Chapter 28 #3
My brothers didn’t part for him. They had all turned to face Gideon and were barriers around me, blocking off the opening to get behind the bar. I tried to nudge Teller and Tenor out of the way, but I might as well have shoved at concrete walls.
“Gideon? What are you doing here?” I had to be hallucinating.
But my brothers wouldn’t be on guard for some other tall man with broad shoulders, dark hair, and piercing green eyes.
Except if Gideon were really here, he’d look like a corporate god instead of dressing in the same clothing he’d moved cattle in and the coat he’d bought for his brief return to a Montana winter.
“I deleted that goddamn email.” His voice was smoother and richer than any bourbon we could produce. And it was real. He was here.
“What email?”
His gaze finally jumped to Teller, then Tate, and finally Tenor before swinging back to me. “You know which one.”
The only movement behind him were my sisters creeping closer. They were a lot shorter than the guys, but they’d still jump Gideon and hide his body if he hurt me.
Did he have any idea what he had walked into?
Wait—he’d deleted the email. The email. “Why? You weren’t sending those documents.”
Every day I’d cringe when I checked my inbox.
Every day, I’d exhale a relieved sigh, then pass through hope to despair, only to fret about checking my email the next day.
I couldn’t keep doing that. I couldn’t keep wondering if he was just too busy to even think about me enough to sever the weak tie between us.
“You’re my wife, Autumn. I want to keep it that way.”
I laughed. The sound just burst out of me. He wanted to keep me? To keep us? “You won’t leave your job.”
“I just did.”
My vocal cords froze. He’d quit?
“I told them I got married two months ago, and living apart wasn’t worth the paycheck.” He waved a hand toward the window. “Then I packed my things and bought a pickup to drive here.”
He’d bought a pickup. I couldn’t read into that. So he had a mode of transportation. Most people did.
The guy rarely left Silver.
But he was here.
“I stopped to talk to Dad first,” he said softly. “Or I’d have been here earlier. But I couldn’t see you until I cleared a few things up with him.”
The ache in my chest lessened. He’d called him Dad instead of Hank. No. I was reading too much into this. His life was in upheaval. “What about the other job offer?”
“I told Harold I’d be interested in investing with him on smaller projects, but first I have some playground equipment to buy for a school in my hometown. I am otherwise unemployed.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway. We’re millionaires.”
Another laugh burst out of me. Yes, I was financially comfortable. When my family’s companies depended on the economy, grain prices, and taxes, we tended to be savers and not spenders. “I’m not rich, Mr. Casino.”
“You’re my wife. We’re rich. My lawyer’s going to make the postnup go away—unless you’re afraid I’ll have some say on your property.
It doesn’t matter to me because we’re never getting divorced.
” He swung his gaze across my family members.
Seemingly undaunted by their presence and the still quiet bar, he continued, “All that money is what I saved to buy Percival. Now it’s what I can live on.
If you don’t mind having a househusband. ”
I stared at him. Rich. Househusband. None of this was making sense.
He glanced back and forth between Teller and Tenor. They moved aside finally and I was exposed.
“I’ve missed you.” Gideon crossed to me.
“I’ve done nothing but miss you and regret that I couldn’t be the guy that you want.
Then I saw that damn email. I can’t lose you, Autumn.
The month I had with you was the best of my life.
I want more. I want forever with you. I want kids.
I want more cats. A dog. Maybe a bigger house, but our current home will do until our family grows. ”
Fear tore through me, got smothered by hope, only to turn to disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“I’m so goddamn sure. The talk I had with Dad cleared a lot of things up. I grew up being told everything in my life revolved around Percival and that’s not what my mom wanted for me. Dad knew it and that’s why he wouldn’t sell to me.”
“Oh, Gideon.” I put my hand on his hard chest. He was so warm. So real.
“It was the best thing he could’ve done for me. I thought I was losing my legacy, the only place I thought of as home, but you’re my home, Autumn. Wherever you are is home.” He dug in his coat pocket and dropped to one knee.
Stunned, I could only watch. What was happening?
He opened a small black velvet box. “I know you already have a ring, but this was the one I was going to buy you in the first place.”
The five-carat diamond from the wedding chapel. “Gideon.”
“I know you won’t wear it, but I needed to do this. I have to be the husband I wasn’t during our first month. I love you so damn much. So, Autumn Kerrigan. Will you stay married to me?”
My fantasy was on his knee before me, offering me everything I wanted. “Oh god, yes.” I flung myself at him. He caught me before my knees hit the floor. I was in his arms again, his mouth pressed against mine, and I no longer felt empty. “I love you too.”