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“I’ll need more than that. Thank goodness I’m leaving for a few weeks, or I wouldn’t be able to forget the way Cal almost knocked over my cake. My cake!” Mae wailed into her hands.
“I thought you didn’t do wine until dinner, Mom,” he said, pointing to the buffet that had just opened.
“That rule is exempt when I cook dinner for two hundred strangers. Now, distract me, please. Tell me when you two are going to have one of these of your own.”
“Oh, hush,” Mae tried, but Grace waved her off.
Bennett groaned. “I’m gonna kill Jax for leaving us alone,” he whispered to Maggie.
But she was unfazed. The whole town was delighted to see the couple back together and hadn’t been shy with their hopes of attending another wedding on the heels of this one. That Grace had an opinion on the matter was hardly a surprise.
“I can’t answer that for sure, but I do know we’ve probably run out the statute of limitations on me answering from the last time he asked. But I know I love your son.”
Bennett kissed Maggie’s cheek and she felt the heat from his lips spread across her exposed skin.
“And that’s all I needed to hear, Maggie. Now, I’ve got to find Cal and share my thoughts on those infernal birds he allowed to escape over the town. I swear if I find one smattering of dove poop on my porch, he’s personally coming to clean it up.” Grace got up and gestured to Mae she do the same.
“I think my new goal in life is to be as confident as your mom when she’s going to give the mayor a piece of her mind.”
“We should all strive to be renegades like Grace Marshall. I just don’t think Deer Creek is big enough for more than one of her,” Bennett said, laughing.
Another clap of thunder rattled against the mountain face across from Harmon’s north field.
Maggie trembled, but she was protected by Bennett’s solid strength beside her. It was, and would always be, the most comforting feeling. Second only was how his support extended to her work as well. The contracts with her Austin-based partnership with Orin had been signed, those with MBE were fulfilled, and her ranch was on its way to healing from the fire that had come close to ravishing it. It would take time, but time she had. All of that was only accomplished thanks to Bennett’s gentle guidance and willingness to listen to her ideas and support or improve upon them as needed.
Though she’d always been attracted to the strong cowboy who filled out a flannel beautifully—and looked just as good naked on her satin sheets—it was his heart and mind that she truly loved. He was her partner through and through.
And yeah, as it turned out, his kind of help wasn’t so bad. It made her better and stronger.
Now, they were headed off on a road trip to Montana to pick up a hundred cattle they’d purchased and, in the process, dropping off the first of her new line of equipment meant for colder temperatures, manufactured by Orin.
Though the trip was a far cry from the beaches of St. Barts, it was a fantasy of Maggie’s come true—life on the road, doing what she loved with a man she loved as much, if not more.
Bennett tipped her head up and kissed her softly on the lips. Definitely more.
“You know, my mom was onto something back there.”
“About birds and the public health crisis they bring with them?”
“Yes, but also about us. Have you given any thought as to what time of year you’d like to get married?”
Maggie almost choked. “Married? Are you serious? Your mom and everyone else are just teasing us.”
“Are they?”
“We’ve only been dating two weeks.”
“And I’ve loved you a lifetime.”
She smiled as his lips met hers again. The truth was, she’d have married him on the spot that day she’d come across him on the sandy canyon floor, bruised and broken and so wholly beautiful because of what he’d done to save her ranch, to save her.
“I was thinking of a fall wedding,” he continued. “The trees changing color as we shed our own pasts with them. It’d be spectacular.” She nodded in agreement. “But that would mean quick planning on our part.”
“Wait, what?” she sputtered. Confusion dawned on her face until she pieced together what he meant. “You mean this fall? But we aren’t even engaged.”
A loud crack and bright light off to the west was followed by a tear of booming thunder that sent the rest of the guests under the tent to avoid the torrent of rain that opened up around them.
She made to follow them, but Bennett held her tight, dropping out of his chair and onto the ground.
