Chapter Twenty-Nine
Grace
One year later
“God, I love this place so much,” I said.
I looked around the fully renovated ranch. The first batch of campers was arriving tomorrow. Zachary and I came so we could help Gaston and Felicia with last-minute preparations. In the end, we invested together, and I was ecstatic about it. I never would’ve thought that I’d trust anyone enough to intertwine my life with theirs. But with Zachary, I was ready for anything.
My business had been doing incredibly well over the past year. More and more stores in the Quarter had started to carry our products. I still made the most money still through the online shop, but that was okay. After all, I’d never assumed that I would make a lot selling in physical stores. But having more shops sign up for our products meant that the Deveraux name was in the clear.
My parents were ecstatic. They’d started to attend more events throughout town and were more at ease when going to the theater or other public places. They were good people and deserved to enjoy their retirement without wondering what people were whispering behind their backs.
We hadn’t heard from my brothers, but we also weren’t really expecting them to be in contact. They’d never done well with defeat. The way I looked at it, time healed all wounds, and maybe sometime in the future they’d make their way back. I just hoped they learned their lesson before they did.
“Are you already done?” Zachary asked, coming up behind me.
Felicia said they didn’t need much help with anything except preparing gumbo, and we’d both been cooped up in the kitchen until now. Then she remembered that she still had some flowers to water, and I’d volunteered to do that.
I showed him the empty sprinkler. “Yep, all done. Should we get out of Gaston and Felicia’s hair?”
“Want to go by the stables first? You didn’t get to comb Starlight today.”
I smiled sheepishly. “You caught on to that, huh?”
He chuckled. “Babe, it’s what you do whenever you come here. You find one excuse or another. The last one was particularly hilarious.”
“What? It was honest.”
“Really? ‘The wind blew too hard and now his hair is tangled up’?”
“But it was.”
“He’s a horse.”
I pushed his shoulder playfully. “Hey, don’t let him hear you. I’m convinced that he might believe he’s human.”
Zachary laughed and tilted forward, kissing my forehead. “You’re so damn lovable, I swear.”
I’d never tire of hearing him say such incredible things.
His phone beeped, and he glanced at it, then groaned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Yet another one of Anthony’s secretaries quit.”
“Oh. He’s having trouble keeping them?”
He sighed. “You could say that. No one lasts more than a few months. I believe one or two described him as an arrogant asshole before leaving.”
My eyes bulged. “That doesn’t seem like Anthony at all. He’s so friendly.”
“He is. Except with his assistants.”
“Why?”
“There’s a story behind that, but I’ll tell it to you another time.”
Hmm... Suddenly I wondered if Isabeau and Celine could have something to cure that. Possibly even lilac.
Oh, damn. I was spending way too much time with those two.
Another crack of thunder rumbled across the sky, and we both looked up.
“Let’s head to the stables and then go back to the city. Gaston kept saying that today’s storm will be sizable,” I murmured. Looking at the sky, I was certain that he was quite right.
The second we entered the stable, Starlight neighed. I swear he sensed my presence even before he could see me. Zachary and I walked to him together, passing the other occupied stalls along the way. The ranch acquired more horses in the past year. After much debating, we’d decided to ask Gaston and Felicia if they’d like to add more cabins, not just renovate the existing ones. They’d been ecstatic about it, so that’s what we did. With the increased capacity, they’d needed more horses.
“Hello, pretty boy,” I said, stopping in front of him. “What do you say about getting your hair done?”
Zachary grinned and pointed to a gorgeous silvery box at the side of Starlight’s stall.
“What is that?” I asked.
“I figured it was time Starlight got a new combing set.”
I melted. “You’re spoiling my boy. And me.”
I picked up the box, turning it around. It was by a very well-known combmaker for horses.
I loved Zachary to the moon at back for doing this. He knew how much Starlight meant to me.
I opened the box and took out the comb. Then I noticed there was a second box inside that looked quite different. It was velvet.
I furrowed my brow. “Do they make accessories for horses now?”
“I don’t know,” Zachary replied. His tone was playful but also tense.
I immediately took out the velvet box and put down the bigger one because I needed both hands to open it. I gasped as I did so. This was an accessory, all right, but it wasn’t what I’d thought.
I looked up at Zachary. He was smiling from ear to ear as he took the box from me and got down on one knee.
“Grace Deveraux, I’ve waited for this day for months.”
Warmth enveloped me as if he was giving me a hug. “Months?” I whispered.
“Yes. I wanted to do this on a day that meant something to us. Inaugurating the opening of our first project together is the perfect moment. I know that when we first met here at this ranch, things looked bleak. I never would’ve thought that one year later, we’d be standing here together. Although, I will admit that I thought you were smoking hot.”
I started to laugh and put both hands on my cheeks because my eyes were burning. In case I teared up, I wanted to brush them out of the way before Zachary could see them.
“Grace, I love you. And I’d love nothing more than for us to be husband and wife. Our lives are already intertwined, but this would make me the happiest man on earth.”
He cleared his throat, and I figured he was going to add something more, but he didn’t. He simply swallowed hard, and I realized that my gorgeous, amazing man who always had the right words for everything was now too emotional to speak. So I decided to speak up instead.
“Yes. God, yes, I’d love to marry you.”
My heart gave a double beat. I was on pins and needles, but for all the good reasons. I never imagined saying yes to anyone ever again. But with Zachary, it felt right. It felt perfect, like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do.
“I want to be your wife. I want us to be together, as you said so beautifully last year, and be each other’s companion on this journey. You’re the best man I’ve ever met, Zachary. I thought all the wrong things about you in the beginning. I was certain I’d seen right through you. But in my defense, you thought the worst of me too.”
He laughed. “Not the worst, just didn’t have the greatest impression. But discovering who you truly are, Grace, has been the privilege of my life because you’re incredible,” he said as he put the ring on my finger.
It was a huge diamond, princess cut. It had to be at least five or six carats, and I knew it would steal the show no matter where I went.
Suddenly, I realized this was perfect because I wanted that. I wanted everyone to know I’d soon be Mrs. LeBlanc.
“I love you,” Zachary said and slowly rose to his feet.
I was still transfixed by the ring. It had tiny round diamonds in the band as well. They were so finely crafted that I could feel them by running my finger on the band.
“This is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. God, I love you so much!”
“I’m glad you like it,” Zachary said. The emotion in his voice mirrored mine.
He cupped my waist and pulled me close. Then he kissed me slow and hot, and I couldn’t get enough.
I wrapped my right arm around his neck but kept my other hand in the air, afraid that I could damage my ring, as I kissed him right back. I could stay like this with him forever. I didn’t want this moment to end. It was magic, us out here on the bayou in this place that first brought us together as, well, enemies. And now we planned to become husband and wife.
The sound of thunder startled us apart. I lowered the arm I’d been holding up in the air, and Zachary grinned at me.
“What?” I said defensively, bringing my left hand close to my chest. “I didn’t want to risk losing the ring in my hair or something like that.” I was being ridiculous, of course, because it fit perfectly. It couldn’t just fall off.
The unmistakable sound of raindrops on the roof filled the air.
“Oh no. We should make a run for it to the main house.” I looked at Starlight. “Sorry, baby boy. You’re going to get your hair done another time, okay?” I put my forehead on his muzzle so he knew that I loved him. It was just perfect that he’d gotten to witness this magical moment.
Zachary closed the box of Starlight’s new combing set, and then we both stepped out. As we reached the door of the stable and he pushed it open, I grinned. It was already a downpour.
“Gaston was right. This will be a storm.”
Zachary smiled at me. “We’ve got plenty of experience with that too.”
I tilted my head and wiggled my eyebrows. “Are you insinuating what I think you are?”
“Hell yes. Storm gets too bad, I have no problem locking us up in one of the cabins now that they all have AC and actual nice beds.”
I grinned. “Neither do I.”