Page 96 of Roping Her In

Don’t be a grump, he mentally coached himself as he got out of the truck. They’d managed to fit everything Hailey owned into the bed of his truck, or her daddy’s, or the back of her SUV. Her parents were taking some of her bigger furniture back to Shiloh Ridge, as this house came fully furnished.

So today, all they had to move in were her personal effects, clothes, some dishes she wanted, blankets, towels, and then what her momma had labeled toys—her hobbies and things she liked to do.

Jake went around the back of his truck, and lowered the tailgate as Hailey pushed the button to lift the back on her car. “This place is incredible,” he said, glad when his voice came out chipper and happy.

Hailey laughed and practically steamrolled into him. “Isn’t it? I haven’t even seen it with the shutters painted like that, and look at the door—it’s bright yellow.”

“I thought you didn’t like the yellow,” he teased, and Hailey only laughed as she shook her head and curled into his chest.

“Thank you for helping me today.” Her voice came out quiet and quite a bit dimmer as well.

“Of course,” Jake murmured, and nothing more needed to be said—not really—but Hailey was never one to hold back.

She gazed up at him and took his face in both of her hands. “I know this isn’t easy for you, and I really appreciate you being here.” She searched his eyes, and Jake wanted to assure her that he’d do anything and go anywhere if it meant he could be with her.

He opened his mouth to say that, but “I can see this is the right place for you,” came out instead.

A gasp came out of her mouth, and though pure surprise streamed through Jake too, it also left room for the truthfulness of what he’d said.

He reached up to cup her face with one of his hands as he pulled his cowboy hat off with the other. As he lowered his head to kiss her, he whispered, “I mean, did you see that yellow door? That was practically made for you, sweetheart.”

She scoffed this time, but Jake silenced any further protest she may have made with his mouth against hers. No, not everything between them had been ironed flat, and they had plenty to work through—including the miles now separating them.

But God had given Jake a great gift by allowing him to see this farm through Hailey’s eyes, and get his own personal witness that this was where she was meant to be. Jake had been taught to trust God in all things, and now he needed to figure out how to do that in real life.

“They’re out here kissing,” Nash yelled.

Jake ducked his head away from Hailey and quickly put his cowboy hat back on his head.

“No more kissing,” Etta called. “We’ve got things to move into this house.”

Hailey giggled as she pressed her face into Jake’s chest. “Now you’ve gotten us in trouble.”

“Yeah, that was all me,” he said dryly, because the woman had definitely kissed him back.

Hailey turned toward her SUV and the baskets of linens she’d put there. “Come on,” she said. “The sooner we get moved in, the sooner we can be alone again.”

Jake liked the sound of that, and he reached for a bin of her kitchen items and followed her into her new home.

35

“All right, Elaine. It’s time to get into your dress.”

Elaine swiveled in the chair in front of the vanity and looked over to her mother. Momma stood in front of the closet and pulled down the zipper on her dress bag, revealing the long layers of blush organza fabric in Elaine’s wedding skirt.

“Okay,” she said. “Are Aunt Simone and Aunt Callie coming?”

“Yes, I just texted them,” Momma said. “Callie’s bringing the crown, and Simone will have the bouquet.”

Elaine nodded and stood from the bench seat. She already wore her slip, and in fact, had been wearing that with a sweatshirt over it all morning as she’d gotten her hair and makeup done. Colt had given her the entirety of his house to get ready, and aunts and cousins had been in and out all day with food and updates on how the orchard setup was coming.

Daddy had been helping Colt and his mother in the orchards for a couple of hours now, though she’d heard him come back about thirty minutes ago and get in the shower. Elaine had wanted to be married in Colt’s orchards under the pink apple blossoms as the trees bloomed for the year. As he had many different varieties, they’d chosen a portion of the orchard closest to parking for guests when the Honeycrisp apple trees would be blooming.

She’d seen them for the past couple of days, and this morning when she’d driven onto the property where she would be living after today. Tears filled her eyes that this was her reality—a beautiful man who loved her, and a little boy she could be a mother to, and a nice home ready and waiting for her.

Colt’s mom and one of his sisters still lived here on the property, but Myrah lived in town now. Elaine appreciated how much they loved her and had supported her wishes to have the wedding here. She’d sketched out how there would be two rows of four between each tree, bordering the wide aisle leading down to the altar at the end of the row.

She’d collected Colt’s broken limbs over the winter, including the ones that had come down in the ice storm, and she’d asked Aunt Simone to craft an altar with an arch over it out of the branches. Her aunt had decorated the whole thing with flowers in Elaine’s preferred colors of coral, peach, and blush. She herself would be part of the décor, as she had chosen a blush dress instead of the traditional white or ivory.