She admired the ring Gabe had placed on her finger again Tuesday evening, with even more sweet words of how much he loved her and wanted her by his side forever. It was all so surreal.
Loving Gabe was effortless. And felt so right.
Paige's phone rang on the couch beside her, making her jump. She picked it up to see a video call from Damon coming through.
Smiling, she answered. "Hey, I was just going to call you."
"What the heck, Paige?" The way Damon had his elbows propped on the table in front of him made his shoulders look bulkier than ever.
Her eyes widened at Damon's greeting.
"I just got off the phone with my mom, and she said you're engaged?" Damon glared into the phone. "When were you going to tell me?"
"Ididtell you last Sunday. You were the first one I told, remember?"
"I know, but I thought you were keeping it a secret. From the way you talked, everything was up in the air."
"It was." She shrugged and grinned. "But it's not anymore. And it's not a secret. The whole town knows I've been sneaking around with the new physical therapist." She giggled when Gabe groaned at her choice of words. "Damon, may I introduce you to my fiancé?"
"It's about time."
Gabe snuggled a little closer as Paige angled the phone toward him. "It's nice to meet you, Damon."
"I can't believe you, man." Damon's voice turned hard as he peered into the phone at Gabe. "What gives you the right to take advantage of my favorite cousin?"
"W-what?" Gabe stiffened beside her, a slight tremor in his voice. "I swear I haven't taken advantage of Paige."
Damon continued to glare at Gabe for a long moment. "Good. Inthat case, it's nice to meet you." Then his lips turned up in a broad grin.
Paige burst into laughter as Gabe let out a heavy exhale.
"Sorry, man." Damon shrugged one shoulder. "Ben's a big teddy bear, like Uncle James. He's too nice to play the tough big brother, so it's my job to let you know: if you break my cousin's heart, Iwillrearrange your face."
"Noted." Gabe relaxed as he shook his head. He turned to her. "Do all your family members delight in scaring the stuffing out of the men you date?"
"Wait until you meet my cousin, Robert." Paige blinked innocent eyes at him as Damon snickered. "He's the county sheriff."
Gabe gulped, and Paige and Damon laughed again.
Damon sobered first. "Consider yourself warned, man. Robertwillgive you a hard time, but he's usually joking."
"Usually?" Gabe's wide-eyed response set off more laughter.
"So, when's the wedding?" Damon asked.
"We’re still deciding on a date. When do you deploy?" Paige's voice was somber. A heavy, sluggish feeling filled her chest. She always worried about Damon when he deployed, fearing that one of these times, he wouldn't come home.
Damon scratched his jaw. "It was supposed to be the end of October, but they just bumped it up a month."
"So, you leave at the end of September?"
Damon nodded. "I get two weeks leave before deploying, but I have to be back on base no later than forty-eight hours before deployment."
Paige consulted her calendar. "So, we should get married around Labor Day." She looked at Gabe.
"Works for me." He shrugged. "That's only two weeks after school starts. Will you be able to take time off for a honeymoon that early in the school year?"
"It would have to be a short one." Paige winked. "Or we could get married before school starts."
