41. Ellison
The knock on my door has my back straightening and my requisite kindergarten teacher smile in place before I even look up. I love my kids, but they usually go for a much less subtle entrance.
Cal’s eyebrows are somewhere in his hairline as he leans against the doorjamb. “Wow, that was some transformation from resting bitch face to reigning queen of one, two, three, eyes on me.”
“Why are we friends?” I say as I chuck a marker from my rainbow pencil cup at his head and miss.
Laughing, he retrieves it from the hall and holds it out for me. “Because we had no choice and now it’s too late to go back.”
I shrug and accept the marker as he leans against my desk and crosses his arms.
“Don’t you have some finger painting to get to?” I tease because Cal has become one of my favorite people, and my life is exceptionally more exciting with him in it.
“It is honestly shocking people think we’re so nice.”
“Right?” I say dramatically even as we share a smile. We’re a couple of months into the school year now, having survived harvest season and all that goes along with it. My engagement ring—Nan’s ring—sparkles, and my heart squeezes in my chest just like it does every time I look at it. Montana said he would’ve gone and gotten me something different if I wanted, but I couldn’t dream of wearing anything else. A love like theirs had been timeless, just like ours would be.
“No shotgun wedding this weekend?”
“No,” I sigh. My father and I had been working slowly on rebuilding our relationship, but it was taking time. My mother was still dragging her feet with the divorce proceedings, ensuring that he remain miserably attached to her for as long as possible. I didn’t want that hanging over him when he gave me away—I didn’t want her to have any part of this new chapter in our lives.
And even though I was upset with the delay, I knew Montana was right when he said I’d regret not having my father walk me down the aisle.
As long as he continued to put in the work.
We’d had a couple of family counseling sessions both with and without Montana, and it felt good—affirming—to know that he was willing to fight for me even as the rest of his world crumbled around him.
“Are you headed out?” Cal asks, and I glance at the clock and nod before powering down my computer.
“Yup, I have plans for my stud of a fiancé.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“You really don’t,” I confirm as I gather my bag and hoist it onto my shoulder, my expression wolfish as Cal rolls his eyes.
“I really need to get laid,” he grumbles, following me out into the hall.
“That would require you to make an effort.”
Aghast, he motions down his body. “Effort.”
“Yes, but you also have to go out and meet people or use one of the apps collecting dust on your phone.”
“That’s not a thing.” He sniffs as he pushes open the front door, the weather still hot for the fall.
“Well, you’re not gonna meet anyone only hanging out on game night.”
He scowls and I give him a quick hug when we stop in front of my car. “You’re gonna find someone who’s right for you.” Throwing my stuff onto the passenger seat, I add, “Even if it’s just right now.”
Chuckling, he shoos me with his hand. “Go and engage in enough debauchery for the both of us.”
“Oh, I plan on it.” I wink and slide into the car, blasting the air conditioning as I navigate my way out of the parking lot and onto the road.
* * *
MONTANA
“You didn’t sayanything about leavin’ the house,” Ellison whines immediately upon getting in the truck.
“We’re still grabbing dinner. We just need to stop over at Sundown Realty for a minute.”
“Why? I thought we could get takeout and eat naked in bed.” She pauses. “Wait, did something happen at the cottage again? Dad didn’t mention it,” she asks, frowning. Evan had moved into the cottage not long after Ellison and I had gotten engaged, and she’d officially moved in with me.
It was a happy coincidence.
“No, I just keep forgetting to drop off the receipt for the part I had to buy,” I say easily, referring to the leak under the kitchen sink that Evan had called about a week ago.
Ellison doesn’t say anything, and I’m thankful as we pull into the lot that Archer’s truck is already parked, the lights on inside.
“Come on, I think Bea is inside still.”
She huffs but otherwise doesn’t complain as she gets out without waiting for me to open her door. I chuckle as I snag her hand, lacing her fingers with mine as we walk toward the building.
“You should have fed me first,” she hisses and I chuckle, planting a kiss on her forehead, opening the door to Sundown Realty and letting her walk in ahead of me.
“Surprise!” Bea yells, a massive grin on her face.
“Um, what?”
Archer hands out beers because while this normally calls for champagne, it’s really not our style.
“Welcome to the family!” Bea singsongs while Ellison holds up her left hand, awkwardly pointing at her ring with her bottle.
“This isn’t enough?”
I snicker, taking her hand in mine. “Welcome to the Sundown Realty family.”
“We own it and we just closed on a bunch of properties closer to Nashville,” Archer clarifies when Ellison continues to stare at us.
“We’re celebrating!” Bea says while doing a little dance.
“Can we go back to the part about you owning it?” Ellison asks as she looks around.
“Montana and I needed a way to ensure we’d never lose the farms—this is it,” Archer says.
“All of it?” she asks, her gaze locking on mine.
“Yes.”
“All the signs and the cottage and the renting of my parents’ house?”
“Yes, and only the four of us know,” Archer confirms.
“Why?” Ellison asks, her brow furrowed. “Why the secrecy?”
Archer’s lips roll inward as his cheeks heat. “We’re just two guys who never wanted to leave the county, and a lot of people see that as a lack of ambition.”
“They can fuck right off,” Bea huffs, making Archer grin and pull her against him.
“We’ll never have to worry about losing our legacies. And I needed to make sure I could give Grandad everything he needs,” I say. “We’re the underdogs.”
“Well, I’m proud of you.” Ellison squeals as she launches herself at me. “Both of you, truly, this is incredible.”
“Is it weird how unaffected they both were?” Archer asks as he looks from Bea to Ellison and back again.
I shrug. “I think it means we picked the right ones.”
“I do have a question though,” Ellison says, looking up at me. “Why didn’t you rub your success in my dad’s face? The signs are all over town, so you have to be doing well, right? And now into Nashville?”
“Better than well,” I admit. “It’s made us a lot of money, but we did it for the financial security of our future. I’m proud of what we’ve done but I did it for me—not him. Besides, I like knowin’ I won in the end.” And Evan isn’t so bad these days.
She smiles as I drop a kiss on her lips because winning her has always been the ultimate prize.
We finish our drinks, talking and laughing before closing up the building and stepping out into the parking lot.
“Y’all celebrating without me?” Jensen says, climbing out of his car and looking around. “What are y’all doin’ here anyway?”
“Date night,” Ellison says easily and Bea nods.
“Wanna come?” I ask because it seems like the polite thing to do.
“Yeah, as fun as that sounds…”
His voice trails off as a dark sedan pulls up behind Jensen’s cruiser and parks, a gray-haired man slowly climbing from the driver’s seat.
“Evening, Sheriff,” he says with obvious recognition, and Jensen closes the distance toward him.
“Hey, Dennis, how are you?” The two men shake hands and I watch as Dennis swallows hard, unease churning in my gut.
“Good, good, but…” Seeming to remember some semblance of professionalism, he straightens and pulls out an envelope from inside his suit jacket, “Jensen Kade?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, son. You’ve been served.”