When Summer Ends

By Your Side, No Matter What

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*This is Book 2 in the That North Carolina Summer series*

The door clicks shut behind me and I slide the mail onto the counter, breathing in the amazing smell of something baking. "Ry?" I call out, taking a step towards the oven. "I'm home!"

"Be out in a sec! Don't peek in the oven!" She calls from our room. My hand had been just about to pull open the oven door, and I let it fall back to my side.

I wanna know what smells so good! I sniff the air again, trying to guess.

Rylie comes into the kitchen a moment later with Harvey at her heels. My eyes sweep over her appraisingly. She's wearing a cream sweater and jeans, with her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. Her blue eyes find mine and I quickly close the distance between us.

I slide my hands across her waist, the soft material tickling my hands as I pull her to me. "I missed you." I breathe into her hair. She pulls back slightly before pressing her soft lips against mine.

"I'm glad you're home. No more long days, okay?" Rylie says after a moment.

I'd picked up two shifts today on top of my classes. Yesterday had been a similar day, so i was exhausted from the last two days. And I'd only seen Rylie once in those 48 hours since her school schedule kept her pretty busy.

"Agreed. I don't need money that badly." I reply with a small laugh. The thing is, I did want the money. Engagement rings weren't cheap. "What are you cooking? It smells amazing."

Rylie slips out of my arms and moves to the oven. "I was hoping to have everything ready before you got home, but you were earlier than I expected. Not that I'm complaining." She smiles warmly at me. "I made lasagna, french bread, and cake." The proud expression on her face is adorable.

"Rylie. You didn't."

"Oh, but I did." She grins. "You deserve it."

"I really don't deserve you." I reply. "I love you." I smile, brushing a kiss against her cheek. She begins setting the table as I go through the mail. After a minute of seeing only bills, I gasp when I see the lavender envelope with our names written neatly on top.

"Ry, look!" She hurries over and glances over the envelope quickly before opening it.

"Finally! It took them longer than I thought it would!" Rylie pulls the card from the envelope and I smile at the picture.

Sam stands behind Emma with his arms around her stomach. His neutral colored flannel and jeans compliment her flowy white top and cream cardigan. They smile at each other, and the adoring love is evident in their faces.

The ocean is a light grey color behind them, and they stand under lights strung between some wooden pillars.

"Oh, good! They chose my favorite picture." It takes Rylie a moment to register my words. "And August 6th, that's pretty soon!" I say quickly, but she doesn't address that.

"You took their engagements?" She says with a raised eyebrow.

I can't help but laugh. "I did. They wanted to keep their engagement a secret for a while longer, but they wanted the best photographer, so I was sworn to secrecy."