Chapter 41
B randon held up a piece of bread, but Lenore shook her head. “I’m so full.”
“You sure?” he asked, his breath warm and wonderful as it cascaded over her shoulder. “It’s the oily, crispy corner of the loaf. Your favorite bite.”
Lenore took it from him. “You’re right. I can’t pass this up.” She popped the corner of the bread into her mouth, a moan following and the buttery, crunchy deliciousness.
Brandon chuckled, his body shaking slightly behind hers. She loved lying with him on the couch like this, the light fading from the day as they talked about the things they’d done, and their plans for the future.
She couldn’t believe the night-and-day difference in her mood from this morning to tonight. All she’d done was make a drive and force herself to say everything she’d finally found in her heart.
And Brandon, as good, and kind, and wonderful as he was, had forgiven her immediately.
Lenore sighed happily and closed her eyes as Brandon’s arm came down over hers. “Mm, you smell good,” he said.
“It’s so amazing having a shower in the house.” She twisted in his arms, her face so close to his. “No more showering at the truck stop. You can bring your stuff here and shower.” She smiled as he did. “The water is really hot, too.”
“Now you’re just teasin’ me,” he whispered.
“I’m not,” Lenore said soberly. “Go take a shower right now.” She started to roll again, intending to get off the couch.
His arms tightened around her. “No, I don’t want to shower right now.” He touched the tip of his nose to her cheekbone. “I have a few other ideas.” He touched his lips to hers, and Lenore melted into her lava-hot kiss with this man.
“I love you,” he murmured, and Lenore grinned. “I was sort of planning to get a bunch of pecan pie tarts and just show up on the front porch.” He chuckled. “Then beg you to take me back.”
Lenore kissed him again, the powerful passion of being with the person she loved so overwhelming. “It wouldn’t have been a bad move,” she whispered.
“I probably would’ve had to sketch it out first.”
Lenore giggled and tucked herself against his chest. Her pulse skipped, but she told herself to be brave. She’d already said things that were hard to get out of her mouth today. She could do it again.
“So, a family, huh?”
“Yeah.” Brandon cleared his throat. “I really like kids, and I think I’d do a decent job as a father.”
“I think you’ll be the best daddy in the whole world,” Lenore said. “I don’t feel very maternal, but I’d do my best.”
“You’re super maternal,” Brandon said, holding her tightly against his chest. “I’ve seen you with those chickens, sweetheart. You care and you take care in amazing ways.”
Warmth washed over Lenore, because she felt like she’d smothered her emotions since her parents had passed away, and now she didn’t have to do that anymore. With Brandon, she could be herself.
“And the wedding?” he murmured. “Are we thinking spring, summer, fall, winter?”
Lenore tipped her head back again and looked at her handsome cowboy. “I’m thinking I’d marry you whenever you asked me.”
“Maybe we could talk to my mother,” he whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want, Lenny, because I want to give you the world. Would you—?” He swallowed, and Lenore didn’t like the twist of apprehension in his mouth.
“I don’t have a mother to plan a wedding with,” Lenore said. “Do you think Zona or Caroline or your mother would help me?”
“That’s what I was just going to ask.” He smiled and lightly kissed her. “I think we’ll finally get to see Zona cry if you ask her to help you plan our wedding.” He chuckled, but Lenore didn’t think he was kidding. “And she never cries.”
“I can’t imagine she does,” Lenore said. “I’d love to get married here at the homestead. Would everyone be willing to make the drive here?”
“Of course they will,” Brandon said, so sure of himself and the support he had. What a blessing that was, and Lenore needed to start thinking and believing like him. Perhaps, with a little time and more people showing up for her, she would.
“Then I think we should do it in April or May,” Lenore said. “The homestead will be beautiful then.”
“April or May?” Brandon asked, his voice pitching up. “Lenny, that’s like, two months from now.”
She frowned. “Yeah…is that a problem?”
“Arizona will lose her mind ,” Brandon said with a grin. “We should totally do it.” He growled and kissed her, his smile disappearing as he deepened their connection. He broke the kiss and moved to sit up.
“But seriously, we should text her, because I’m going to have to get a ring, and propose, and we might not be able to do everything in two months.” He pulled out his phone and started tapping. “Like, you need a dress, and we need to…I don’t know. Feed people.”
“We don’t have to do dinner,” Lenore said, fear striking through her. “Brandon, I can’t afford a lot.”
His phone chimed once, then twice, then three times. He lifted it. “That’s why we have Zona.”
“No,” Lenore said. “She’s not paying for the wedding.”
He looked up. “Even if she wants to?”
Lenore sighed, and Brandon set his phone aside, even as it continued chiming at him.
“Sweetheart, what you have to understand about Duke and Zona is that this is how they show their love. Zona is pretty salty, right? And my brother? He’s like salt cod cured in a pound of salt, all of it baked under a grumpy cat.”
Lenore tilted her head, trying to imagine that, and then burst out laughing. “Salt cod, and salt, and a grumpy cat.”
Brandon laughed too, and she loved these moments between them.
“But seriously, I don’t think my brother has said he loves me more than maybe ten times in my whole life.
He shows his love by doing things, and sometimes that doing is him buying the things I need.
Things that make my life easier. That kind of stuff. ”
Lenore nodded, memories of her father filling her mind. “My daddy was like that.”
“Zona is the same way,” Brandon said. “She shows she cares by one, showing up, and two, providing whatever is needed. It’s how she feels useful and needed, and it’s how she shows love.” He reached for her, and Lenore let him fold her hands in his. “It would be cruel of us to tell her no.”
A sigh filled her lungs, and Lenore let it out slowly. “Fine, but only if she offers, and only within reason. We don’t need her to cater a whole barbecue dinner, for example.”
Brandon chuckled. “Barbecue? You went to barbecue?”
“Meat is really expensive,” Lenore said, and she would know. She frowned at his phone as it blared again. “Can you check that? It’s giving me anxiety.”
Brandon swiped it up, his grin still stuck in place. “It’s just Zona—oh.” He quieted as he read, his eyes zipping left and right as he scrolled. He looked up, his eyes wide and filled with surprise.
“She says there’s no way we can get married in April.
She said if that was really the plan, we’d have to be sending announcements in the next couple of weeks.
” He shook his head and looked back at his phone.
“I didn’t even think about announcements.
Apparently, we need an engagement photo for that, and… .”
He handed her the phone. “She’s sent English words, but I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Lenore giggled as she looked at his texts. The last one had an itemized list that required her to tap on the arrow to open the text fully.
Venue
Dress
Colors
Food – dinner? Refreshments? What time are you getting married?
Who will marry you?
Reception? Dinner?
Engagement photos
Announcements
Registry / gift list
Bridal shower
Bridesmaids and their clothes
Groomsmen and their clothes
The list went on and on, and wow, Zona could text really fast.
I mean, I’ll do it, Zona said . But it would be tight, like REALLY tight, and I think a better timeline would be June.
Even for June, you better be asking her to marry you in the next couple of weeks.
Lenore’s heartbeat thumped and bumped against her ribs. Could she really be engaged in a couple of weeks?
She raised her head and gave Brandon his phone back. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to get married.”
Brandon scoffed, his mouth hanging open. “What? What did she say?” He dove into his phone, but Lenore simply smiled.
“She didn’t say anything. There’s just so much.” She took his phone and set it aside, then wrapped her arms around him. “Can’t we just skip the wedding?”
“No way,” Brandon said. “I want to get married, and I want to marry you.” He gazed at her. “We don’t have to do what Zona says.”
Lenore looked at him, lightning zipping through her. “We don’t?” she teased. “Really? Did you hear what you just said?”
Brandon rolled his eyes, but he smiled when his gaze met hers again. “I need a suit. You need a dress. We need our friends and family here. I’ll get Dumpling something to wear, and you’ll get the hounds new leashes.”
Lenore nodded, her smile settling into place too. “That sounds nice.”
“Zona did remind me about Gun and Camila’s wedding, as well as Rock and Clover’s. I’ll figure out when those are, and then all we need is a date that won’t interfere with theirs.”
“In June.”
“Right. And everything else is just whatever,” he said. “Though now that I think of it, my friends have had announcements….”