Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Cash gets a faraway look in his eyes. “They were happy. Things weren’t perfect, obviously. But I feel like they were okay with the sacrifices they’d made.” He glances at me. “Just like you’re gonna be okay with yours.”
“You’re also not moving to the moon,” Sawyer adds.
Cash nods. “You can still be a part of things here. We’re gonna need a new foreman, but maybe we can come up with a new role for you. Strategic planning or some shit? I don’t know.”
Duke smiles. “Mollie is rubbing off on you. I like it.”
“She’s got a brain for business, that’s for damn sure.” Cash looks at me, his hat casting half his face in shadow. “And she’ll help us think of a way to keep you involved, Wyatt. Because I know you want to honor Mom and Dad’s legacy.”
I’m just shy of bawling. “I do want that, yeah.”
“We all do,” Duke says. “So it’s important we make our dreams for the ranch come true together. You being in New York won’t change that.”
“Do you promise not to call me a Yankee asshole?”
Duke thinks on this. “That is a promise I don’t feel comfortable making, no. You gotta give us something to work with.”
“And you”—I glance at Sawyer—“will you fly up with Ella to visit us?”
He smiles. “Are you kidding? She’ll get a kick out of getting on an airplane to visit her uncle Wy.”
“I am her favorite.”
“No, you’re not.” Cash makes a face. “I am.”
Ryder points at us. “Wrong and very wrong. I’m the favorite.”
“If by favorite, you mean least favorite, then, yes, you’re correct,” Duke replies.
“Have you thought about what you’re gonna do up there?” Cash asks.
I slip my sunglasses on. “I have. I’ll figure out something. Don’t imagine they have operations like this one in upstate New York, but there’s bound to be work available for a country boy somewhere.”
Sawyer grins. “You could have some babies and raise ’em up. That’s always an option.”
“Y’all are really pushing this baby thing.”
“Ella needs cousins.” Sawyer looks at Cash. “You and Mollie makin’ any progress on that front?”
One side of Cash’s mouth kicks up. “We’re givin’ it a go.”
My heart twists. I’m gonna hate not being here for all of this. I know Sally will too.
But that just means we’ll be visiting Hartsville often. She loves my brothers as much as I do, and I know she’ll make every effort to be here for the big moments and the not-so-big ones too.
There are multiple major airports in Texas with multiple flights a day to and from New York. We’re going to make this work.
We have to.
And who knows? Maybe she and I will eventually end up back in Hartsville down the road. Her parents are here, too, and they’re going to want to have a hand in raising any babies Sally and I do have.
Because of course I want to have babies with Sally. Can’t believe I didn’t realize it was a possibility until now.
More than a possibility. A certainty. Because I am gonna make this work.
I am gonna make Sally my wife.
“I love y’all,” I say. “Thank you. For understanding. And for, well, putting up with me all these years.”
Cash gives me a look. “You definitely owe us. You were fuckin’ unhinged in your twenties.”
“Good thing I’m in my thirties now.” I pass the reins from my right hand to my left. “I got a favor I’d like to ask. Would y’all help me ask Sally?”
“To marry you?” Duke furrows his brow.
“I feel like I should ask her if she’d let me come to New York with her first and show her I have y’all’s blessing to move,” I say with a chuckle. “We’ve only been dating for, like, two and a half seconds.”
Ryder shakes his head. “But you’ve been friends for two and a half lifetimes.”
“Wyatt’s right.” Cash tips his hat in my direction. “Let’s not scare sweet Sally off by rushin’ things. When he bares his heart, it’s supposed to be a big, romantic gesture, not an ambush.”
“Agreed,” Sawyer says.
Cash flashes me a smile. “Lucky for you, Wyatt, I got some ideas.”
CHAPTER 30
Sally
SHOTGUN, SIDE OF SMOKED TURKEY
“Is this the dress?” I ask, doing a small spin in front of Mollie and Wheeler.
Wheeler lets out a low whistle. “Honey, that is the dress.”
“If there was ever a dress to wear while declaring your undying love for your best friend, that’s the one.” Mollie claps her hands before she pulls me in for a hug. “I am thrilled you’re staying in Hartsville. I keep wanting to pinch myself. Obviously I was thrilled you’d landed that gig at Ithaca University, but I know I’m not alone when I say I was hoping you’d stick around here for the long haul. We love you, friend.”
“I love you too.” Stepping back, I smooth the exquisite crepe fabric of the dress over my thighs. It’s fire-engine red, a shade that matches my favorite Bellamy Brooks boots. It feels like buttery silk as it swishes against my bare legs.