Motioning toward the square box, I tell her to open it.
Slowly, she pulls off the lid, and her face lights with a smile.
“A hummingbird! Brady, I love it.” She leans over to kiss me and then holds out her arm. “Put it on me?”
I clasp the bracelet on her wrist where a little hummingbird dangles between two garnets. They’re birthstones for her January birthday.
“It’s beautiful. I love it." She pauses a moment. “Hey, um, did you open the gift I left you?” she asks, barely above a whisper.
I drag her chair closer and nuzzle against her neck. “I loved it so much, I didn’t think I could survive one more fucking minute without dragging your ass home.” I nip her ear as I lace our fingers together. She looks a little dazed as she smiles up at me. I like knowing I make her just as crazy as she makes me. “By the way, tomorrow night, we’re going out to celebrate your birthday.”
Her grin widens. “How do you know about my birthday?”
“I learned a lot of things from your driver’s license.” Like the fact that her birthday is tomorrow.
“So… we’re going out, out? Like on an actual date?”
“Like an actual date. Seeing how you are my actual girlfriend, I thought it might be nice.”
She bounces in her seat. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I hear there’s a great restaurant in the Tower of Americas in San Antonio. You can see the whole city from up there. I made reservations. Izzy is staying with the Macs, and we can take our time.”
She jumps into my lap, wrapping me in a hug, and I push my nose into her hair.
“Love you, Brady.”
“Love you, too, Kit Kat.” And I plan to show her just how much.
Epilogue
KATHERINE
- Eight months later -
Oh, dear Lord, I’m tired. We harvested the last of our lavender crop today. My hands are sore, my legs ache, and my feet feel like they might fall off, but I’ve never felt more satisfied. Seeing those wheelbarrows full of our first harvest—Brady’s and mine—was amazing.
I’m ready to collapse into bed when two strong arms wrap around me.
“Hmm.” I lean back against Brady. His damp chest fits against my back. “You smell good.”
“Wish we could’ve taken that shower together,” he growls in my ear.
I chuckle. As amazing as it’s been to have my family in town to help with the lavender, it’s definitely put a damper on our sexy times.
“It’s better if my dad doesn’t kill you,” I tease.
Really, my dad loves Brady. He took one look at all of the improvements Brady made on the farm this spring, and I swear he swooned a little. But we do go out of our way to not flaunt our living arrangement in his face.
Brady groans. “Why did we decide to have everyone over tonight?”
“Because my family is heading back to Corpus the day after tomorrow. What time are your parents coming over this evening?”
He pulls out his phone and glances at the time. “Half an hour. Mom said she’s bringing that recipe you asked for.”
“Oh, good.” Turning around, I thread my fingers through his damp hair. “See how nice it is to have them close by?”
He grumbles because they call him every ten minutes, but I know deep down he likes being needed by them.
Turns out they sold their landscaping business to Jose, who had been running it in Brady’s absence. And they realized that if they sold their house in Boston, they could get something much more affordable here. I might have sent them a few property listings. Anyway, they bought a small home two miles away from us and still had plenty left over in savings for their retirement.
I love his parents. Adore them. In fact, his mom was a big advocate of Brady staying here and fighting for our relationship. His dad supported it too, but his mom was the one who told him she’d kick Brady's ass if he let me go.
His parents aren’t the only ones doing better financially. Brady’s situation has turned around too. Fortunately, his roommate in Boston had his girlfriend move in, so Brady was off the hook for the lease.
Once we settled in here after the holidays, he offered me a partnership to help him run the farm, which I gladly accepted, and my first order of business was to expand our bath products. I didn’t have to look that far because Frank, one of our customers at the farmers’ fair, loved my lotions and soaps so much, his company bought the exclusive rights to sell our whole body line. And since Frank and I hit it off so well, he hired me as a part time consultant, which means I can work from home.
So for the first time in ages, the farm is doing really well. Now, Brady only works in Austin when he wants to.