31. Chapter 31
Chapter thirty-one
E ight months later . . .
Carson was baking in the hot sun. Her shoulders weren’t used to the exposure, but the warm rays felt good on her skin. Thankfully, she had lathered herself with sunscreen before she and Jax left. It was freeing to relax and soak up Vitamin D in just shorts and a tank top, her riding gear slung over her dirt bike behind her. The breeze tickled her scars.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. The leasing agent called this morning,” Carson said, sitting on the edge of the rock and swinging her legs back and forth, toes barely skimming the surface of the Verde River.
“What did she say?” Jax asked, chucking a few pebbles into the bubbling current below.
“The office will be ready to move in by March. I should be up and running no later than April.”
“Is that enough time to get a firm started?”
“It’s more than enough time,” she confirmed, wiping at a smudge of dust on her shorts. “Especially if I start building clientele now. Garrett has a law school buddy in East Houston who’s going to start referring cases over to me. The only reason I’m allowing myself so much time is so we can get settled into our house before I really hit the ground running.”
Garrett had had mixed emotions when Carson had turned in her resignation notice, but in the end, he was proud of her, and said if she ever was back in Arizona she had a job waiting for her. Dan, the third attorney, could have cared less. With a grunted good luck, he shook her hand and then scurried off to his office. Noah, on the other hand, was distraught, begging for her to reconsider and stay. Secretly, she thought it was because he’d never see Jax again.
A hawk screeched out in the distance. The deep valleys and cliffs before them stretched for miles and miles. She had spent many hours exploring them over her years living in Arizona. Now it was time to explore new lands, experience new adventures.
Leaning on her hands and letting her head fall back, Carson closed her eyes, the sun now kissing her cheeks. She was going to miss all of it. The sunsets that looked like they were painted by God. The spiny plants, beautiful and ominous. The chubby cheeks of Hunter’s and Raegan’s newborn baby. Her fingers were already twitching to pinch them again.
But Texas would bring opportunity. The opportunity to open her own law firm. To purchase a home nestled in the luscious trees. During the open house, Jax had to practically drag her inside to inspect the interior and not just the forest surrounding it. And Jax got to be closer to his family, his friends. With a referral from his battalion chief, he was able to submit for a transfer to a station only three miles from their new home.
Moving was bittersweet—ambivalent. Attraction and repulsion. But she was ready.
“It’s going to be a busy few months for us,” Jax commented, bringing her back to the desert, back to the Verde River.
“Yep.” Carson popped the p .
“We definitely shouldn’ t add to it,” he said.
“No, we probably shouldn’t.”
“So, you think throwing in a wedding would be too much?”
Carson’s feet stopped kicking, and she looked over at him. The sun reflecting off his midnight hair made it appear almost blue. He was eyeing the tiny rocks still cupped in his hands.
“Wyatt and Emily’s wedding isn’t until the end of next year. I think we’ll be fine,” she said. Somehow, and she was still trying to understand why, his family didn’t hate her after she’d broken up with Jax. Happily, Wyatt invited her to their Christmas wedding in Tennessee.
Fist clenching around the rocks, Jax peered out before him, toward the red cliffs of Sedona. “I’m not talking about their wedding.”
Everything stilled. Her heart. Her lungs. The earth. Even the quail cooing in the bushes far to her left went silent. Carson wanted to see if the river continued to flow below her, but her eyes were stuck on Jax’s face.
Exhaling, he tossed the stones into the river and turned to her, grabbing one of her hands. “I have so much to say,” he started, his voice thick and melodic. “I just don’t know how to say it all. But I want to love you for the rest of my life, Carson. I admire your strength and your growth. Because of you, I want to be a better person, not only for my family and for you, but for myself.”
Pushing up off the ground, he pulled her up with him until they were standing, only wincing once when he put pressure on his left leg.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, her heart thrumming in her chest and her body tingling with electricity, threatening to puddle on the ground and slip into the turning waters of the river.
“What does it look like I’m doing, Mr. Hoover?” he teased.
“Are you—are you proposing ?” she squeaked.
Bending until he was down on one knee, he looked up at her with his incredible blue eyes. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Fishing around in his riding pants pocket, Jax pulled out a ring. Carson’s loud gasp echoed through the canyon. It was the ring she had fawned over at the auction a year ago, the one with the inlay of raw turquoise squeezed between Apache tears. The copper glowed in the sunlight.
“But . . . ? How did you . . . ?” It was impossible to finish a question.
“I saw you bid on it at the auction,” he said. “I figured it may come in handy one day. If not for you, then for another—”
Carson smacked his shoulder, which only caused an impish grin to spread across his face. “You had it this whole time?”
“Yes. Now would you stop asking questions so I can ask my question?”
Snapping her mouth shut, she nodded frantically.
“Carson, will you marr—”
“Yes!” she cried before Jax could finish. She didn’t want to waste another second. Flinging her arms around his neck, Carson pressed her face to his and kissed him, breathing in his signature scent of dust.
The hawk squawked its congratulations. The sun blazed hotter. The breeze whipped and whirled around them. Somewhere a snake was rattling its cheers.
“Damn it, woman,” he grumbled against her lips. “At least let me put the ring on before it goes flying in the river.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.” Carson pulled away, running a hand over her braids before offering her left hand to him. The jewelry slipped on with ease, hugging tight to her finger. The weight and feel of the band was familiar, like an old friend.
“Is it okay?” Jax asked, standing up.
Looking up at him, Carson smiled. “It’s perfect.”