Page 30 of Ella’s Data

“How else were we supposed to celebrate this?” I ask, waving my left hand in front of her face.

“You make a good point,” she muses, snickering. “Did you take time to discuss when you want to get married?” she asks.

“Believe it or not, we talked,” I admit. To myself I think, when we weren’t getting busy. “Neither of us want to wait very long, but between the assignment that ends right before Christmas, and then the one I’m already scheduled to take in January, it’s looking like it’ll be February before we can do it.”

“Unless you go to the courthouse,” she muses. “But I’m just saying, there are three little girls who want to be flower girls, and as your card-carrying best friend, I will be pissed if I can’t wear a beautiful dress to watch you marry him.”

“I want our family, all of our family to be there,” I reply. “Data’s going to talk to Rebel and see if he thinks we can do it out at the farm. He said that’s where Rebel and Holly got married, and because Esther and Paul have been married for decades, it would bring us good luck.”

“February would give us enough time to find dresses,” she says as we move to the next area and begin cleaning.

“Would we find one when I come home for Christmas?” I ask.

“I’ll check to see where Holly got hers if you want,” she offers.

“Might be a good idea. I presume if we have it out at the farm, we’ll need to be dressed for the weather.”

“That’s true, but so you know, I’ve been told that Paul has portable heaters that use generators that they used for Rebel and Holly’s wedding. I’m telling you, outside of the colors you want to use, a lot of it is already in storage. They’ve got an arch, which me and the girls can revamp to reflect your color scheme, plenty of chairs for everyone, and even though there’s a ton of us these days, the farm is big enough for the reception as well.”

“Do you think we should consider a physical house?” I question. “I mean, I use an RV when I’m on a travel assignment, but he lives at the clubhouse.”

“Why don’t you wait to do that until you decide you’re ready to start a family?” she suggests.

“Good plan. If I hadn’t been such a pussy back then, we’d probably already be at that point,” I mutter.

“I think it all happened the way it was meant to, Ella,” she says, pulling me in for a hug.

“I think you’re right,” I agree. “Now, let’s get the prospects over here to take care of the hay bales. We’ve got the rest all sorted out and ready to be revamped next year.”

EPILOGUE

Ella

“Explain to me again how we got talked into taking two kittens?” Data asks as we drive the RV over to the clubhouse. It’s our last hurrah before we hit the road and this past week has been ridiculously busy.

Rebel wanted us to take the bigger RV; I wanted to take mine. So, we compromised and will use the club’s RV, since the car hauler that’s hitched on the back is too big for my car to safely pull due to the weight of his truck and bike. The bonus is that their RV has a stackable washer and dryer which means no more laundromats!

“I told Esther I’d take one when Paul found the box with the momma and her kittens,” I admit as Circe and Zeus purr on my lap. “They’re both already fixed and have all their shots, plus they’ve been microchipped. They’re harness trained, too, Data.”

“Okay, so how did you go from one to two?” he probes.

“So Circe wouldn’t get lonely when we were working,” I reply, turning my head to grin at him.

He shakes his head while chuckling. “Guess it’ll be good practice for down the line, huh?” he teases.

“I want a few years of it just being us,” I remind him. “I wasted too many years.”

“You did not and since we’ve already discussed this, I’m not gonna rehash it now,” he rebuts.

Deciding to change the subject, I ask, “You’re sure that the club’s okay with you traveling?”

“I’ve got what I need to ensure I can handle anything that comes up,” he replies. “You okay with sharing a wedding anniversary with Rebel and Holly?”

“Couldn’t think of two better examples of overcoming adversity,” I tell him. “It was either them or Esther and Paul, and I don’t want to wait that long to become your wife.”

“Good answer,” he says.

“You’ll let me know how you do on your test, right?” I ask Fee as we stand by my door.