He sighed, but his eyes never left her face. “I don’t have a ring yet,” he began. “I don’t have flowers or a horse-drawn carriage, and if I try to get down on one knee right now, I might not get up again.” He paused, drew another deep breath, exhaled slowly. “Brynne Bailey, I love you more than I ever thought I could love anybody. I want us to share our lives—the good, the bad and the in-between.

“Will you marry me?”

Brynne was undone. She cried. Threw her arms—very carefully—around Eli Garrett’s neck.

“Yes,” she said. “Oh, yes.”

“Hallelujah,” Eli replied.

And then he kissed her.

“IT’S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL,” Alice Bailey exclaimed, studying the glittering stunner of a diamond on her daughter’s left-hand ring finger.

Eli and Brynne had chosen the ring together, within an hour of Eli’s proposal, over at Johnson’s Jewelry, and then, at Brynne’s request, driven straight to Bailey’s to tell her mom and dad about the engagement.

“Must have cost you a serious chunk of change, son,” Mike said to Eli, looking somewhat concerned.

Eli smiled at his soon-to-be father-in-law. “I can afford it,” he assured the older man.

Alice jumped in to scold her husband, though gently. “Mike Bailey,” she said, “it’s none of your business how much Eli spent on this lovely, lovely ring.” As if to soften the remark, she moved to Mike’s side and slipped her arm through his, gave it a squeeze.

“When is this wedding taking place?” Miranda wanted to know. She and Frank had been hovering on the periphery of the small gathering.

“We haven’t set a date,” Brynne said, feeling as though her face might fall off if she didn’t stop smiling so hard. “Sometime in June, probably, after Mom and I have had time to design and make the dress and make solid plans.”

“This June?” Alice asked, and Brynne couldn’t tell whether she was relieved or disappointed.

“This June,” Eli confirmed.

“You and I have a lot of planning to do,” Brynne told her mother. “And my schedule is packed—Davey and Maddie will be here for a week in early April, and then there’s everything concerning the Anderson farm.”

“We’d all better sit down,” Eli said, amused by Mike and Alice’s surprised expressions.

“The Anderson place?” Mike echoed.

“I want to buy it,” Brynne said, dropping into the chair Eli pulled out for her, there at the center table. The restaurant was empty of customers since the lunch rush had just ended. “I’m making an offer first thing tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee,” Miranda said. “Since it’s too early for champagne.”

“I just put one on to brew fifteen minutes ago,” Alice told her longtime friend and employee. “Sit down with the rest of us, Miranda, and let me get the coffee.”