Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
For a moment, they said nothing, then Bob snickered.
“Dammit, I wish I had seen the takedown.”
Laura grinned. “I bet it was epic.”
John grinned. “It was.”
We shared a laugh, especially when John reenacted the way Preston fell. “What a wimp. She’s a quarter of his size. I’m surprised she even found anything to hit.”
I chuckled. Compared to John, Preston was certainly lacking in size and knowledge. Sex with him had never been great, but he’d always told me it was my fault. I knew differently now.
Laura shook her head. “How is it she is so like you with no shared DNA?”
“What?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
She leaned forward, happy to tell her story.
“You were about ten. It was later in the day, and Dad was in the storeroom. Mom had a difficult customer who was arguing with her at the counter. You didn’t like how aggressive he was being, and suddenly, you grabbed a rake from the display beside the register and told this guy to back off and leave your mother alone. I ran and got Dad. He calmed everyone down, and the customer apologized and left. You were so upset, and Dad took you out back. I thought you were going to get punished for yelling at a customer, so I followed to ask him not to. But Dad hugged you and said he was proud of you for protecting your mom. After he closed the store, he took us all out for ice cream, but you got a triple scoop.” She tilted her head. “You don’t recall that?”
John huffed out a laugh. “Now that you reminded me, I do.” He grinned at me. “I guess Pumpkin is like me. Must be the farmer gene that has kicked in.”
We all laughed.
He winked. “I’m good with that.”
I leaned forward and kissed him. “Me too.”
Laura clapped her hands. “Okay, let’s discuss this wedding.”
I sat on the porch, the cool of the evening welcome. Abby was asleep in her bed, tucked up with Enid, Fluffy, and Flipper, the new dolphin. She was happy and content. She had had no nightmares last night, and not once had she mentioned her father or what had happened. John was right. It was a moment, and she wasn’t dwelling on it, so neither was I.
We had chatted about various options with Laura. All we really knew was we wanted to be married soon and it would be small.
I liked the idea of being married here, in the backyard, with his family and a few friends. The only people I would invite would be Cathy and her family and my staff.
John seemed fine with it, although Laura had a place she wanted me to see. I agreed because she seemed so excited to show it to me.
John came out, sitting next to me, but first dropping a kiss to my mouth. “Hey.”
I cupped his face, bringing it back to mine. “Hi.”
He rocked for a moment. “You don’t have to go look at this place with Laura. She’s just excited.”
“I don’t mind.”
“She says it’s pretty.” He bumped my foot with his. “I want you to have pretty.”
I reached out my hand, and we laced our fingers together.
“The fireflies are busy tonight,” I observed.
“They are.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe we could get married in the evening and have little blinking lights.”
“That would be nice,” I agreed.
He sighed. “Laura gave me shit.”
“About?”
“I told you I loved you in a totally unromantic way. I asked you to marry me without getting on one knee, no ring, and no flowery promises. She says I botched it up.”
I shook my head. “I disagree. I love that you told me for no reason. And your proposal was said with love. I don’t need the flowery promises. I need you. Your heart. Your love.”
“You have it. All of it. But if you like the pretty place, I want you to have that too, okay?”
I smiled. “Okay.”
He stood, holding out his hand. “Let’s go to bed, darlin’. I’ve got some fireflies lighting up my pants I want to show you.”
I let him pull me from the chair. “I can hardly wait to see.”
It was Friday before we made it to see the venue. The week had been busy at the restaurant and on the farm. Still, John found time to load up my furniture and bring it out to the farm, rebuilding the bedroom set in the other guest room for Abby, who was beyond thrilled we were staying. I wasn’t sure her feet were touching the ground yet. Every day, John would appear at the restaurant and follow me to the house to help me pack up a few boxes to add to our ever-growing invasion of the farmhouse. But his smile never left his face, and last night, I had looked around, amazed how quickly emptying the place had happened. It helped when your landlord owned the house, had family and staff with trucks, and was determined not to give you a chance to change your mind.