Page 124 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
No, we were not.
We’d spent the morning making love, relaxing and eating a big brunch while we discussed wedding plans. To my surprise, Silas had more ideas for the wedding than I’d thought he would. He wanted to get married in the quaint one-room country church about thirty miles from town and hoped that we could host a reception afterward here at the ranch.
Four months gave me just enough time to secure the church, rent the biggest white tent I could find and organize the excess of other wedding details. It would be a lot of work, but neither one of us wanted to delay. Gigi, Maisy and Emmeline had already been drafted to help and I was praying Sabrina’s troubles would be over by then so she could be my maid of honor.
My to-do list was up to three pages by the time Silas left to do some work and I came outside to meet Paxon for some afternoon showings.
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“Where are you taking me today?” he asked.
It had taken me a while to find some properties that fit his budget, but thankfully, he hadn’t been in a rush. Now, three places had happened to come up all at once so he had a selection to pick from.
“I’ve got three places to show you. Two are nice little duplexes on the north side of town a couple blocks from Main Street. The third is my favorite and I’m hoping you pick it.”
“Oh, yeah? How come?”
I winked. “It’s a surprise. You’ll just have to wait and see. But you realize that once you buy a house, you’ll have to move out of the motel, right?”
“I suppose it’s probably time.” He pouted and kicked at the dirt. “Maisy could use an actual tenant. She won’t let me pay her full price.”
Life had been pretty easy for Paxon these last few months so it wasn’t a surprise he’d kept delaying our house hunt. Somehow, he’d managed to convince Maisy to do his laundry and he joined her and Coby for dinner most nights.
“I’m sure Maisy’s just happy to have you there. Half price is better than nothing.”
“True,” he said. “She doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve been sneaking money into Coby’s piggy bank.”
“She’ll appreciate that one day. Ready to go?” I asked as I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Jeez.” He winced and shielded his eyes. “Put that thing away before you blind me.”
I wiggled my fingers and smiled, inspecting the beauty on my left hand. After Silas’s proposal yesterday, he had given me my gorgeous ring as we’d driven to the ranch. It was a flawless, two-carat, oval diamond solitaire set on top a simple, yellow-gold band.
I had attacked him with kisses and he’d been forced to pull over to avoid a crash.
“Come on, Mrs. Grant. Stare at your rock on your own time,” Paxon teased, forcing my eyes from my hand.
I smiled at my future name. Silas had been calling me that since we’d gotten home yesterday, and though Paxon saying it was nice, it wasn’t nearly as good as hearing it from my handsome fiancé.
“Paxon!” Elliot hustled down the steps of the big house. He jogged across the gravel lot and came to Pax’s side. “Glad I caught you. Before you head out, would you mind signing your insurance paperwork for me? I finally got it from the insurance company and wanted to get it back to them this afternoon.”
“Sure, boss.”
“Great.” Elliot clamped a hand on Paxon’s shoulder. “It’s on my desk. Red sticker by the places you need to sign.”
Pax nodded. “Be right back, Felicity.”
Elliot watched Paxon disappear into the house before turning to me. The friendly attitude he’d had with Pax vanished the second his eyes landed on my ring finger. “I’m not okay with this.”
“Shocking,” I deadpanned. “And here I was, thinking you were going to congratulate me and welcome me into your family.”
“This isn’t going to happen.”
“It is. In August.” I stressed the month. Nothing he could say would keep me from marrying his son.
“If you marry Silas, he won’t inherit this ranch.”
Except maybe that.
