That wasn’t gonna happen.
I’d regretfully given my notice again, apologising to Steve, all while realising I was burning bridges I could never rebuild. That was OK. I was making new ones.
“You bloody idiot…”
Charlie picked Nugget up and was carrying the wriggling wombat over to a tree he liked to burrow under, to get him out of the way, when he managed to get free. Racing back, he wove his way between everyone’s feet. The sound of men cursing filled the air. Troy tried to ‘nudge’ Nugget vigorously with his foot, but to no avail. The wombat threw himself sideways and collided with Bronson, who stumbled back and into Troy. All three men dropped the bags and had to throw their hands out to stop from falling on their butts, when Nugget slammed right into the back of Troy’s legs.
And down he went.
“Shit.” Billy’s grin was wild. “I knew you were going to ask Mackenzie to marry you, but I thought it might be a little fancier than this.”
“He’s joking,” I said hurriedly, because Troy had gone so very pale. “Billy’s joking.”
Rushing forward, I went to take his hand and haul him back up on his feet. Instead strong fingers wrapped themselves around my wrist and the others delved into his pocket as he pulled out a velvet covered box.
“I was going to wait,” Troy said. “Get you up early tomorrow morning and take you up to the hill overlooking the valley so we could watch the sunrise together.” His words barely registered as my heart thundered in my chest. “But it makes sense that Nugget would ruin all my carefully laid plans.”
The wombat came to a stop abruptly, looking at me, then Troy, then back again.
“I spoke to your mum before we left the States.” A ringing sound started in my ears, partially muffling Troy’s words. “She said she’d give me her blessing, but if I didn’t wake up every day thinking of new ways to make you happy, I wasn’t too far away for her to come and kick my ass.”
A snort escaped me, then an almost sob. Oh my God, my heart was beating so fast, I’d need an ablation after this.
“Mackenzie Amelia James—” Troy said.
“Amelia…” Billy winked at me, making clear I’d hear my middle name a lot going forward.
The box was opened and a beautiful diamond solitaire ring was nestled inside.
“Would you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?”
A sunrise proposal may have been more stereotypically romantic, but this… This was us, mad wombat and all. It felt like the whole farm held its breath, as there was not a bleat, not a moo, until I finally nodded.
“Of course. Yes!” He was up and on his feet in one heartbeat, then swinging me around in a circle in another. “My answer is yes.”
“You’ll never regret it.” He stared up at me. “Ever. I promise to be the sweetest.” Billy coughed dramatically. “Most attentive.” Bronson mumbled something that may or may not have been bullshit. “Loving husband a woman could have.”
“That part is right.” Charlie nodded. “Welcome to the family. Mackenzie Drysdale? Has a nice ring to it.”
Much later that night, Troy and I were sitting on his bed as I FaceTimed Mom.
“You knew?” I asked and she just smirked.
“Your fiancé isn’t the only one that can keep secrets. So, a destination wedding? I’ve already got some ideas. Gimme a sec.” She disappeared without a word from me and then returned with a thick scrapbook. “So I was thinking that eucalyptus trees could be a theme for the wedding. They grow native in Australia, but we have them here too…”
I let her words wash over me, unable to suppress my grin. The wedding, my dress, none of it really mattered, not when I had Troy. I looked up at him, catching his indulgent smile, right before his fingers pushed a loop of hair behind my ear.
“Mackenzie!” Mom’s cry had me turning back to the screen. “You need to focus because this is important. It’s the most important day of a girl’s life.”
“Second most important,” I said, then looked down at the ring. It was Troy’s mother’s before me and was more precious than some store bought thing. “Today tops them all, thanks to Nugget.”
“What’s a Nugget?” Mom asked.
“Our wombat wingman,” Troy replied, then went on to explain what happened today.
Chapter 38
Mackenzie
