I don’t think he meant anything by that, but I scowl anyway, because he’s a fucking Thornton and he’s talking to my woman.
“Well, I appreciate your business.”Daisy begins ringing up their sale as she chats.“You know, I don’t think I ever told you this, but you Thornton boys are one of the reasons all this was possible.Y’all were the first to support my porch pickup.I framed that first dollar, it’s sitting right there.”Daisy points to the wall behind the register where a wrinkled dollar bill sits in an ornate pink frame.
Roman’s eyes dart to the frame, and back to Daisy, and his shock is as evident as mine.I knew about her holding onto her first dollar bill—I hung the damn picture frame—but I didn’t know it had come from them.And I don’t know how I feel about it, either.“Glad you got yourself a store.It’s ...”his eyes dart around the bakery.“Pink.”
I laugh, because he has no idea.Since moving back to the ranch, my whole kitchen’s been renovated and pinkified, not to mention, I built her a damn commercial kitchen on the property just so me and Waylon wouldn’t have to miss her so much while she bakes for the store.All eyes turn to me, because I’m laughing in the corner like a lunatic.So, I clear my throat.“You have no idea.”
Roman, Beau, and Buck all look askance.This is the first time I’ve spoken to them in years—other than to threaten Buck with his life for scaring Daisy.
Roman cautiously looks between me and Daisy and says, “Been a long time since you stopped doing your porch pickup.”
“Yes, it has, but I hope to see ya’ll in here every week now.Okay, your total is three hundred and twenty-one.Are you sure you need all this?”
“We need it,” Buck says exuberantly.
“Y’all having a party you didn’t invite us to?”
“No, ma’am.”Roman hands her several bills.Daisy takes the money and her and Hadley carefully pack the treats in pink boxes and bags with her logo printed on the sides.People in the line behind the Thorntons grumble and groan, and I frown, because you can’t be here to support Daisy and turn your nose up at her taking a dollar from another Red River Canyon family—no matter how long our ancestors have been feuding.
“Quit your bitchin’,” I say, covering Waylon’s ears.“There’s enough for everyone.”
“You sure there’s anything left?”Someone calls from the back of the room, but the grumbling settles down.I turn back to Roman who tilts his chin in appreciation.
“We were real sorry to hear about your cattle, Winchester.That ain’t right.No animal deserves that.”
I nod, even though the Thornton’s had the most to gain from our loss, Rhett never could find any proof.Right now, this moment is a lesson in humility because it isn’t right to condemn them with one breath and watch them support my family with the other.If Daisy can see the good in these boys after everything, then I guess I have to try too.
“Appreciate it,” I say and look all three of them in the eye.Without their continued support of Daisy, we wouldn’t be here today.The Thornton’s take their bags and leave.Several of the patrons gripe quietly and I press a kiss to Daisy’s cheek and let her get on with greeting each customer.
Lemon and Colt are sitting at a table in the back.Their baby girl, Lettie, jumps around in her highchair like all that wild can’t be contained.I guess it’s starting early, just like with her mother and uncles.I pop Waylon in the highchair beside her, and the cousins start babbling in the most adorable baby language.Mama, Wyatt, Waylon, Cash, and Rhett are all seated one table over, waiting on coffees.
“How you feeling, buddy?”Colt asks, and I wonder if I look as pale as I feel.
“Next question.”
“Just so we’re clear,” my sister says, handing Lettie and Waylon both an organic teething biscuit.“If she goes into labor early because of this little stunt, I’m totally saying, ‘I told you so’.”
“Noted.”
Colt stands, grasping my shoulders as if I’m a prized fighter readying for the ring.I guess one part of that is right.“You got everything you need?”
“Yep.”
He pats my back and shoves me toward the crowd.“Go get her, brother.”
I take a deep breath and clear my throat.I’m about to open my mouth when Colt whistles behind me, the kind of whistle we use to get one another’s attention over football fields of cattle, the kind that has every pair of eyes turning in our direction.“Pardon the interruption, folks, but I er ...I got something to ask Daisy-Mae.”
I meet her gaze across the bakery, and as if I choreographed it, the sea of patrons make way for me.Daisy drops the Lemon Meringue tart she’s loading into a paper bag, it splatters on the pink Formica counter, and I sure hope it isn’t a sign of what she’s about to do to my heart.
“Dais, we’ve been through hell and back, and I’m so damn proud of you.”I eat up the distance between us, until I’m standing right in front of her, with nothing but a counter between us.Her eyes are wide and disbelieving as she walks around the counter and stops in front of me.I take off my hat, hold it to my chest as I drop to one knee with an open ring box in another.“I ain’t tryin’ to steal your thunder, darlin’, but I can’t go another second without knowing you’ll be mine for the rest of our lives.Say you’ll make me the happiest man on earth and marry me.”
She gasps, her hand flying to her mouth.Tears shine in her eyes as she nods.“Yes.Yes, West, I’ll marry you.”
I toss the box away and slip the ring on her finger.It’s a sparkly diamond solitaire with two pink diamonds on either side.
“It’s perfect,” she says eyeing the pretty rock on her finger.I’ve never moved so damn fast in my life, but I stand and claim her mouth in a kiss that’s honestly a little much for the whole town to witness.
“Alright, y’all.”I say when we come up for air.“We got triplets on the way, and we’re gonna need to pay for a wedding before they get here, so dig deep and enjoy the delicious pastries that my beautiful wife-to-be created.”
