Sierra didn’t deny it. ‘You don’t think Grandma’s is too simple?’
Mav opened the box. The ringwassimple. A thin, yellow gold band with a small princess-cut diamond in it. ‘No. Nina barely wears jewellery as it is.’ He outright grinned. ‘And I think she’d appreciate something from the family more than a big, fancy stone.’
‘Mav …’ Sierra sniffled. ‘I’m so freaking happy for you right now.’ She shook both her hands as if she needed to physically expel some of it from her body.
‘She has to say yes first,’ he reminded her, though his own heart thumped with excitement.
Sierra rolled her eyes. ‘She will.’
Whether it was the talk of marriage or merely because Benji had already been on her mind, Sierra sobered. ‘Have you heard from him recently?’
There was no need to ask who she was referring to. Benji had left three months prior when the worst of the media frenzy had died down. Though they were prepared for swells of media attention at each court milestone, for the most part, things had smoothed out at the ranch. Operations were back to normal, though the media attention had put them on the map. Last Mav had checked, they were booked out nine months in advance.
‘Yeah. He texted me pictures a few days ago. He and Diablo are working a wrangler job for a ranch that runs along the Colorado River in Moab, Utah. He seems good …’ Though he didn’t mention it, Benji texted Mav every week, and he always opened the conversation with the same three words: ‘How is she?’
‘And Skye is handling the job okay?’ Sierra asked, redirecting the conversation back to Benji’s replacement at Hunt Ranch.
‘Yeah. She’s solid.’
‘Good—’
The conversation trailed off at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
Nina and Poppy walked in, both of them dressed up in jeans, boots, and wool-lined jackets for the Winter Wonderland Barbecue. Nina had braided Poppy’s hair, but her own hip-length hair was covered with a knitted white beanie.
Poppy ran straight for him. ‘We’re ready!’
‘I see that,’ Mav stated, but he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from Nina. She looked tired, and it only made him marvel because she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She smiled and came to him too, slotting at his side as if she’d always belonged there. The ring burned a hole in his pocket. ‘We had a hard time deciding which boots to wear,’ she explained.
‘Understandable.’
Nina looked across the room at Sierra and clearly caught his sister’s slightly maniacal grin. ‘What?’ she asked, looking back and forth between them.
‘Nothing,’ Sierra basically sang.
Nina frowned.
Mav shot Sierra a pointed look and tried to redirect Nina’s attention. ‘We ready to go?’
‘Yup.’ When he took her hand, she took Poppy’s. ‘We’re going to have to do lots of dancing if we’re going to keep warm tonight.’
‘I love dancing,’ Poppy said with a small sigh. ‘Shadow, come!’ she said, calling the dog to her side.
Sierra followed them out of the house and closed the door behind them. ‘Your grandma used to say: “Dancing feet make a happy heart.”’
‘I have a happy heart!’ Poppy chirped, and everyone laughed.
They piled into the Jeep. As they started down the ranch road to the resort, Mav looked back in the rear-view mirror and met Nina’s gaze. She winked at him. He winked back. And when he turned his eyes back to the road, his thoughts were preoccupied with the question he wanted to ask as soon as they were back home – and the answer he hoped he’d receive.
The Wagon Train was bustling.
Guests danced and ate. The cold December air was alive with music and laughter.
Nina sat next to Sierra as they watched Mav and Poppy dance together. The song that was playing was fast and upbeat. Poppy was jumping up and down, all sense of rhythm forgotten. But Mav didn’t care or get self-conscious, and when his daughter held out a hand for him, he took it and twirled her in a circle, making her laugh.
Sierra and Nina were both quiet for a long moment, each enjoying the crisp night, the music, and the scent of the hot mulled wine drifting to them from the bar.
