Caleb's Blessing(30)

We exchanged a little small talk before ringing off. I felt even better when I left my office to head back outside to plant flowers with my girl.

Tonight, if all goes well, she will be wearing my ring before bedtime. I just have to figure out a way to trap her where there’s no escape, and no, I’m not above that shit if it’ll get me what I want in this situation.

She was already knee deep in dirt and the same jackasses who had sworn to me that they didn’t know the first thing about planting flowers were right there with her. I should’ve known.

I felt too good to let it get to me though, so I just muscled Mikey out of the way from next to her, and took over. “Shit, I forgot.”

I dusted off my hands and went back in to the downstairs bathroom. I came back out and knelt beside her again. “Let me see your face.” I placed the hat that I’d brought out for her on the ground so I could open the tube of sunscreen and plaster her face and shoulders, before putting the hat on her head.

“In a little bit the sun’s gonna be hot as a bitch I don’t want you to burn.”

“Aw ain’t that sweet. Can I have some too boss?” Alex the ass made cow eyes at me and I had to throw a clump of dirt at his head.

She laughed so hard she almost toppled over in the dirt. She finds joy in the silliest of things; it makes her laugh infectious. And the look that passed between me and the guys said it all. Our girl was coming along just fine. The asshole was all but forgotten.





Chapter 18




Mom came through and Reeves dropped by the house an hour or so later. Amanda was mesmerized by the over starched Brit in the middle of ranch country.

She listened to his voice like he was singing opera and the old coot was eating it up, until the boys got jealous and ran him off. I guess she just had that kind of affect on the opposite sex; she makes them all stupid, including me.

Now that I had the ring I wasn’t feeling so sure. We’d only known each other for a short time. I hadn’t even told her that I loved her yet. Though she slept in my arms every night, I hadn’t done anything more than kiss her breathless.

Sure those kisses had grown hotter and wilder with time, but there as so much more I wanted to share with her. It wasn’t that I was afraid to touch her. I was just trying to give her more time.

She was running from a traumatic experience after all, I mustn’t forget that. But neither was I willing to let that rule the rest of our lives, hers or mine.

We’d shared enough of ourselves with each other that I knew she was the one for me and I had no plans on ever letting her go. I’ve been doing little things here and there to show her my heart, while trying not to move too soon and scare her away.

She had even grown used to feeling my morning wood rubbing against her first thing in the morning, since I’d stopped trying to hide it from her; and I’ve been kind of gentling her to my touch of an evening when we sat in the den necking while the TV ran in the background.

While she made lunch I sat at the table watching her move around the room. She was going on and on about the garden and how pretty it was going to be and I wondered if she realized she was planning for a future here on the ranch.

She’d already accepted subconsciously at least, that this was home. This was good and will add to my argument later when I try convincing her to marry me.

What the fuck am I saying? Hadn’t I promised myself that I wouldn’t do this, that I wouldn’t let her past dictate our future? Maybe I wasn’t doing her any favors by holding back.

If she were anyone else maybe I could see doing that. But she was strong, stronger than I’d first thought, and besides, she had to know that her new man was stronger than the old and was willing to stand in front of her, to protect her.

“Baby put that down and come here a minute.” She’d already taken a peach cobbler from the oven and her beans had been slow cooking she said, since this morning.

She was about to put the corn bread in and there was chicken waiting to be smothered. The pigs will be here soon for their feeding so I’d better make this quick.

She put the spoon back on the counter and came over to me. “Yes, what is it?” I pulled her down onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her middle locking her in.

“Can I ask you a question sugar? Did you have anywhere else that you wanted to be?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know; was there anywhere you wanted to go before all this happened?”

“Not that I know of, I mean I wanted to travel a little but if you mean to live, no I can’t say that I did.”

“What about your hometown, will you miss it if you can never go back?”