“I’m sorry for what you had to do. I can’t imagine it was easy. I know you dislike your mother, but on some level she is still your mom.” I can’t even imagine what it was like growing up with a mother like Heidi. I hit the damn jackpot with my mother.

“No.” He shakes his head. “She’s not. If I’ve learned anything from you and Grace, it’s that blood doesn’t make someone family. Grace has shown me more kindness than my own mother ever has. I, in turn, threw it in her face, and you know what she did?”

“She forgave you.” I know because that’s who my mom is. She can be stern when she needs to, but she also knows when people are hurting, and Asher has his own wounds that are still healing from his own childhood. I want to show him that not everyone is like his mother.

“I love you, Molly. I don’t care what it takes, I'm winning you back.” He drops to his knees. “I’m not above begging.”

“You don’t have to beg.” I run my fingers through his hair. “You don’t look like you’ve slept much.”

“I haven’t. I’ve been in hell without you. My father told me when you find the one, you just know. That he saw your mom, and it was unlike anything he ever experienced. I thought he was full of shit, and then there you were. You have no idea the things you do to me. With you, I have no control. I’m an asshole.” He says this all from his knees in front of me.

“Asher, I’m not going to lie. I kind of like when you’re an asshole when we’re in the bedroom.” A sexy smile slides across his handsome face. “I also love that when we’re not in the bedroom, you’re sweet to me. I can’t explain it. You’re bossy and attentive. I love all those parts of you.”

“Then that will make this a whole lot easier.” He pulls out a box from his pocket. I suck in a breath. “Molly Reynolds, you’re going to marry me.” He slips the ring out of the box and onto my finger. It has a giant green emerald in the center with diamonds all around it. I can tell it’s an antique. “It was my grandmother’s. She told me one day I’d find a green-eyed girl that would turn my world upside down. I was sure when she said it, she was teasing me, but Grandmother was always right.”

I can’t stop staring at the gorgeous ring. I swear I’ve seen it before. Then I recall the big family photo that hangs in the library, and his grandmother was wearing this ring.

“Asher.” More tears slip down my cheeks.