She looked at her parents, tears glittering on her lashes. “Really?”
Owen swallowed hard and nodded. Sylvia gaped at him, then at me, smiling.
“I'd like to set a date as soon as possible. What do you say to three months from today?” I turned to Sylvia and grinned. “Does that give you ladies enough time to organize all the things you want?”
“Three months? That’s not enough time,” Jade squealed. “There’s so much to do.”
“Three months is all you get, Princess, ‘cause I ain’t waiting longer for you to be Mrs. Knox.”
Sylvia beamed. “Three months is plenty. We’ll have it done.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely help with the arrangements. I love organizing . . . and weddings,” Eva said, smiling.
It was wishful thinking that Summers would just shut the fuck up and say nothing.
“Three months? What’s the rush here? I don’t get it. Unless—” His eyes darted to Jade’s stomach.
“No, Summers. There’s no baby—yet. We plan on changing that as soon as we’ve moved into the house.”
“What house?” Jade’s eyes widened as she searched my face.
“The house Uncle Eric is helping me buy. We’ve put in an offer subject to your approval, Princess. If you like it, we move in two weeks before the wedding.”
“Oh my God, seriously?” she shrieked. “Our own house?”
“Yeah. All ours.” I grinned.
She kissed me all over my face, laughing. “Thank you . . . thank you . . . thank you,” she said between each kiss. “Baby, you’ve made me the happiest woman on the planet!”
Yeah. I planned on spending the rest of my days doing that.
This was only the beginning.
Chapter Sixty-Nine — Jade
Finally I had my closest family together and nobody was getting killed—for now. Ryder and Harrison glared at one another, neither believing the other was good enough for his sister. Eva and I had our work cut out for us. A man was only as good as the woman behind him.
We’ll fix this, make them come around eventually.
“Jade, I'm so happy for you!” Mom was the first to hug me. She beamed as she pulled Daddy closer and hugged him too.
“What’s that for?” Daddy asked her, a soft glint in his eyes.
“Because you looked beyond the exterior at what would make our baby girl happy. That’s what.” She laughed up at him and pressed a kiss into his cheek.
Ryder joined us, placing his arm around my shoulder and kissing my cheek. “Happy, babe?”
“I’m happy beyond words. Getting married and moving in to our own house! Finally I’ll be able to decorate just like I’ve always wanted to.” I squeezed his arm and smiled up at him, unable to contain my joy. “ What about you?”
“I'm happy if you’re happy,” he said simply.
Daddy chuckled. “Wise man, Ryder. You’ve got this all worked out, huh?”
Eva stepped up to embrace me. “Jade, we’re going to be family! I've always wanted a sister.”
I hugged her. “Me too. Too bad I’m over Barbie dolls. Would’ve been nice to have known you when I needed someone to play with. Harrison sucked at playing Ken.” I pulled back and smiled at her. “I'm so glad you’re going to help me plan the wedding. We’ll get to know one another a lot better.”
“Oh, it's going to be so much fun. Three months isn’t a lot of time, but we can do it. I know a few people in L.A. who would be happy to help us.”
I laughed. “I think Mom has it covered. She’s wanted to host a wedding for a long time, and seems I’ll be beating Harrison down the aisle.” This was my chance to fish for more info on her and Harrison. I quirked an eyebrow as I studied her face. “So you and my brother . . . he never breathed a word about dating you. But I’m not really surprised, you’re exactly what he needs . . . a woman who won’t tolerate his bullshit.”
Harrison took a step closer and snaked his arm around Eva’s waist, pulling her back against his chest. “I heard that, little sister. Yep, I'm not proud of some of the things I’ve done lately—Eva has shown me that I need to change a few things—but am I really that bad?”
I nodded my head, my grin softening my words. “Uh huh. You can be a pain in the butt. Eva just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Oh, I have a fair idea what Harrison is capable of. I've gotten to know a few things about him that really surprised me.”
“Yeah? Like?” I asked, curious as hell.
She laughed and told me all about the dog incident. Harrison stood there grinning, pleased with himself, gently caressing her arm as she spoke.