Kelli didn’t miss the way Isaiah smirked casually, shaking his head and giving Nathan a knowing smirk when he first walked up to them and introduced them to Paris. As worried as Isaiah had been about Nathan still being in a funk about the accident, he seemed fine to her. The investigation was officially over. It was ruled just that—an unfortunate and tragic accident. But Isaiah worried Nathan was holding in how he really felt about the two deaths.
“Where’s your turnout coat?” Isaiah asked, peering at his brother.
Nathan pulled at one of his suspenders with his thumb. “I thought it was too much, too heavy. You know . . . ’cause I’m hot.” He turned to Kelli with a smirk. “Tell ’em, Kelli.”
Feeling her face heat, Kelli smiled. This was something Nathan had started to do just after Isaiah had been released from the hospital. He seemed to get a kick out of razzing Kelli, despite Isaiah giving him the evil eye each time. Thankfully, his date Paris smiled, glancing around seemingly oblivious to Nathan’s crack.
They made their way through the backyard full of family and friends. Isaiah hadn’t been kidding about his uncles going all out. The entire backyard was smoking with fog. The buffet table had what appeared to be a dead man on it. It was stuffed jeans and a shirt with holes strategically cut out to fit the bowls of food. So his stomach looked like his guts with the bowl of cooked sausages. The container in the head area had spaghetti and meatball eyes. The rest of the buffet table held an assortment of different spooky-themed foods. Kelli grabbed a hotdog wrapped in what appeared to be a croissant, but it’d been wrapped so it looked like a mummy.
The dancing started, and Kelli was blown away by how into it Nathan and Moe got. Sadly she and Isaiah didn’t do any dancing, but she enjoyed watching the show Nathan and Moe put on. Like Isaiah, they both had highly talented hips.
Then the contests started. Kelli and Isaiah sat with his siblings, their Moreno friends, and all their spouses—in Nathan’s case, his date Paris. The first few contests were mostly for kids—musical chairs, apple bobbing, pin the face on the pumpkin—until they got to one Emi and Olivia said they were in.
“Oh, I got this,” Emi said, handing the baby she was holding to her husband.
“It’s on,” Olivia said, standing up.
“Oh no,” Addi, AJ’s wife, said as she and their little girl Clair grinned. “No one can beat us when it comes to pumpkin carving.”
“I think they have you two,” AJ said, bouncing their baby girl on his lap. “You should see the pumpkins they carved at home. These two don’t mess around.”
Isaiah gave Kelli a pleading simper, but she stared at him unbelievingly. “I have to be social,” she whispered with a smirk. “I can’t be the only one sitting this out.”
“Nathan’s chick isn’t doing it.”
“That’s because she’s too busy making googly eyes at your brother to notice there are any contests going on.”
One glance their way and Isaiah nodded in understanding. She kissed Isaiah before standing up, but he tugged her hand. “It’s all in fun. You don’t need to get all intense about it.”
Kelli laughed. “I know. And I don’t get all intense.”
Isaiah’s mouth fell open, and she giggled even as she made her way to the carving table. “Here you go, sweetheart,” Isaiah’s uncle Max said, placing a pumpkin in front of her as she reached the table.
“Only rules,” Manny said loudly from the top of the long table, “are you can’t trade your pumpkin out. So if you mess up, figure out how to get creative and fix it because you only get the one pumpkin. And Izzy,” he added with an overly menacing sneer, “let’s keep it clean. There’s kids here.”
Isabel rolled her eyes as everyone laughed and Manny wheezed. Kelli glanced up and met Isaiah’s eyes as Manny finished up explaining the rules. The way he smiled at her took her breath away. Was she really here? She still had to pinch herself every morning she woke up next to him.
The moment Manny blew the whistle to start the carving she was at it, carving the circle around the top to start. There was so much laughing, cheering, and clapping she hardly noticed the lights had been dimmed as she raced to get the circle carved on the top of her pumpkin.
For a moment, she took a deep breath and slowed a little, remembering Isaiah’s words. Don’t get so intense.
She glanced up at him, and he laughed, shaking his head. One gander around the table and she saw no one was near as close to carving the top off their pumpkin as she was. She noticed the sweat above her lip then wiped it. She had to giggle when she saw Isaiah was watching her so closely he noticed too and laughed.
That’s when she also noticed the spooky and Halloween-themed songs had slowed to something slow and . . . romantic? As she carved, she realized the song playing was “I Won’t Give Up,” the song Isaiah now called their song.
She slowed her carving, looking up at Isaiah, but his only reaction to the song was to raise his brows in a “What do you know?” type of way. Glancing around the backyard, she saw that everyone was still very much into the carving, and it seemed only she had noticed the odd choice of song.
But she kept going and finally got the circle carved all the way through. Feeling the thrill of competition because she was the first to finish this part, she pulled it off. To her surprise, the usual seeds weren’t inside the pumpkin; instead, there were rose petals. She glanced up, wondering if this was a gag. Everyone else had stopped carving, and then she saw Matt and Lori. He smiled and Lori waved with a bright smile. She’d seen the couple wearing the spooky hockey masks earlier, but she’d had no idea who they were.
Still confused, she was distracted by Manny, Max, AJ, and Nathan, who were each lighting one of the four big pumpkins in the center of the table then began turning them around one by one so she could see them. The music playing got louder as she read the words carved into the first one they lit.
Kelli
Confused, she turned to Isaiah, who only shrugged as if he had no idea what was going on either. He motioned back to the table, so she glanced back to see Max turning the second one.
Will you
Instantly, she began to feel choked up. She brought her hand to her mouth as she turned to see Isaiah smiling even bigger. No way. This was insane. She glanced around at his smiling sisters. She bit her bottom lip, willing herself to keep it together as AJ turned the third one.
Marry me?
Isaiah had told her it’d be coming soon, but she didn’t think it’d be this soon. She wiped her eyes because she didn’t want her sight to be blurred when they turned the last one. She couldn’t imagine what else it’d say. Then Nathan turned it, and Kelli read the only word on it.
Please?
Again her hand was at her mouth, and it surprised her to see Isaiah standing now. “Look in the pumpkin,” he said as he walked toward her.
She did even as her hand trembled. Aside from the rose petals, the only other thing in there was a piece of paper. She unfolded it and read the handwritten note.
Even if the skies get rough,
I won’t give up on us.
God knows you’re worth it.
The lyrics to their song. The music stopped playing, and when she turned to him, he was already getting down on his knee. “I’ll never give up on us again, Kel. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Kelli nodded adamantly, trying her damnedest not to ugly cry because it really felt as if she were about to. Thankfully, he stood up after he slipped the huge rock on her finger, and she was able to bury her face in his chest. Figures he’d use her competitive streak to trick her. The music started up again as they were surrounded by everyone congratulating them.
Hearing each one of his siblings welcome her to the family felt surreal. Even AJ gave her a crushing hug. When they finally had a moment alone to breathe—when what happened really sunk in—Isaiah leaned his forehead against hers.
“The last couple of weeks trying to recover from this injury should’ve been miserable. Instead, the
y’ve been the best of my life because I’ve had you with me. I can hardly wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Once again she was a blubbering mess. And Isaiah kissed her gently. “Don’t cry,” he whispered. “Just promise me you’ll never give up on us. No matter what.”
“No matter what,” she said sniffling. “I’ll never give up. I love you forever, Isaiah.”
“I’ll love you forever, Kel.”
The End
Acknowledgments
Typically, I always thank my family first and foremost. But this time I'd like to first give a very special thanks to my betas. Redeeming a character is a challenge I welcome as I did with Kelli. I think I succeeded in turning her around for you guys. At least I really hope I did. But I couldn't have done this without the open and honest dialogue I have with my beta readers: Emily Lamphear, Judy DeVries, Dawn Winter, Theresa Wegand, and Amanda Clark. I really don't think I could've done this without your sincere feedback. Thank you so much for not holding back and all the effort you put into explaining what worked and what didn't for you.
Now for my husband and “assistant,” Mark. I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you for all that you do: both the physical behind-the-scenes support in keeping this running smoothly and, more important, the emotional support you give me. Without you, I know I'd lose my mind sometimes. Thank you, babe. I love you!
To my two grown babies, thank you for putting up with and respecting my time in the cave. I appreciate that you understand that, even if I am in my PJ's and slippers and haven't run a comb through my hair in days, I really am "working." Thanks for the stories you share with me that often times make it into my books. As always, Momma loves you and is so proud of you both!
I’d also like to thank the many bloggers out there who have supported me and have pimped, reviewed, and participated in my cover reveals and announcements. You guys have been a HUGE part of my success, and I thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart!
Thank you InkSlinger and my publicist Tara Gonzalez for all the work you've done so far. This is new for me, but so far I've been impressed by the excellent communication and diligent work you've done! I look forward to continuing working with you!
Thank you to Theresa (Eagle Eyes) Wegand, my one-stop superhero, beta reader/editor/formatter, listener to all my whiny rants/vents and obsessive worrying, and friend—even when you’re brutally honest. LOL ;) I promise I’ll never hold it against you and truly appreciate it! As always, your work is impeccable, and I can’t say enough about it. I hope to be working with you for years to come! Thank you so much!
Thank you to Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design for my cover art. You’re an amazing talent and awesome to work with. So far you’ve created some gems for me, and I’m excited about what’s yet to come and working with you on many more! I'm dying to do the reveal of Isaiah's story, Uninvited, and get my readers a little nervous about what's to come. ;)
Shout out to my street team “Team Reyes!” To my admins, Leslie Cary, Jenn DaSilva, Delashawne Acevedo, and welcome Sarah Mannering. You're all doing such a great job. I have no idea what I'd do without you!
As usual I can't thank my readers enough! You're the REAL reason I continue to do and LOVE my "job"! You're what makes my fictional world go round. I'm so excited about what I have in store for you this year! Stay tuned for announcements. I love hearing from you, so keep the messages, comments, and emails coming!
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, Elizabeth Reyes, was born and raised in southern California and still lives there with her husband of twenty-two years, her two adult children Mark & Megan, a Great Dane named Dexter, and one big fat cat named Tyson.
She spends the majority of her time in front of her computer, writing and keeping up with all the social media, and loves it. She says that there is nothing better than doing what you absolutely love for a living, and she eats, sleeps, and breathes these stories, which are constantly begging to be written.
Representation: Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich now handles all questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of Ms. Reyes’ work. Please direct inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights availability to her.
For more information on her upcoming projects and to connect with her--she loves hearing from you all—here are a few places you can find her:
Website: www.ElizabethReyes.com
Facebook fan page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Reyes/278724885527554
Instagram
Twitter: @AuthorElizabeth
Amazon Author page
Email:
[email protected] Add her books to your Good Reads shelf
Join her FB Street Team for exclusive giveaways, excerpts, read alongs, book chats and much much more!
She enjoys hearing your feedback and looks forward to reading your reviews and comments on her website and fan page!
Elizabeth Reyes, His To Guard (Fate #6)
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