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Holding their wedding reception in the barn was as glorious as she’d imagined and more. Her momma had even made a surprise appearance, though her majesty Mariah Swede—as Cole dubbed her after he’d found Eva crying—had to cut out early due to the “noise.” Her father had proved more resilient, grinning broadly from ear to ear during the cake cutting and the bouquet throwing. Anything for his baby.
Devlin Trout had even grown misty eyed during the daddy-daughter dance.
And that was the thing—he was still her daddy, no matter what, even if he’d treated the whole wedding like she was playing house. He’d made all sorts of comments meant to entice her back to the glittering lifestyle in Nashville that he’d raised her in, but she was nothing like her momma. She had every intention of staying in her marriage for the long haul!
Daddy seemed vaguely disappointed with her talk of calving season and taking on Lily’s garden and raising a calf named Dopey, but he’d change his tune when the grandbabies came.
He was a softie. A criminal, but a softie.
Bless the man.
“Okay,” Cole said, finally coming to a decision on his birthday requests. He rested his head against hers. “I’m thinking a mermaid outfit with shells, definitely shells.”
“Mermaid?” She shook with fake outrage. “You’re still going on about my clothes?”
“Oh, I must be getting to you.” He brought her closer. “That southern accent’s coming out.”
“I thought maybe you’d tell me what you want for dinner.”
He broke into a grin. “No, you didn’t.”
Maybe not.
She liked it when he was scandalous.“You’re going to have to save your pennies if you want this mermaid outfit, Cole, but don’t forget… we’re still saving up for our anniversary trip to Hawaii.”
Her daddy had meant it. He’d officially cut her from the business, along with Cole—that meant no allowance, no surprise trips, no expensive gifts, so they’d only gone to Virginia Beach for their honeymoon. Still, starting fresh with her husband wouldn’t have worked any other way, and Eva couldn’t be happier.
Their sweet little cottage had been built in the middle of the maze in his momma’s rose garden. Cadence had mentioned to her how Lily had always wanted to put a guesthouse in there with a sun room that made up almost half of the structure. Anyone could look out the windows in the guest room and fall asleep and wake up to roses.
Not incredibly practical, but the brothers had all been convinced of its importance when Cadence pointed out that it was also walking distance to the barn, and so the newlyweds could take care of the animals from there.
Win, win.
Eva loved her glass home—though she loved the privacy of her kitchen, bedroom, and living room even more. As delightful as she thought it would be at first, sleeping under the glass dome was not going to get a five star review from Eva Trout Slade!
Waking up to a maze of skeletal rose bushes covered in tarps was in a word, unimpressive. The rest of that yard still needed to be cultivated, and the winter snow was super blinding and annoying in the mornings.
Still, it didn’t matter. Her eyes were all on Cole.
Exactly how they were now. Cole smoothed her hair from her face and neck, having full access to her skin, so that he could surprise her with his kisses.
Joke was on him. She was never surprised. She anticipated every single one… with impatience.
Laughing, he squeezed her tightly while arguing his case for the mermaid outfit. “You’ll need something to wear in Hawaii.”
“Shells? Ha, we’re notthatpoor.” She’d never thought those words would ever slip from her mouth, but in a way, starting fresh as a newlywed felt very, very good. Swinging around, she caught her husband’s lips with hers to show him that they didn’t need to hurry their trip to Hawaii to have a good time.
With no strings attached to her daddy’s purse, Eva had never felt so free… and so industrious. Lately, everything she ate, created, and bought came from the labor of her hands and Cole’s.
That kind of teamwork felt incredible.
Cole drew back, closing his eyes as he rested his cheek against hers. “You don’t mind that you don’t have all the things that you used to have?”
Was he being serious right now? Searching his suddenly sober expression, she hastened to reassure him. “Babe… we’re rich. I have you. That’s all I want.”
He smiled and quite suddenly jerked her from Dopey, pulling her into the hay. Well, that fresh movehad surprised her! Dopey let out another sound of complaint when she let go of his bottle. She stared up at Cole, feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world as he studied her. His fingers explored her hair before his face lowered to hers where he found her lips and kissed herabsolutelysenseless.
She took her breaths when she could get them, never wanting him to release her, though his perfect, pert nose definitely needed to go—it kept getting in the way of his mouth.
