Chapter Twenty-Four #3
He chuckled and gave her butt a squeeze. “Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how sexy you are in those things?”
She made a face, but she loved knowing that he thought so – he told her often enough.
He ran his hand over her hair. “I wanted to propose to you here. I never forgot you telling me that the happiest days of your childhood were the days you spent right here.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“I’m hoping that today will count as one of your happiest days – it’s definitely mine – and I figured we should make a start on making new happy memories here.
We have the rest of our lives to collect some. ”
“This is the happiest day of my life, Jake – no question about it. I love you.”
“I love you, too, fiancée.”
“Oh wow!”
“Do you like that idea?”
She nodded happily. “I can’t say I’d ever thought about getting married before I met you, but now …” She looked at him from under her lashes. “I love the idea of being your fiancée, and I can’t wait to call you husband.”
The way he smiled as he leaned in made her heart melt as he said, “I was thinking we needed to take our time, but we don’t, do we? We can get married just as soon as …”
He stopped short, and Savannah tensed when they heard banging. It sounded like it was coming from …
Jake turned her to face the office, and all she could do was laugh when she saw Harvey banging on the window – and all the rest of them were there, too, smiling and waving.
~ ~ ~
Jake couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he watched Savannah show her ring off and hug everyone. This was perfect. All the family had come – that was why he’d needed to close the overhead door, so she wouldn’t see them arriving and sneaking into the office to wait.
He’d wanted them to be here to celebrate, but the actual proposal needed to be private — just him and Savannah. Not because he thought she might say no, or even because it might feel like pressure to her. It was just that he’d wanted asking her to marry him to be their moment, just the two of them.
He grinned at Taryn when she and Dalton came to congratulate him. She was wearing a mock scowl, but it soon dissolved into a grin.
“You done good, kid,” she told him.
“That’s a decorated Marine you’re talking to, not some kid.” Dalton winked at Jake as he said it.
Jake chuckled. “You can call me what you like as long as it’s not all the names under the sun for not taking you up on your very generous offer.”
Taryn waved a hand at him. “Bring her in for dinner to celebrate whenever it suits the two of you. Proposing in the restaurant wouldn’t have been the right move – I just wanted to help.”
“And to be a part of it,” Dalton said with a smile.
She slapped his arm. “Okay, I did, but it wasn’t about me – I care about these guys.”
Dalton slid his arm around her shoulders. “I’m only playing with you.”
Taryn smiled at Jake. “And it worked. You invited us to be here for this.” She looked around the garage. “And this was perfect for you guys. We’re going to head out now, but thanks for letting us be here.”
“Thanks for wanting to come,” Jake told her. “It means a lot. You’ve been good to Savvie – she thinks the world of you.”
“It’s mutual,” said Taryn. “We’ll see you soon.”
Dalton shook his hand and slapped his back. “Yeah, you should see if you can’t round up your family and get them home – Dom already slipped away to check on the food.”
When he got to Savannah, she was hugging her friends goodbye – Tiffany had let Abbie and Elle in on the secret, and Jake loved that they’d come and brought Ivan and Donovan with them.
Ivan slapped his shoulder. “Congratulations again. I’ll no doubt see you in the gym soon.”
After they’d gone, his dad came to him and wrapped him in a hug. “Happy for you, son.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’m happy for me too.”
“We’re going to head back to the house now.”
“Okay, we’ll see you there.”
Jake slung his arm around Savannah’s shoulders as they watched them drive away. They laughed watching Josh and Tiff climb back into his SUV – he was driving them back because apparently Tiff was scared of reversing.
When they’d gone, he hugged her to his side, and she turned to smile up at him.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“Happier than I’ve ever been.”
They both laughed and turned around when Harvey spoke behind them. “I’m pretty damn pleased myself. Congratulations, kids.”
“Thanks, Harvey.” Savannah hugged him, and Jake did the same.
“I just need one more thing to make me as happy as I need to be – then I’ll skedaddle and see you back at your dad’s place.”
“What do you need, Harvey?” Jake asked.
Harvey winked and waved a hand at him. “It’s not from you – it’s young Savvie here.”
“Anything,” she told him.
He chuckled. “Will you remind her she said that if she tries to turn me down?”
Jake narrowed his eyes at him. “That depends on what you’re up to.”
Harvey cleared his throat. “Well, see now … I don’t know how it is these days, but back in my day it used to be that the bride’s family paid for the wedding.”
Jake tensed. “We’re going to save up.”
Harvey waved his hand again. “You’re not the bride, son.” He turned back to Savannah. “You know I consider you family.”
She inhaled deeply. “That’s so good of you, Harvey, but …”
“Don’t give me buts. I’ll put it in a way that might make it easier. When I kick the bucket, you’ll be getting a decent little nest egg. If you’ll let me, I’d like to spend some of it on your wedding – if you say no, you can do whatever you want with it after I’m gone.”
“Oh, Harvey.” Savannah wrapped him in a hug. “I don’t want to think about you not being here anymore.”
He chuckled. “Neither do I, so don’t take too long about planning this wedding, will you?”
She laughed and wiped her eyes. “Okay.”
Jake wrapped an arm around each of them.
“I’m not saying you can’t afford to pay for it yourselves,” Harvey said, “and if you need the money for a deposit for a house or something …”
“Thanks, Harvey, but we already have the house.”
“Yeah, I thought as much, so the wedding’s my only hope of being a part of it.” He winked at Savannah. “And you know … you’re going to need someone to walk you down the aisle. Josh might be younger and prettier, but …”
They all laughed, and Jake hugged them closer, squeezing his eyes tight shut as if he could etch the feel of this moment into his memory and save it forever.
After Harvey had gone, they closed up the garage and walked hand in hand back to Savannah’s Camaro. She smiled and held up the keys. “Do you want to drive?”
He shook his head. “As much as I love that car, I love seeing my fiancée happy even more, and you’re happier when you drive.”
He loved the way her eyes lit up as she said, “Fiancée – that’s my new favorite word.”
“Mine too.” He hugged her to him, wanting to make the most of their last few minutes together before they went back to his dad’s. He was looking forward to that – to celebrating with their family.
But standing here with her, looking out at the lake, feeling the warmth of her body against his as he held her, he knew that none of it would mean anything without her.
He’d always had family, always loved them.
But Savannah was the one who’d opened his heart up and shown him what love really meant;
;
I hope you enjoyed this return to Summer Lake – I love Jake and Savannah.
As you can probably tell, there are plenty more stories still to come.
Tiffany is campaigning hard for her book with Brayden, What’s a Guy to Do?
Troy put in a request to be the next Summer Lake Silver, and Harvey’s still trying to convince me that he needs a novella at least. Oh, and Carson is hoping to lead us back to Nashville where we still have a whole series waiting to go. I’ll get to them all as soon as I can.
In the meantime, the next book to release will be Book 11 in The Hamiltons series. Ollie and Callie will get their turn in Lattes and Lilacs. After that we’ll be back in Montana for Emmett and Harper in The Vet’s Unconditional Love, MacFarland Ranch, Book 12.