AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love you, Ruby Rose Bennett. More than you will ever know.” Although, Heath had a plan for later today that involved showing her exactly how much he loved her. And he hoped like hell that it would be met with an affirmative response. He didn’t know what he would do if she said no.
“I love you, too, Heath. I hope you know that.”
“I do, but just like you, I also enjoy hearing it on a regular basis.”
An alarm on his smartwatch went off. “Can you at least run me through the schedule for today?”
“Of course.” Ruby sipped her coffee. “The caterer arrives at ten. They’ll be setting up everything. Lunch, the bar, the tables and chairs out on the back patio. Guests arrive at eleven. The signs are all posted to direct everyone to park at the riding center. You’ll give your speech. We’ll do the ribbon cutting. Then you and Nolan can give everyone a quick tour of the stables and the riding corrals, and everyone will get to meet the horses, too.”
“I still can’t believe I have to make a speech.”
“After everything everyone has been through, I think it’s only fitting that you’re the one to finally put the last positive spin on everything.”
Heath sucked in a deep breath, fighting back the nerves that threatened his morning calm. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Then after that, everyone will drive back up here to the house. The caterer will have everything ready, so all we need to do is have lunch and socialize. I think we should be all done by two or three at the latest, depending on how long everyone decides to stay.”
As thrilled as Heath was about everything today, he was nervous about the socializing part. It had been about two months since the county attorney had officially dropped the case against the Grandin and Lattimore families, but he still worried about whether enough time had passed for everyone to feel as though they could truly move on. “I can’t wait until this is over.”
“But you’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.”
“I know. But I also just want to move ahead and get to the business of doing the actual work. You know, getting the people who will benefit from this here onto the ranch and riding. That’s all that matters to me.”
“And that’s why I love you, Heath Thurston. You don’t care about the spotlight. You care about getting things done.”
“Exactly why I’m not super excited to give a speech.”
“Which is why I’m here. To force you to do things you don’t want to do. Like go get in the shower. Your brother and Chelsea are going to be here in forty-five minutes.”
“You don’t want to join me?” he asked with a bob of his eyebrows.
“Normally, yes. But I have things I need to do.”
It was probably for the best. If he was going to have that time with her, he didn’t want to rush. “I’ll go get ready.”
“Sounds good.”
Heath walked down to their bedroom and got cleaned up, then dressed in a pale blue dress shirt and dark jeans, trying to strike the balance between looking nice, staying cool, and recognizing that he was going to have to show folks around a horse barn in a few hours. By the time he walked back out to the main part of the house, he saw that the caterers had arrived early and had already taken over his kitchen. Outside, they were setting up a tent to provide respite from the August sun, and luckily enough, protection from the rain if they needed it.
“This is a bit of a surprise,” he said to Ruby.
“Tell me about it. I guess better early than late, but I still need to get dressed.”
“You go. I’ll be here if anyone has any questions.”
Ruby popped up onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
Heath walked out to the back patio. The caterers were setting up tables and bringing in all sorts of supplies for lunch. He kept waiting for someone to ask him a question, but Ruby had apparently done an excellent job in preparing them. They knew exactly what they were doing, so he walked back inside. He stopped at the built-in cabinets in the living room, opened a drawer and peeked inside, just to make sure a very important item was still there. He was about to pull it out when he heard Nolan’s voice.
“Knock, knock,” Nolan said.
Heath slammed the drawer closed and hustled into the foyer, watching as Nolan closed the door behind Chelsea.
“Hey, you two,” Heath said, embracing his brother and then Chelsea. “Ruby should be out in a second.”
“I’m right here,” Ruby said, emerging from the hall that went back to the master bedroom. She gave Nolan and Chelsea a hug, then stepped to Heath’s side.
“So, we have news. And we thought now was a good time to deliver it,” Nolan said, looking conspiratorially at Chelsea.
