She snuggled in closer to him to watch the sunset. "Feels heavenly to me."
They stayed on the couch until her stomach growled, sounding like some type of wild animal.
Daniel laughed. "We'd better feed the beast."
As much as she hated to leave his arms, she pushed to her feet and went to search the kitchen for food.
“What are our chances of finding something to eat here?” Daniel asked as he followed her.
“We always keep a few staples in the cupboards, but then we always bring more food with us when we come to stay. Anything that doesn’t expire right away usually gets left behind.” She pulled open the freezer. “The scary part is not knowing how long some of this stuff has been here.” She rummaged around until she found a one-dish meal, consisting of chicken, veggies, and pasta that was simple enough to fix.
While they ate, they talked more about what their future looked like. Even though Daniel encouraged her to work at the hospital, she saw an emotion on his face that looked like disappointment.
Riley set down her fork. "Are you sure you don't mind me working with my Uncle James?"
"Of course not. Why would I mind?"
"I don't know, you seem...disappointed."
"I'm happy for you, I promise. I love that you're planning to stay in Providence so we can settle down together, but..." The disappointment lingered on his face.
"But what?" She leaned across the table and looked in his eyes.
"I'm disappointed in myself for derailing my life." He shook his head. "I can do so much more than muck out stalls. I'm excited about designing Jake's rec center, but then what?"
"Maybe you should look for a job with an architectural firm in the Tri-Cities area."
"I'm not sure I dare leave the ranch."
"It's not like you'd be leaving forever. You'd still come home every evening." She reached across the table and put a hand on his arm. "If you want to stay on the ranch, I could ask Jake if he'd sell us an acre or two of land to build a house on."
A thoughtful look filled his face before he slowly nodded, then his lips turned up. "I could design our house."
Now she smiled. "You could, but I don't want to wait until we have a house built to get married."
"Me either." He laid down his fork and took her hand. "We'll have to look for a place in town to rent, which could be difficult."
Her face fell. "I heard my mom and brothers talking about the housing shortage in Providence."
"We'll figure something out. My parents will be so glad we're back together, they'd let us live with them, if we need to until we get a house built."
Riley grimaced. "I love your parents, but I hope we don't have to do that."
"Me too."
Thirty minutes later, Riley dried the last plate and put it back in the cupboard. She looked around to make sure she'd taken care of everything they needed to do before leaving. "I hate to have this day come to an end, but I suppose we should head home before it gets even later."
Daniel caught her hand as she headed toward the door. "Let's stay here tonight."
"I'd love that, but Jake and Emily will be worried about us."
"No, they won't." Daniel's whole body tensed. "I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Let me guess, you told Jake you were keeping me away overnighttoo?" She propped her hands on her hips, both pleased and perturbed that Daniel and her brother thought they could plan her whole day for her.
Daniel scratched the back of his neck. "Something like that."
"What's going on?" Her gaze narrowed on his face. "What are you hiding?”
