“You realize you haven’t asked me to be your girlfriend. You just skipped over that part and started talking about marriage.”
I chuckle, leaning closer to her while continuing to lather her hair up. “Do you want me to ask you to be my girlfriend?”
She finally opens her eyes, studying my lips. “Maybe.”
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Will you consider eloping with me?”
“Sam! I want to be your girlfriend for a while first. I’ve never had a boyfriend.” She sits up, turning around to face me. Her hair is all sudsy, but I can see her boobs now, which makes my dick harden more.
“Okay, that’s fair. I need to get a ring first anyway.”
She drops her face into her hands, shaking her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
I grab the handheld showerhead and start rinsing her hair out. She tilts her head back for me, watching my face upside down.
“I just love you so much, and now that I’ve finally let myself feel this way, the feeling is … overwhelming. All I can think about is our future together.”
“I love you too, Sam,” she whispers.
My chest feels like it’s going to explode. I smile down at her. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Sam Seymour.”
“I love you too, Dolly Redford. More than you’ll ever know.” I lean down, pressing a kiss to her lips. “And you have many years ahead for me to prove it to you.”
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
DOLLY
For the first time since I was fifteen, I won the blue ribbon at the fair for my cinnamon coffee cake.
Sam commissioned a table to be built in the backyard ofourhouse at Moonlight Ranch. Every time I slip up and call it his house, he corrects me.
The blue ribbon is pinned to my red silk dress. Sam raises his crystal champagne glass, tapping his fork against the glass.
He clears his throat, adjusting the color of his button-down denim shirt. “In honor of my beautiful girlfriend, we’ve gathered you all here to celebrate her incredible accomplishment of being the best baker in the state of Texas. And we have an announcement to make.”
The table hushes quickly at that. Everyone I love is here tonight, except Sterling, who’s in Virginia on official orders since his gunshot wound healed.
Rosie and Holden are on the other end of the table, sitting with Birdie and Bonnie on their laps. The twins are in the terrible twos now, and they get cuter and are more fun to spendtime with every day. I’ve had growing baby fever for the last six months.
Duke is sitting beside Holden, smiling at Sam. He finally got over his petty disapproval of our relationship and is now our official third wheel every weekend. He’s still a raging ladies’ man with no hint of settling down anytime soon, especially since he’s the only one who lives with Pops now, who’s sitting next to him.
His health has declined even more, to the point that he’s never quite sure where he is. He’s almost at the stage where he might need a full-time caregiver to move in at Redford Ranch to make sure he doesn’t accidentally harm himself or wander off. Duke has taken on the majority of the day-to-day load, even though we all pitch in when we can.
Cash and Monroe are across from Duke and Pops. They flew in last night from an awards show in Los Angeles that Monroe was, as usual, a big winner at. I tried to congratulate her when she arrived, but she quickly hushed me, insisting that tonight be about my accomplishments. I’m dying to know if she and Cash are ever going to make pretty little superstar babies, but she keeps saying that with her schedule, it would be too hectic. Which I totally get. Cash seems content with the uncle life, always bringing home new stuffed animals for his nieces. Rosie secretly bags up the excess ones and hides them in her attic.
Sam looks at me expectantly. I smile, reaching down to pull out the very first proof copy of the cookbook that will soon be in bookstores around the country.
In the last year, I finally took the leap and started sharing my recipes online through short videos. At the end of every one, Sam does a taste test and rates the dish, but he gives them all a ten, except my cinnamon coffee cake, which he scores as a million and one. Half my followers are just women and men who like watching a hot cowboy moan about how good my cookies taste. But the other half really do love to bake.
After getting multiple requests on social media, I decided to chase the dream of getting my cookbook published. I really didn’t think it would ever happen because even though I had thousands of people asking for it and telling me that my recipes really werethatgood, getting a cookbook deal these days wasn’t easy.
