Chapter 14 #3
“Do you think you might be able to take some time away and come with me? I’m not super close with my parents, but I’d like you to meet them anyway. Help me navigate closing up that part of my life.”
“Yeah, we can make that happen. Grandpa’s got a Lear Jet parked on a landing strip out at his place, and I just happen to be type-rated to pilot it.”
“Fancy,” she said with a grin. “You know, I think my parents are finally going to get their wish for me. They always wanted me to marry a wealthy man and do charity work. Felt owning a bakery was beneath the family name.”
“Hmmm. Not sure I’m going to be so crazy about your parents. But you will be marrying a wealthy man. It’s up to you how hard you want to work, or if you want to work at all.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve learned to shoot a gun and I’ve made peace with a crazy goat.
I intend to embrace this dude ranch lifestyle and everything that comes with it.
I want to help you with your dream, Mike.
And maybe we’ll open a bakery right here in Bear Valley.
And I want babies. At least three of them. With you.”
“Man. How did I get so lucky?”
“We both got lucky.”
He stroked his thumb over the band on her finger. "We should probably head back," he said, making no move to let her go. "Before Joe sends out a search party."
"Probably." She kissed him again, soft and slow. "In a minute."
"Yeah." His arms tightened. "In a minute."
They stood there in the wildflowers as the sun dropped lower, and neither of them was in any hurry to leave.
They walked back to the house as the sun began its descent, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold. The family was gathered in the kitchen, relaxing and enjoying the peace since they didn’t have guests to cater to.
Mike cleared his throat. "So, uh. Y'all got a minute?"
Everyone looked up.
Joe's eyes went immediately to Liv's left hand. "Finally. Thought you were gonna wait till Christmas."
Charlotte's head snapped up. She looked at Liv's hand. Looked at Mike's face. Then she shrieked. "You’re getting married!"
She launched herself at Liv, nearly knocking her over, wrapping small arms around her waist with enough force to make Liv stagger. Mike caught them both, steadying them while Charlotte bounced and squealed.
"I knew it! I knew Uncle Mike would marry you! Can I be the flower girl? Can I? Can I pick my dress? Can I help with the cake? Can—"
"Breathe, honeybee," Heather said, laughing. "Give Miss Liv a chance to answer."
"Yes to all of it," Liv said, voice thick with emotion. "Especially the flower girl part."
"I'm gonna be the best flower girl. Better than any flower girl who ever flower girl-ed before. Even better than I was in Uncle Lyle and Aunt Heather's wedding." Charlotte was practically vibrating with excitement. "Can I tell Pudge? He needs to know he's invited too."
"Absolutely. Pudge is definitely invited."
Charlotte ran off to find the cat, already planning, her voice echoing through the house. "Pudge! Pudge! We're having another wedding!"
The family surrounded them then, Heather with misty eyes, pulling Liv into a fierce hug.
Lyle shaking Mike's hand and pulling him in for a back-slapping embrace.
Joe grinning like he'd won a bet. Kenny nodding once, which coming from Kenny meant approximately seventeen paragraphs of approval and affection.
Heather examined the ring, and her eyes went soft. "You made this?"
Mike ducked his head, embarrassed. "Yeah."
"It's beautiful. She's lucky." Heather squeezed his shoulder. "You both are."
Lyle studied the ring too, then looked at Mike with something like pride. "That's real craftsmanship, brother. Good work."
"Good choice," Kenny added, which was practically a speech from him.
Joe closed his laptop and stood, pulling Mike into a brief hug. "Proud of you. Both of you." He turned to Liv. "Welcome to the family. Officially, this time."
He pulled out his phone with that look that meant he was already planning seventeen steps ahead. "So when's the wedding? Because I might have a lead on a wedding coordinator if that’s something you’re interested in. Woman named Emma Blackstock. Supposed to be excellent. I could give her a call."
"We literally just got engaged," Mike pointed out.
"Just saying. Planning takes time and you might want some help with the details.
" Joe's eyes had that distant look that meant he was already organizing spreadsheets in his head.
"I'll send you her information. She's in Austin, but she travels. We’ve been talking about expanding and offering this place as a wedding venue.
Your wedding might be a good trial run."
Liv caught Mike's eye and they both tried not to laugh.
"This is what happens when you let a logistics genius near a major life event," Heather said. “It’s all about business.”
"I'm being helpful," Joe protested.
"You're being you," Lyle said fondly.
Dinner that night was loud and perfect.
Grandpa Quentin showed up in his flashy Corvette, somehow having heard the news before anyone called him, and came in holding up a bottle of whiskey. "Heard we're celebrating. Brought provisions."
They crowded around the big kitchen table, the one that had held three generations of Watkins family dinners. Charlotte insisted on sitting between Liv and Mike, announcing that she needed to "supervise the engaged people" to make sure they "did it right."
"What does supervising engaged people involve?" Lyle asked, amused.
"Making sure they hold hands and smile a lot and feed each other bites of food like in the movies," Charlotte said seriously. "It's very important."
"We'll do our best," Liv promised.
Heather had made chicken and dumplings. There was sweet tea and coffee and Grandpa Quentin's whiskey for anyone brave enough. Mike and Liv, normally the ones who fed everyone, were given a break from food duty due to the chaos.
They ate and laughed and told stories. Grandpa Quentin toasted "to Liv, who survived New York, the mob, and Mike's cooking. That's true love."
"Hey," Mike protested.
Quentin laughed at his own teasing. "Just keeping you on your toes, boy."
Charlotte announced her plans for the wedding in exhaustive detail.
She would wear purple. Sparkle Thunder the imaginary horse would somehow be involved.
There would be approximately seven thousand flowers.
Pudge would carry the rings, despite everyone's objections that Pudge could not be trusted with anything important.
"Pudge is very responsible," Charlotte insisted.
As if summoned, Pudge appeared on the table and attempted to steal an entire dumpling off Heather's plate.
"Very responsible," Kenny said dryly, removing the cat.
The laughter that followed was bright and real and full of the kind of joy that comes after surviving something dark. The relief of being together, whole, safe.
Liv watched it all, storing every moment like treasures. Charlotte's gap-toothed smile. Mike's hand warm in hers. Heather and Lyle's quiet affection. Joe's terrible jokes. Kenny's rare half-smile. Grandpa Quentin's outrageous stories.
This. This was what home felt like.
Not a place. Not a building. But people choosing to love you, day after day, through danger and fear and ordinary Wednesdays. Showing up with casseroles and wisdom and acceptance.
Choosing you. And letting you choose them back.
Mike took her hand and led her outside under the stars.
“You were reading my mind,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m fond of my family, but right now I want you all to myself.” He drew her into his arms, the warm evening air brushing their sensitized skin. She couldn’t seem to get enough of his closeness, couldn’t believe this was her life. Her forever.
"You know what's funny?" Liv said softly.
"What?"
"Six months ago, I thought home was a place. My apartment, my business, my life in New York. I thought losing all of it meant I'd lost everything that mattered."
"And?"
"And I found out home isn't a place at all." She looked up at him. "It's you. It's Charlotte trying to make Pudge a flower crown. It's Heather teaching me to throw a punch. It's Kenny almost smiling and Joe's spreadsheets and that ridiculous porch swing that squeaks."
Mike laughed and kissed her temple. "And biscuits. Don't forget the biscuits."
"Never." She smiled against his shoulder.
He tightened his arms around her. "I love you, Liv. And I'm not letting go. That’s a promise.”
From inside, something clattered, Pudge, probably, conducting his nightly raids on anything left unattended. Charlotte's sleepy voice drifted out: "Bad kitty. You're s'posed to be sleeping."
Normal sounds. Family sounds.
Home sounds.
Liv closed her eyes and breathed it in. All of it. The man holding her. The ranch sprawling peaceful under impossible stars. The future stretching bright and terrifying and full of promise ahead.
She'd come here running from death.
And found life instead.
Found people who chose her. Who stood with her when danger came. Who loved her not despite her broken places but because those broken places had led her here, to them, to this.
"Home," she whispered against Mike's chest, "isn't where you run to. It's where you finally stop running."
Mike's arms tightened around her. "Welcome home, Liv Ramsey."
And there, wrapped in each other under a sky full of stars, with the ranch sleeping peaceful around them and forever waiting patient in the wings, Liv Ramsey—who used to be Olivia Langford, who'd been a dozen frightened things before she was brave—finally let herself believe it.
She was home.
She was staying.
And she was loved.
The end was just the beginning.
Thank you for reading COWBOY ELITE: Mike. Turn the page for a sneak preview of Joe and Emma’s story.
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