“How long are you going to make me wait for your answer?”
I was positive I hadn’t smiled this much in weeks as I got lost in his eyes.
“Yes. Nothing would make me happier than marrying you.”
“Even if that meant staying here in Montana?”
I chewed on my lip for a few quick seconds as I let it all soak in. “I can design from anywhere.”
Ryder grinned wide as I felt my eyes begin to water up. Wrapping his arms around me, he lifted me as he pressed his lips to mine.
He broke the kiss just enough to softly say, “I love you, Ava Moore. I love you so much.”
I’d never felt like this before. My heart felt as if it was going to explode in my chest.
“I love you too, Ryder. More than you’ll ever know.”
Another quick engagement.
My father is going to kill me … but once my mother finds out I’m going to be living in Montana … she might kill me first.
December
“RYDER, YOU LOOK like you lost a puppy or something.”
Glancing up, I smiled at my mother. “Missing Ava.”
She grinned as she put some cookies into the oven. “Have you talked to her today?”
“Yeah, first thing this morning. She was going to tell her folks today about the engagement.”
My mother stopped what she was doing and smiled. “I still can’t believe you’re getting married.”
Nate walked in and threw his gym bag on the floor while reaching into the refrigerator for a water. “It’s one and done from here out. Poor bastard.”
With her hands on her hips, our mother shot daggers at Nate. “Nate Montgomery, do not talk like that in my house. You were not raised in a barn so why do you think you can drop your stuff right here in the middle of the floor? And don’t be jealous of your brother.”
With his mouth dropped open, Nate stared at her before throwing his head back and laughing. “Jealous? Oh please, Mom. The last thing I am of Ryder is jealous.”
“Really?” she asked lifting her eyebrow. “Seems to me you’ve been in a funk since the engagement.”
Taking a long drink of his water, he shrugged. “It’s only because now I won’t get the house in Helena and I was really hoping to sell that bitch off.”
My mother’s eyes widened in horror. “Nate, you would never do such a thing.”
He winked and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, I guess we’ll never know since Ryder beat me to the altar.”
“I’m not there yet,” I said.
He looked up and thought for a moment. “That’s true. Maybe if we invite Vanessa to hang out, I might have another shot at the house.”
“Shut the fuck up, you asshole.”
“Ryder!” my mother shouted. “Do not use that language in my house!”
“He started it by bringing up Vanessa.” Pointing to Nate, he smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You know not to bring her up.”
“Why? I thought there was nothing there.”
“There isn’t!”
“Ryder. Why are you getting so upset?” my mother asked.
Nate chuckled and responded in a jacked up version of a lovey-dovey voice, “I know why. His love bug left him all alone and he’s sad.”
Walking up to Nate, my mother smacked him across the back of the head. “Knock it off. Christmas is in a few days and I’d really like it if we had no bickering.”
“Like that’s ever going to happen,” my father mumbled. Tossing his keys onto the table, he kissed my mother softly on the lips. “Hello, sweetheart. How was your day?”
“It’s been good. Even better now that you’re here.”
“Oh, for the love of Christ. That’s disgusting!”
My father turned to look at Nate. “It’s always good having you home, Nate. Always good.”
Laughing, I stood and followed my father to his office.
“So, how did the meeting go?”
Sitting in his chair, he sighed and shook his head. “Not as well as I wanted. Seems Chuck thinks he can sell for higher than his place his worth.”
“He’s determined not to keep it?”
He shook his head. “He won’t even give his daughter a chance to learn the ropes and try to run it.”
With a halfhearted laugh, I pushed my hand through my hair. “Well, I honestly find it hard to believe Destiny truly wants to run that ranch, Dad. I think what she wanted was to marry a rancher who would run it for her and allow her to keep her beloved acres. Do I think she could run it? Yes, if she put her mind to it.”
“Most likely. When I first got there and she asked how everyone was, I told her you were engaged to be married. I thought she was going to fall apart before my eyes and her father didn’t act much better.”
“So, he would rather sell it off to someone else than let us buy it?”
With a quick nod, he replied, “Pretty much.”
An idea hit me as I smiled. “What if we put an offer in on it, but he didn’t know it was us. Go in under another name.”
Trying to hide his smile, he answered, “That’s deceitful.”