AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Love you too – and it’s definitely the moment… possibly painkillers or something else,” Max laughed tearfully, realizing that he would not have seen any of this if his friend hadn’t been brave enough to have knocked him clean out.
“Have you thought about being an MMA fighter or something, dude? That meathook is lethal,” Max asked bluntly, grinning. “I lost brain cells when you clobbered me.”
“Heck no, Lena loves this ugly mug, and I’m not changing…oh, hello…” Jake paused, and Max turned around to see Daphne standing there in a plain ivory blouse and some pants.
“I got a text message that we were all riding into Laramie in an hour,” Daphne began and was towel-drying her hair.
Max stood there gawking, realizing just how breathtakingly beautiful she was when she smiled at him, and heard Jake’s voice near his ear, realizing the man was leaning forward whispering to him.
“Nice job, ya’ big stud. She’s not my Lena, but sure looks like your type…”
“You have no idea,” Max breathed aloud. “I’ll try to be ready in an hour.”
“I brought you some slacks. Just cinch them up in the waist,” Jake muttered, handing them to Max and then turned. “Hi, Mrs. Collins…”
“Ortega,” she said simply, looking at Max in almost a protective manner. “Did I interrupt something?”
“I feel like I should be asking that,” Jake grinned – and Max elbowed him immediately, causing his friend to laugh. “I’m marrying Lena today at the courthouse and was asking your Main Squeeze to stand up for me.”
“Ahhh,” Daphne smiled at him, and Max felt his bones soften at that simple look. “Then I better finish getting ready.”
“Bro…” Jake hissed, nudging him on the back. “You better go get that. Did you see the way she was looking at you?”
“Bye, Jake,” Max chuckled, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly with embarrassment – and then quickly making his way inside to take his friend’s advice, shutting and locking the door behind him. “Hey Daph, need any help?”
And saw her knowing smile.
Max melted.
As Max and Daphne left the cabin, he turned and saw that there was a walkway shoveled to the main cabin – and only their cabin. Someone had gone out there and shoveled the path because they knew he was on crutches and couldn’t do it. Not even the path to Gideon and Chris’ had been shoveled… which meant it was either Jake or Houghton.
The snow was deep in places, too. It had drifted on the side of the main cabin where the van was parked, nearly burying it. The snowplows were clearing the main road by pushing everything to the right onto the embankment and succeeded in blocking the long driveway. It would have required hours of shoveling by someone – but no one asked him.
Then, when they were all finally loaded in the massive van to head into town, Jill noticed Lena’s ring.
“Oh, that’s so pretty and delicate. I love that.”
“Thank you,” Lena preened. “Jake surprised me with it this morning.”
“It’s lovely.”
Chris turned to Gideon, giving him a pointed stare, causing the man to sigh heavily and roll his eyes in frustration only to feel Daphne’s eyes on him. It took everything he had not to look at her in that moment because he was fully aware that they’d married, and she did not have a wedding ring either.
Was she expecting one?
She was the one that had said at first that this was temporary – and to him, temporary marriages didn’t have big emotional gifts like diamonds.
And realized he was staring at her. Her dark eyes were looking at him with curiosity and hurt in some sort of unspoken communication between them. He’d looked at her without even realizing it and couldn’t exactly ‘un-look’ at her now. She was waiting for him to say something, so he did.
“It’s a shiny pebble. If you want one, then we’ll get you one,” he blurted out unceremoniously and saw her flinch.
Fire in the hole!He heard in his head and nearly ducked.
“That’snotit,” she hissed, glaring at him.
“Then what’sthatlook for?”
“Never mind…”
