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“Should I be worried?”
“It could be a good thing. There are two women who need to relocate. A mother and daughter. I thought maybe the mother would be a good fit to run your bed and breakfast unless you have someone else in mind.”
“I don’t. But if they’re in trouble…”
“Oh, they’re good people. The daughter is a registered nurse. I’m going to ask Miles if he needs a nurse in his office. Otherwise, I’m sure she would be willing to help at the B&B.”
“I trust you. If you trust this friend and them, we could do that.”
His smile warmed my insides and my mind drifted to the moment we’d get home. I was ready for him to show me all the ways he could love me.
“I also hear that Blake Walker and Jack Torres are coming back to town,” he said.
“Really? Maybe we should throw them a welcome home party at the bar?”
“You have the kindest heart. I think that’s a good thing. We should let them know they’re our heroes.”
My head spun with ideas. I’d see if the mayor wanted to get involved if they didn’t have anything else planned.
When we finished eating, Aiden took my hand and led me into the trees.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “I was hoping to go home.” I winked at him.
“Walk with me,” he said. “I’ll make up for it later.”
I bit my lip because I knew he would. “Where are you taking me?” I asked as we were crossing into private property.
He just smiled. Not long after we reached the creek where the most beautiful bridge stood. A man named Henry Davis had built it for his then girlfriend, now wife. Lore had it, he built it to propose to her on it. My heart galloped like wild horses.
I followed him onto the bridge treading lightly. He stopped us at the middle.
Aiden
It felt like I’d waited a lifetime for this moment. Though I could see that she understood why I’d brought her here, I had no idea about what I was going to say next.
“Do you remember when I told you that I got some advice once?”
She bobbed her head.
“Your dad gave me that advice.”
As her eyes widened, I thought back to that day.
“Aiden,” Mr. Hawkins said when I walked into the bar. “Back from school?”
I’d gotten back into town earlier that day from college and my first thought was to come here. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re still not old enough to drink.” He eyed me suspiciously.
Emma walked into view and she’d only gotten prettier since the last time I’d seen her. She hadn’t looked in my direction, so I got my fill.
“You’re here for Emma, are you?”
I snapped my head back in his direction. I wasn’t sure what to say. Emma’s dad was famous for busting the balls of any guy he didn’t think deserved any of her attention. “Yes, sir,” I admitted because it was better than lying.
He nodded. “Well, at least your eyes weren’t on her ass,” he muttered.
I shook my head, nerves getting the better of me. “No, sir.”
“Joe and Mary raised a good boy. You have my permission to ask her out.”
I’d heard she wasn’t dating which was why I came. Every time I’d wanted to ask her out in the past, she had a boyfriend, or I had a girlfriend.
“However,” he began. “Let me give you some advice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re going back to college when summer is over, right?”
I agreed.
“I like you. When I saw you looking at my daughter, it reminded me of how I looked at my wife. I want the man that marries my daughter to love her the way I loved her mother.”
“Uhhh.”
He grinned. “What I’m saying, Aiden, is do you want a summer with my daughter or maybe a lifetime? If you date her over the summer, it will end when you go back to school.”
“Sir—”
“You will be far apart and we both know that there will be temptations at school. If you break her heart now, you may not get a second chance.”
I got what he was saying. Even though I’d broken things off with Darcy before my freshman year thinking I was doing the right thing, she’d still been upset.
“You need to decide if you want Emma’s heart for a summer or for lifetime.”
When I finished recounting the past, I blinked away the memory and saw Emma crying. Since I thought they were happy tears, I knelt before her, pulling out the box with the ring I’d gotten a few weeks ago from Ryder’s jewelry store.
“I know how important it would be for you to have your Dad’s approval. I hope maybe that’s what he gave me.” I took a breath. “I’m asking, will you give me a lifetime and do me the honor of being my wife?”
Emma
I wasn’t sure I could speak, but there was so much I had to say. I tugged him to his feet and his expression showed signs of alarm. I smiled. “I need to tell you some things before I answer, and I didn’t want you kneeling there that long.”
