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Blaine knocked on the glass countertop and said, “Thanks, Matt.” He put his arm around Tam again and said, “I’m thinking I need a really good burger. You in?”
“Are you thinking of driving for an hour before we even get to the restaurant?”
“Yes,” he said, laughing afterward. “That’s why I asked if you were in.”
Tam would gladly go to the moon and back with him. She grinned up and him and put her hand on his chest. “Yes, I’m in.”
24
Blaine eyed the rain pounding the windshield, his annoyance at Mother Nature warranted. She’d been dumping rain on Kentucky for a solid week now. This morning, the clouds had parted for a few minutes, and Blaine had managed to drive back to the jewelry shop where Tam had found two rings she liked.
The moment he’d pulled in, though, the sky had cracked, and water had been sluicing from it for a solid ten minutes. Blaine knew rainstorms in the South, and he could wait it out. He certainly wasn’t going to get soaking wet just to dash to the door of the shop. He could wait.
He checked his email on his phone and found one originally sent from Cayden about their upcoming sales season. A couple of the other brothers had already responded to it, and Blaine read quickly.
He frowned at the suggestion to change the dates of their horses-of-all-ages sale. That traditionally happened in January, and all of their buyers knew it.
Their yearling sale was happening next month, and Cayden, Blaine, and everyone else had been getting ready for it for months.
Cayden’s reason for changing the sale made sense, though, and Blaine found himself agreeing by the end of the email.Fine with me, he tapped out and sent.Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.
The reason was that the bi-annual trade show put on by the Breeders Association had just been announced for the same week as their horses-of-all-ages sale. Spur had suggested they do theirs before, but Cayden wanted to do it after. Not the week after either, but the month after, pushing things into February.
Blaine didn’t like that idea, but Cayden reasoned that then people would have purchased or missed out at the trade show, and they’d have some time to adjust their budget for the sale at Bluegrass Ranch.
The rain pounding against the top of the truck lessened, and Blaine looked up from his phone. Another few seconds, and the rain tapered even more. He made his move, striding quickly toward the entrance to the jewelry store.
This door did not have a bell that rang when he walked inside. A man met him there, and Blaine grinned at Matt, who reached out and shook his hand. “Good to see you again.”
“Sorry I’m late,” Blaine said. “The rain is ridiculous.”
“Really keeps people inside,” Matt said. “It’s ready for you. Come on back.” They chatted on the way through the store, which smelled like roses and leather at the same time. Matt opened a safe and took out a dark blue box and faced Blaine.
“We shined it up for you, and it’s been resized to the seven and a half.” He opened the lid and passed the box to Blaine.
Blaine looked down at the ring that would make Tam his, and joy lit his soul the same way it had brightened her face when she’d put that ring on her finger. Blaine wanted that same reaction whenhewas the one slipping the ring on.
“It really is a pretty ring,” he said.
“It is,” Matt said. “You know no one will have one like it either.”
“Right,” Blaine said, though that wasn’t important to him. “Custom design.” He looked up and reached into his back pocket to withdraw his credit card. He handed it to Matt and closed the box.
The transaction happened quickly, and Blaine owned the thirty-seven-thousand-dollar ring that would bind him and Tam. He smiled his way out of the shop and all the way back to the ranch.
The rain had left everything wet, but the sun had shown her face for the first time in a week, so Blaine wasn’t complaining. He would be at this time tomorrow if it rained on his plans to propose to Tam.
“I just need good weather for an afternoon,” he said, tipping his head back and looking up. “Okay, Lord? Just an afternoon.” His plans to decorate her porch with ribbons and tissue paper had gone up in smoke—or rather, water—a few days ago.
He’d been brainstorming with Spur, Cayden, and Trey as to what he could do instead. His plan was to show Tam his sketches to remodel her porch at her house tomorrow evening. She’d said she’d get dinner, and Blaine had somehow conned his brothers into decorating the porch and placing the diamond on the railing while they were eating.
Then, when Blaine took her outside to the porch to “show her something,” it would be beautiful and romantic, and he’d ask her to marry him.
If it rained, his décor would just be soggy and limp, not glowing and romantic. Worse, the lights could short circuit and start her grandmother’s house on fire.
He got out of the truck and went inside the homestead, where Spur and Olli danced in the kitchen, the music far too loud for Blaine to tolerate. He grinned at Spur’s perfect rhythm, and the way Olli laughed at him warmed his heart.
Spur laughed too, completely carefree, something Blaine hadn’t seen in him in such a long time. He took Olli into his arms, and they swayed together as they quieted. They were so wonderful together, and Blaine’s happiness reached a new sphere.
