Chapter 20
It was Nora who found out about Jacob and Pearl, when Jacob called to welcome her to the family.
When she answered and heard that big, booming voice, she knew he was well on the way to being healed.
“How’s my girl, this morning? Are you all settled into the Austin scene?”
“I’m getting there,” she said. “Are you ready for another girl in your family?”
“Aw, honey, I always thought you’d be the first. Right now, I’m about as happy as a man can get. I have my sons. You and Angie are like daughters to me. And I cleared the slate between me and Pearl.”
Nora gasped. “Wait. What are you saying? Are you and Pearl back together?”
“Getting there,” Jacob said.
“This is the best news, ever! You do know I can’t keep this a secret,” she said.
He laughed. “It’s not a secret in Crossroads, that’s for sure. No reason it needs to be. Anyway, I suspect I’m interfering with your work. Next time I see you, I expect a big hug. Tell Asher that I’m proud of you both.”
“I will, I will,” Nora said. “So glad you called, and even happier that you are still in the world with us.”
“Lord have mercy, sugar, so am I,” he said.
The call ended, but the smile on Nora’s face was still there. “Oh my gosh. OH. MY. GOSH. Jacob and Pearl!”
She did a little two-step across the floor on her way to the office, then sat down and sent a text to Asher.
Your dad called. All is well. More than well.
He and Pearl are an item. I think we’re going to need two round-trip tickets for our wedding.
Jacob and Pearl. The weirdest thing. Brenda broke them up.
And the secrets she left behind were the trigger that also brought them back together. Karma is real.
Asher was working a new case, sitting in a parking lot across the street from a dry-cleaning shop, taking pictures of every person who went in empty-handed, without garments to drop off, and exiting the same way.
Carrying nothing visible to the eye. Something was changing hands in there, but it wasn’t clothes.
As he was waiting, he got Nora’s text. His first emotion was pure delight.
And then he reread what she wrote about Karma, and got a lump in his throat.
She saw the world in a purer way than he ever would, and he was forever grateful that as they were growing up together, she’d seen value in him, when he had not seen it for himself.
This also meant his dad was obviously much better, which meant he and Nora needed to apply for a marriage license. There was a seventy-two-hour waiting period, then they could pick a day, and notify the family.
It also reminded him to swing by Koen and Sons Jewelry. Nora wasn’t the only one capable of surprises.
* * *
Angie had been giving Nora tips on easy cooking, and when Nora found a digital version of a slow cooker on a shelf in Asher’s kitchen, she decided to experiment.
Meat and veggies go in. A set-and-forget timer, and dinner is served. Nothing undercooked. Nothing overcooked. Turns itself to warming when it’s done. Martha Stewart she was not, but they weren’t going to have to live on scrambled eggs and DoorDash, and that was a plus on any day.
* * *
The pot roast and veggies she’d started this morning after talking to Jacob were done and on Warming.
The table was set and waiting for Ash to come home.
His random arrival times didn’t bother her.
She’d been her own boss with her own timetable for years and years, while his day was more random.
Law enforcement didn’t clock out in the middle of emergencies.
She was pouring herself a glass of iced tea when she heard the garage door going up. The brighter light of her life was home!
She set the glass and pitcher back into the fridge and turned just as he walked into the kitchen carrying a bouquet of roses and a very obvious bakery box.
“Asher! How beautiful!”
“For the most beautiful girl,” he said, and brushed a kiss across her lips as he handed them to her and set the bakery box on the counter. “Gotta lock up the cop. Be right back!”
“Lock up the cop” had become his byword for storing his weapon. She was fine with locking up the gun, but she loved the cop part of him. She set the flowers at the end of their table so she could see them while they ate and sat down to wait.
When he came back, instead of sitting down, he knelt down on one knee and opened the little black velvet box he was holding.
“I love you, Nora, and since we’re already planning a wedding, I felt this huge need to put a ring on it. I lost you once. That will never happen again.”
Nora gasped. “Oh, Asher! It’s stunning,” she said as he slipped it on her finger. “And it fits!”
“I know my woman,” he said, then leaned over and sealed it with a kiss.
Nora put her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
* * *
Their dinner was a hit, as was the Italian crème cake he’d brought home. They were cleaning up the dishes together when he brought up getting married again.
“Can you get off anytime tomorrow so we can do the marriage license thing? It won’t take long. I have friends in high places and also in the courthouse,” he said.
Nora shook her head. “I’ll bet you do, and yes, I will make time. Just text me the address when you’re free and I’ll meet you there.”
“Deal,” he said.
That night, when Nora turned back the covers, she found more rose petals in the middle of the bed, and Asher was reaching for her to pull his old football jersey over her head.
“Life won’t always be a bed of roses, but as long as we have each other, we’ll just keep planting them anyway,” he said, then picked her up and laid her down among them.
Nora’s heart was pounding as he moved toward her.
Yet another facet of this man she never saw coming, and then his mouth was on her breast, and his hand was between her legs.
She tried to stay focused, to watch his face as they made love, but what he was doing made her crazy.
Her eyes fluttered shut, and she was lost. She was still reeling from a climax when he slid between her legs, and after that, she was gone.
* * *
He left the next morning while she was still asleep, and she woke up to a picture he’d sent.
She was flat on her stomach. Obviously naked, but with the covers pulled up to her waist. One arm was hanging off the side of the bed, and there were dozens of rose petals stuck to her skin.
It came with a heart emoji and a message.
They will wash off. Mine did. It was damn sure worth it.
She burst out laughing and headed for the shower.
* * *
The ensuing two weeks were hectic.
During that time, the final papers for the sale of her family house were sent.
As promised, the remote signing went off with a hitch.
The money from the sale of the house was deposited into her bank account.
It was official. She kept imagining the joy for Chris and Ellen, and felt good about the way it had all ended.
After consultations with all involved, Asher and Nora opted to get married the day before Thanksgiving.
Gunner had put in a prior request not to be on holiday shift because of his brother’s wedding.
Construction would come to a halt on all work sites for Dylan and Angie.
And for the first time in what Pearl called “forever,” the Yellow Rose was going to be closed for three days for the Thanksgiving holidays.
Asher and Nora sent them round-trip tickets from Amarillo to Austin and back. Dylan and Angie were picking them up at the airport and taking them home with them. Gunner was driving up to Dylan and Angie’s the day before the wedding, which was going to be held at Asher and Nora’s house.
Wedding cake and champagne afterward, and Thanksgiving dinner with everyone the next evening, back at Asher and Nora’s.
* * *
Jacob and Pearl were on an adventure. She had never taken a vacation from work, and rarely had she ever closed the Rose. She had never flown. And had it not been for Maggie, would not have had the proper clothes to wear for any of it.
Gunner was midway between Dallas and Austin when Dylan went to pick them up, and Angie stayed home to be there for Gunner’s arrival.
There was more turmoil there than at Asher and Nora’s.
There was no fussing. No florists. No hair stylists to see.
Asher was kicked back watching football and Nora was finishing up a quick virus removal for a law office, and wondering what fresh hell the law clerk was getting for using a company computer to cruise dating sites.
One click too many on the wrong site, and the virus unloaded into the entire system.
When she finally finished, their system had been cleared and was up and running.
Happy Turkey Day, she thought, and signed off, then went to look for Asher, and followed the noise.
“Who’s winning?” she said as she dropped onto the seat beside him.
“We are,” he said, and pulled her into his arms.
She laughed. “Have you followed up with your friend in high places? The one who’s coming to marry us tomorrow?”
“Yep. He’ll be here. Two p.m. sharp.”
“Good,” she said. “Go back to your game,” then did a U-turn on the sofa, put her feet in his lap, pulled a blanket over herself, and snuggled down into the sofa.
At that moment, Asher lost focus on everything about the game and was thinking how freaking awesome women were, to be able to make a nest anywhere, as long as they felt safe. He tucked the blanket around her feet and legs, then turned the sound down on the game and reclined the seat.
Life was perfect.
* * *
The weather blessed the day of their wedding, and the family that gathered blessed it more.
Nora’s wedding dress was floor length and new.
A concoction of simple elegance in white, with long, flowy sleeves.
Her bridal bouquet was made of yellow roses, tied together with ribbon the color of bluebonnets.
The fragile necklace around her neck had been her mother’s. Gunner loaned her a penny for her shoe.