because I love you,” he says. His words and voice are so plain, simple and perfect.

“You do?” My words are barely more than a whisper.

“Yes, silly girl.”

“I love you too, Jace.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear you say that, because it’s going to make this next part a bit easier.”

“What part?”

He leads me closer to the fire.

“Your first proposal was in your office,” he says. “And I think that’s just unacceptable.”

I laugh. Tears are springing to my eyes, even though I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the way Jace’s face looks so earnest in the firelight. Maybe it’s the way everyone has turned to look at us, expectant and like they’re holding their collective breath. Maybe it’s the fucking Steve Miller band.

“Yeah, it was pretty bad,” I admit.

“It was terrible. And you deserve way better. Except a week ago, when I asked you to marry me, I did it in your apartment. And with a second-hand ring, no less.”

I laugh again, wiping away a tear that’s trailed down my cheek.

“That wasn’t real, though,” I say, smiling up at Jace. Jace with the handsome face and the hard jaw and the blue eyes that look strangely… nervous?

“Jace…” I whisper, realization suddenly and finally dawning.

“That wasn’t real,” he agrees. His voice is hoarse. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little grey box. “But this is.”

“Oh my God.” I clap my hands over my mouth as Jace drops to one knee in front of me. The tears are flowing from my eyes for real now. I hold my breath and Jace opens the box.

“Jace!” I gasp. “How did you…”

My question trails off, unasked. Because inside that grey box is the amethyst ring, the one I’d spotted on 47^th Street so many moons ago.

“I picked it up while I was in New York,” he confesses. “I realized if I was crazy enough about you to fly halfway across the country to find you, that I was crazy enough about you to do this thing for real.”

I can’t even answer him. The tears are coming too fast and too hard, so instead I grab him by the arm and pull him so that he’s standing, then lean into him. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him, so hard and so frantic that I can barely breathe.

He kisses me back, and for a moment I forget about absolutely everything else except this perfect man in front of me.

When we finally pull apart, he chuckles nervously.

“Look, I know this is sudden. You don’t have to say yes right now, we can treat this ring as a promise, if you feel more comfortable with that.”

But I shake my head. The tears haven’t really stopped but at least I feel like I can speak now.

“I don’t want a promise, Jace. I want forever.”

A huge grin crosses his face. “Me, too, Celia. Me too.”

He takes my hand in his and slips the amethyst ring onto my finger. It looks like it was meant to be there — so much better than the diamond.

“It’s perfect,” I breathe.

“So are you.”

The crowd erupts into a cheer, and I blush. I’d almost forgotten they were there. I turn and give a friendly wave, and watch as Rori wipes away a tear of her own. Evelyn, Jace’s mom, is turning to Trent in confusion, and I suppress a laugh. I guess eventually we’ll have to fill everyone in on the whole story.

Not tonight though. Tonight’s for celebrating our engagement — the only one that really matters. Tonight’s for the Steve Miller Band. Tonight’s for me and Jace, however long it took us to get here.

Tonight’s for happy endings.