“Look at me, Zoe! Watch me!” Eve called. “I’m making it rain two colors of flowers at once!”
Zoe looked up at the tree above her head, as both pink and white flower petals showered down around her. Eve hung upside down from the tree above her in the sparkling dress she’d worn to Alex and Theresa’s wedding. “Did you ever see one tree that could grow two flowers?”
“I think it’s two types of trees that grew together,” Zoe said. “Is this what you needed me to see?”
“Wait,” Eve called. “I need to climb even higher for it to really work!”
Zoe laughed and looked out over Cedar Lake. Alex and Theresa’s wedding had been beautiful and elegant, held on the site of the new cottage that the happy couple were in the process of building. It had been a small event, with only a few friends, family members and neighbors from the lake, coming together for a simple potluck. Now the event was done. Most people had gone home. But before Zoe could help with cleaning up, Eve had grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away to show her this special tree.
Late May sunshine glinted on the lake. Another spring had ended and another summer was about to begin. It had been almost a year since The Anemoi had threatened Leo and the girls. Seth was in the wind again, but his intel had proved true and thanks in no small part to Leo’s work, the drug network was being dismantled. Admiral Jacobs had been very pleased with the additional data that naval intelligence had gleaned by interrogating the foreign criminals that had been captured following the attack on the cottage. Melody had been arrested, too, and was getting the help she needed.
Leo had decided to resign from the military to work with Ash Private Security. Zoe had continued to spend time with Leo and his girls, slowly and gently growing into each other’s lives, entangled together, like the branches of the half cherry and half crab apple tree, raining down flowers above her head.
“Now watch,” Eve commanded. “You are watching, right?”
Zoe laughed again. “I’m watching.”
“Catch me, I’m a flower!” Eve dropped from the tree and into Zoe’s arms, a giggling mess of happiness, flower petals and sunshine. Zoe kissed her head and set her on the ground.
“You’ve got something in your hair.” A deep voice made her look up. Leo was coming through the trees toward her. Ivy was by his side, with Oz held firmly under one arm and Fluff under the other. Both dogs were in large sparkling bows.
“I’m sure I have a lot of things in my hair,” Zoe said, as Leo reached down and plucked out petals. “Eve made the tree rain.”
Eve giggled and scampered back up the path toward the cottage with Ivy. The girls and dogs disappeared into the trees.
“Come on,” Leo said. “Alex and Theresa want to say goodbye to you before they leave for their honeymoon.” He slipped his hand into Zoe’s. They walked up the path. “Ivy and Eve love you so much.”
“I love them, too,” Zoe said. “Getting to know you all is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Leo pulled her tighter to his side. “You’re the best thing that could’ve possibly happened to us.”
A giggling cry cut through the trees.
“Zoe!” Eve called. “Help!”
Zoe gripped Leo’s hand. They ran, pushing through the branches. The trees parted and they saw Eve and Ivy standing on the top balcony of the cottage shouting Zoe’s name. Alex, Theresa, Samantha and Josh ran out onto the balcony toward them, their arms filled with wedding gifts. Zoe’s mind whirled. Why were the girls shouting? What was going on? Theresa was carrying a large, colorfully decorated cardboard box. Before Zoe even had time to think, it slipped and fell from the new bride’s hands. The box tumbled over the edge of the balcony and down toward the ground below.
“Zoe! Catch it!” Ivy yelled.
Zoe dropped Leo’s hand and dove for it, her fingertips clasping over it inches before it hit the ground. She rolled back to her feet and held it up. It was remarkably light.
“Got it!” Zoe called. She looked up. Why were the girls giggling? The box fell open. It was Theresa’s wedding bouquet.
Zoe looked up. Theresa was smiling apologetically. Alex was laughing into his hand. Josh was grinning. Samantha was smiling behind the lens of a camera. Ivy and Eve were practically leaping up and down with joy.
“She caught the wedding bouquet, Daddy!” Eve shouted. “She caught the wedding bouquet! Now you have to get married.”
Leo chuckled. He reached for her hand. “Well, if we have to, I guess we have to.”
“You set this up.” Zoe looked at him in surprise, then up to her loved ones, clustered on the balcony. “You all set me up!”
“Don’t hold it against them,” Leo said softly. “Think of it as mobilizing the entire team to achieve a singular objective.”
She shook her head. “You’re terrible.”
“I love you.” Leo dropped to his knees at her feet. “I started falling in love with you that first moment we met. I’ve been falling deeper and deeper in love with you every moment since then. Please marry me.”
Above her, Zoe could hear the excited shrieks and giggles of the girls she’d grown to love. But her eyes locked on Leo.
“This is the part where you say yes,” he whispered. His eyebrows rose. “My girls and I won’t feel complete without you.”
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She laughed and he pulled a small ring box from his pocket, opened it and revealed a ring with three stones. The diamond in the center was ringed by an emerald on one side and a sapphire on the other, for the small family of three that had stolen her heart and invited her to join them.
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” she whispered as he slid it onto her finger. “I would’ve agreed to marry you over a slice of pizza while sitting on the couch.”
“I know,” he said. “But where would the fun have been in that?”
Then he swept her up into his arms and spun her around.
“She said yes!” he shouted.
“Of course I did!” Zoe shouted.
Then they kissed as cheering erupted above them and fresh flower petals rained down around them.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed PROTECTIVE MEASURES, look for the other books in the TRUE NORTH BODYGUARDS series:
KIDNAPPED AT CHRISTMAS
RESCUE AT CEDAR LAKE
Keep reading for an excerpt from TRACKING SECRETS by Heather Woodhaven.
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