Page 84 of The Banker and the Blue Collar Man

“Dearly beloved,” Lucas said in quite a loud voice. Then, with a wide sweeping gesture in our direction, he said, “I’d like to present the newly engaged couple, my dearest friend Dalton Gayle and our very own Jake Colter. Engaged today. Just now. Who wants to throw an engagement party with me?”

I’d never heard such a roar. Shouts of approval. A rush of people in our direction.

Lucas hugged Dalton hard. He admired my ring, tugging on my arm, then said something to Dalton about pony kegs and hot wings.

Jesse came up to me and gave me a quick hug. That meant a lot to me because I admired him as much as I had adored Walter.

Others followed. Malcolm. Gunner.

Then, finally, Xander, a bit timid, holding back. A ghost boy slipping his hand into mine. But his eyes were shining. “Can I come to your wedding?” he asked, almost too quietly for me to hear.

A wedding. I’d never been to a wedding, let alone planned one. Mentally, I flailed, but I had to answer. “Yes,” I said. “Of course you can.”

All the LGBTQ kids would be there. Everybody from the ranch would be invited. Anybody who wanted to come—and all at once, the whole thing was so far out of any semblance of control, I couldn’t catch my breath.

Xander reached over to tug on Dalton’s sleeve, then jerked his thumb in my direction.

“Oh,” Dalton said. “Give me a second,” he told the person he had been talking to.

Then he turned to me, his hands on my hands, pulling me to him.

His pretty gaze was focused entirely on me. The warmth between our bodies steadied me. His hands on my face. The way he rose on his toes to kiss me. Right there. In front of everyone I knew.

Applause. Shouts and laughter. All those sounds faded away because I had Dalton in my arms. I hugged him tightly and closed my eyes. Inhaled his scent. Felt his soft lips against my ear.

“I love you, Jake,” he whispered.

Suddenly, there was a hush. The whole room was listening.

I now had an audience for my most private, heart-sworn feelings. But in spite of that, I couldn’t deny how I felt about Dalton. So I said, loudly and clearly, as though making a vow, “And I love you, Dalton.”

I could not hear my own heart beating above the roar of sound. But I could feel Dalton’s heart beating against my ribs,the heat of his skin, and I knew he was as rattled as I was. Which steadied me. I took a breath, good and deep, and gripped both of Dalton’s hands in mine.

I turned to everyone in that dining hall. Everyone was standing. Watchful. Expectant.

“That’s enough now,” I said. “We’d like to eat.”

Laughter rose, but it was kind. I’d never realized that the people on the ranch would be so welcoming. Maybe that was because I typically had my head down, focused on the work.

Walter had warned me a time or two about that, but I’d never paid attention. Until now.

As I led Dalton to the end of the buffet line, I shook hands with anybody who wanted to shake mine, more than I usually did in a week’s time.

I let Dalton lift my left arm to show off the lovely antique ring he’d bought for me. I knew I needed to buy him one so the engagement would be truly and properly sealed.

There was a lot to do, as there always was, but now, the tasks that loomed in front of me felt joyful. Full of promise. Full of hope.

I never cried. But as I stood there and let Dalton hand me a tray, and I looked around that room, I knew I would bawl like a baby if anyone so much as said another kind word to me. I simply didn’t know what to do with all that support.

Dalton was to blame for all this. Of course he was. With his candy-floss hair and that sweet, blue-eyed smile.

I would be undone. In another moment, I was going to come apart. And having never really done that, I wouldn’t know how to pick up the pieces.

“Hey,” a voice barked behind me. It was Jesse, with a tray in his hands and an impatient look on his face. “Have those giant boots of yours taken root?”

In his eyes was laughter as he winked at me. Jesse knew me, and he was giving me a way out of the state I was in. Overcome. Awash in emotion. Being loved in front of a whole bunch of people was out of my wheelhouse. Jesse had rescued me.

“You’re welcome to go ahead,boss,” I said, laying lazy insubordination on that last word.