CHAPTER 41
Owen
Standing outside of Mayor Stevens house at three in the morning wasn’t on my list of things to get done, but it would’ve been a lie to say I wasn’t nearly bouncing with excitement.
A light turned on in the house and then Stevens was pulling the door open with a baseball bat in one hand and the other clutching a pink robe over his naked body. “What the hell is going on?”
Billie gasped. “I know that robe.”
From deeper in the house, Margaret James’s disembodied voice called back. “No, you don’t.”
“If you marry us right now, we’ll keep this between us.” I wrapped my arm around Billie. “I mean right now, though.”
“You’re getting married?!” Margaret’s voice came closer and then the woman herself appeared next to the mayor with one of his shirts covering her. “It worked!”
Billie shook her head, like she was clearing away cobwebs, and cleared her throat. “Wow.”
Margaret pointed her finger at Billie. “I don’t want to hear a word.”
Billie held up her hands. “I just…why?”
“Because sometimes the sex is just too good and fate has a sense of humor. I can’t tell you any more than that.” The older woman patted Stevens on the chest. “Marry them and then come back to bed.”
Keaton shuddered and pulled Billie into his chest. “Maybe we should come back tomorrow?”
Stevens smirked. “She’ll still be here then. Might as well go ahead and do this since you’ve got me out of bed.”
The whole thing was over in less than ten minutes and we were back home within an hour of leaving. None of us had rings, there wasn’t a party waiting to congratulate us, and we were all still a little dazed at seeing Margaret and Stevens together. None of that mattered, though. Not when Turtle greeted us each like we were his favorite person and the bed was still warm as we settled into it. All that mattered was that Billie was ours.
I fashioned a ring out of a piece of my shirt I ripped off and slipped it over Billie’s finger while she rested her head on my chest and giggled happily. She wiggled her fingers to show off her makeshift ring and let out a happy sounding sigh.
“That was impulsive.” She must’ve felt Gray stiffen behind her because she looked back at him. “That’s not a declaration of regret. I’m just…surprised. This happened so fast.”
“It’s been happening for almost a year, B. Just because we weren’t listening to fate, or whatever, doesn’t mean it wasn’t already in the works. The moment your parents left this place to you and the moment our family ranch back in Texas got too cramped, it was happening.” I kissed her shoulder and smiled. “Do you think we should stay here or move back into the main house?”
Keaton grunted. “If we move back into the main house, everyone else has to go. They’re too interested. I would’ve even put it past Jamison to get caught holding a glass up to his ear, against the wall of our room.”
Billie sat up and turned around so she could face us. “I want to stay here, if it’s okay. Eventually, maybe, I’ll want to go back to the main house, but this place only has memories of me…and us.”
Gray sat up, too. “We’ll live wherever you want to live, B.”
“Here. And if we have a baby, there’s a room right next door for a nursery.” Her eyes went soft. “Maybe we could add a doorway between the two. When the kids are older, we could use it as our closet. I don’t know. I don’t think I have enough stuff to need a walk-in closet, but maybe you guys do.”
I frowned. “We’ll fix that.”
“What? You having enough stuff for a walk-in closet?”
“No. We’ll fix that you don’t have enough. Whatever you want, it’s yours.” I sat up and moved so I could lean against the headboard. I motioned her closer and she immediately crawled between my legs and settled against my chest. “Plus, if you’re anything like our sisters, you’ll need closet space for hundreds of pillows and blankets.”
Keaton yawned. “No.”
Billie made a threatening noise. “No, what?”
“No to a thousand pillows that we have to move every night and morning.” He groaned when he glanced back and saw Billie’s annoyed face. “Please?”
The conversation went on like that for a while before the day caught up with us and we settled under the blankets. Billie dropped off to sleep as soon as her eyes closed and Keaton followed soon after. In the darkness, I knew Gray was still awake. I held Billie closer and waited to see if Gray had anything to say.
“I’m sorry.” His quiet words were explosive inside my head. “I was stubborn about not touching her when we all knew there was something here all along. I cost us time with her.”
“You weren’t the only one, Gray. And it doesn’t matter. What matters is that she’s here now. She agreed to marry us. That’s our t-shirt ring on her finger.” I smiled as Billie scrunched up her face in her sleep and wrapped her arm around me. “We’re all lucky she’s so forgiving.”
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure she knows how much she’s loved. She’ll never have to wonder. I want to go ahead and fill out paperwork, too, making sure the ranch goes directly to her if anything happens to us. I want to set up a trust that will guarantee she can run this place for as long as she wants.”
Billie grumbled in her sleep and her face twisted in annoyance. She rolled over and tucked herself under Gray’s chin. When he started talking again, she fumbled with her fingers and nearly took out his eye before managing to put her finger over his mouth. “Shhh. Quiet, please.”
Gray looked over her head at me with one eye squeezed shut. He shook his head and blew out a deep breath before resting his chin on top of her head and holding her tight.
Reaching behind her, Billie grabbed the front of my shorts and almost wounded my dick with her blind grabbing. She tugged me closer and smiled when I pressed into her back. Her eyes remained closed and she was lightly snoring in seconds.
I met Gray’s eyes and shook my head. “I’m not sure how we ever believed we could stay away from her.”
“Stupidity, I guess.”