She would go anywhere with him. “Let’s go.”
She let him lead her down to the dock, looking wistfully at her first house on the bayou. She loved Armie’s home, her home, but this one had been a nice introduction to her new life.
He helped her onto the flat-bottom boat and she enjoyed the beauty of the world around her. Peanut didn’t mind the boat at all. He simply laid his head in her lap and settled in for the ride. She’d never done this before, never simply let the loveliness of a place wash over her knowing she belonged amidst the trees and water, the sky and land. She didn’t even question where they were going, simply let Armie navigate the boat out and into the mighty forest that rose up from the water. It was a magical place.
“Do you know why they call this Butterfly Bayou?” Armie slowed the boat down, and up ahead she saw a small island and another couple of boats tied to the tiny dock there.
“I know Papillon means butterfly. Lisa said they migrate through here.” Was someone waiting for them? She thought she recognized one of the boats.
“Yes, they do, and they’re here now. They love this island in particular.” He tied the boat off and helped her onto the spongy earth. Peanut immediately started chasing bugs.
That was when she saw what had been hidden by the bushes.
Her family. They stood in a semicircle, her brother, Will, and his wife. Laurel and Mitch. Remy and Lisa. Noelle was in her chair next to Lisa. They were joined by what had to be thousands of butterflies. They clung to the trees and the plants, landed on her clothes. Their wings fluttered and her breath caught.
“I thought this was the proper place to do what I need to do. They come here on their way to Mexico. Butterflies transform and you transformed me.”
“And me,” Noelle said with a grin.
She could feel the tears start to roll, but they were sweet this time. He hadn’t changed his mind. He’d had a plan. “Tell me you didn’t ask my brother for my hand.”
Sometimes folks around here could be a bit on the old-fashioned side.
“I would never do that. No one can give you away, chérie. You are a force of nature. And I’m not asking you to give yourself to me. I’m asking you to bond with me, to take what was singular and turn it into something more. Turn it into a family. Turn us into a family.” He dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring. “It’s not much, but it has history. My father gave this to my mother. He spent every dime he had on this ring and told her they would live on hope if they had to. They lived on it for fifty years, and I want all that and more with you.”
The ring was beautiful, the sentiment behind it even more so. She got to her knees with him because they were always equals. “Yes.”
“I love you.” He slipped the ring on her finger as her small crowd cheered.
“Excellent. I brought the champagne,” Lisa said.
“Good, because I think we should stay out here for a long time.” Will was smiling.
His wife shook her head. “He says that because the baby’s teething and we left all the kiddos at Guidry’s.”
Remy frowned. “Where my brother and sister are supposed to be watching them. I hope they’re still whole when we get back.”
Her family started arguing about the pros and cons of life on the bayou, but she was far too busy kissing her almost husband.
He pressed his lips to hers as the butterflies flittered around them.
Life was good on the bayou.