Chapter 21
“It’s so nice of your family to include Aunt Paula today.” I grin over at Chase, who’s driving Lily and me out to the ranch for Thanksgiving dinner at Remington and Erin’s house. “That way, I didn’t have to try to choose between the two or spend half the day at one place and then race over to the other.”
“We all love Paula,” he says and reaches for my hand, lifting it to his lips. “Always have. And we all love you, so it makes sense that we would all spend the holiday together.”
“You’re sweet.” He brushes his thumb over the back of my fingers, pausing over my ring finger, and lets go so he can pull off of the highway and onto the ranch road. He keys us through the gate, but rather than turning toward the farmhouse, he takes a right at the fork in the road and drives us around the lake, on the fresh dirt road that was recently made, to where his house will be.
The shop is done now, thanks to the help of so many of Chase’s friends. They put in time on their days off to help him get it done before any snow fell for the season.
The past two months have gone by quickly. The insurance company finally paid me to rebuild the flower shop, and I’m in talks with an architect on the design. Hopefully, it’ll be finished before wedding season next year. My house sold, and Lily and I officially moved in with Chase less than a week after the fire.
And Evan is in jail, about to go on trial for a whole list of charges, including attempted murder, because I was in the building when he set the fire. He’s in a lot of trouble. And my mom? Well, my dad got her off, which didn’t surprise me at all, but I’ll never speak to either of them ever again.
“What are we doing out here?” I ask with a frown. “Do you need to get something?”
“Something,” he says with a wink and pushes out of the truck. Lily wiggles on the seat next to me. She loves being out on the ranch. Chase walks around to open my door, and when I’m out, he lifts Lily out and sets her on the ground, taking her leash.
She’s never off of her leash when we’re out here, even though she’s a good girl and comes when called. There’s too much wildlife, and I don’t know what I would do without this little dog.
“Isn’t your family expecting us?”
Chase smiles down at me as he leads me toward the dock. “They’ll wait. Brady can hold off on eating all the goddamn turkey for twenty minutes.”
“I don’t know…Brady can put the food away.”
Chase chuckles, and when we reach the end of the dock, he turns to me and pulls me into his arms for a long, tight hug.
There is nothing in this world as fabulous as this, as being in Chase’s arms in the place that means so much to both of us. I love it out here. I hope, one day, Chase might ask me to live here with him.
“I love it out here,” I murmur as I gaze out over the lake and to the mountains beyond. The tops of those mountains are covered with snow now, and it won’t be long before we’ll have snow that sticks in the valley, as well. “It just feels so good.”
“Does it feel like home?” he asks and pulls away to watch me with serious hazel eyes.
I look back to the lake, to the trees and mountains, and nod. “Yeah, it does. I think it has since that first day you brought me out here and showed it to me. Are you going to ask me to live here with you when the house is done?”
He grins and tucks my hair behind my ear.
“Well, that’s part of it, absolutely. But I want more than that.” He looks around us, at the property behind us, and gestures.
I turn to look where he’s pointing and gasp. “An eagle.”
We watch as the bird circles and then sits on an evergreen tree, watching.
“It’s not after Lily, is it? For lunch?” I look down at the dog sitting at our feet with concern.
Chase laughs. “No, Lily’s too big, but it might be looking for fish.” He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my neck. “The house will be right there, hopefully by the end of summer.”
“But I thought you were going to build it yourself, and that takes time. Are you thinking of hiring a contractor?”
“I’ve already hired one. I’m impatient,” he says and kisses the top of my head. “I want to be out here sooner rather than later. I built the shop, and that’s good enough for me. We’ll also build that greenhouse you talked about, right over there.”
“And a vegetable garden next to it,” I add, picturing it all perfectly in my head. “I’ll want lots of flowerpots on the porch. It’s a wraparound porch, right?”
“Of course. We have to be able to sit out and look at the view, and there are views all around us.”
I grin and nod in agreement. A deer wanders out of the woods and looks our way, chewing on his food. Chase and I stay still, watching as he continues back into the forest. Lily didn’t even notice him, otherwise, she would have barked. “Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even realize that there are huckleberry bushes about twenty feet away from where the house will be. You’re not planning on taking those out, are you?”
“Uh, that’s sacrilegious,” he says with a chuckle. “No, I plan to put a grassy yard in on the other side for Lily to run around and do her business. And kids, of course. I’ll put in swings, maybe a trampoline.”
“Kids?” I lean back so I can gaze up at him in surprise. “Kids?”
“Two or three.” He nods, still looking at the property, as if it’s already happening, right before his eyes. “We don’t have to go crazy and have five like my parents did. But if you have your heart set on a big family, I can live with that.”
“Chase, we haven’t even built the house yet.”
He turns me around once more so he can look down into my eyes, and now his face sobers, as if he’s about to get down to serious business.
“When I think of all of these things, the house, the yard, the view, the kids…you’re in every picture, Summer. I can’t envision any of this without you. You’re the center. You’re the reason for everything, including every breath I take. I love you so much.”
He bends his knee and kneels in front of me. Lily wags her whole body and lifts her front end up to kiss Chase on the face.
“Whoa, girl, I need a minute,” he says with a laugh and rubs her side. “One minute, okay? I have an important question for your mom.”
He reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a shiny diamond ring.
“Summer, will you do me the honor of being my wife? Will you live with me here, make a home and a family with me? I promise, I’ll live the rest of my life making sure you’re happy and taken care of. You won’t ever question how much I love you.”
I have to swallow over the lump in my throat. “Of course, I’ll marry you and have babies and make a life with you, Chase Wild. I love you, too.”
He slides the ring onto my finger, and then he catches me up in a kiss so full of passion and heat, it takes my breath away.
He always takes my breath away.
I can hear Lily’s nails clickity clacking on the dock with excitement, and Chase picks her up so she can get in on the happy snuggles.
“We’d better head over to Remington’s and tell our family,” Chase says with a happy smile as he leads me off of the dock, but I stop for a moment, looking out over the lake, and back to where the house will be. To where the eagle is still perched on the tree, and I take a deep breath as a chilly breeze blows over my face and through my hair.
Yes, I can picture it all. The gardens, the flowers, the view every night from our bedroom as the sun sets behind those snow-capped mountains.
I’m going to sit on that porch, rocking my babies to sleep as I watch our other children play in the water or fish off the dock or run in the yard. We’re going to invite our friends here, for food and laughter.
We’re going to make a beautiful life here, in this gorgeous place on Wild River Ranch.
“You okay?” Chase asks and reaches for my hand.
“I’ve never been better,” I assure him. “I was just picturing it, that’s all.”
He raises an eyebrow, those hazel eyes full of love.
“And?”
“And I can’t wait to get started.”