“And the land?” Ava asked since he had a point. This was why they were here.
“All of it,” Trey stated. “But I’ll need five of it for somethin’ else.”
“What?” Magnus asked.
“An ag barn for the school,” he said simply.
“Y’all have an FFA program?” Magnus inquired.
“Yeah. But they’ve got this little shit hole they call a barn. It sits on less than an acre. Not big enough to hold goats.”
“You wanna build an ag barn for the school?” Ava asked, grinning. “To help the future farmers of America?”
“We’ll get the kids to help build it,” Trey informed them. “That way, they can make it their own.”
Ava glanced at Magnus, saw his eyes were shiny.
“You never cease to amaze me,” he whispered.
“It’s why you love me.”
Magnus’s shoulders squared, and he leaned forward. “I do love you, Trey.”
“I know.”
“Now you’re quotin’Star Wars?”
Ava smiled even as she held her breath.
When neither man moved, merely stared into each other’s eyes, Ava cleared her throat. “What about me? A girl likes to hear it, too, you know.”
Trey looked at her first, his eyes softening. “Yeah, girl. I love you, too.”
“I know,” she said, using their words.
“Y’all know you’ll have to meet my parents,” Trey noted. “And my brothers.” He chuckled. “And my sisters.”
“Tell me the time and place, and we’re there,” Magnus said, his voice sturdier than before.
“It’ll have to be before Brantley and Reese’s weddin’. Otherwise, that’ll just be weird.”
“And when is that?”
“A couple of weeks from now.” Trey glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “You’ve got time to get a dress.”
Ava grinned. “Iknewblowin’ on those dandelions would work.”
Epilogue
Ten days later…
Friday, September 16, 2022
Trey woke on Friday morning before Avaor Magnus. They’d had a very eventful evening, so he expected they’d sleep in since it was their day off. And if they didn’t, more than likely, they’d get some exercise of the horizontal variety while they had the chance.
As he’d done the last couple of weeks, Trey slipped out of the room without making a sound. He made a pit stop in the guest bathroom before venturing to the living room to find Sarge, Aurora, and Arbuckle waiting patiently for someone to appear.
Well, to be fair, Sarge and Aurora were patient. Arbuckle was an entirely different story. According to Ava, his owner had kept him in a kennel in an apartment for most of the day and night, so he was taking advantage of beingoutof a kennel. Thankfully, he was only wandering around and sniffing everything and anything he could reach. He was officially enrolled in their new puppy training class—despite him being five years old—but it was slow going. To keep him preoccupied, they’d brought some toys in for him to play with, but his favorite pastime seemed to be trying to get Aurora to play keep-away. He’d start by wagging a toy in her face to pique her interest. When that didn’t work, he would lie down in front of her and bark incessantly in her face while she ignored him. Or pretended to, anyway.
