a man realizes he can’t do it alone, and if you can’t trust family to help you out, then you’ve got bigger problems than a lack of money.” He nodded his head once, like this decided things.
Diesel hesitated, but he looked at Marigold, then at me, and said nothing. Beau took this silence for assent.
“So, as I was saying, this Stewie character can watch and learn, because I’m gonna get my attorneys involved. Deadliest buncha sharks Nashville’s got to offer. Only the best for my Parrish’s little girl.”
I shook my head instinctively. “You mean Diesel’s girl.”
Beau lifted an eyebrow. “But Parrish, honey, if you two are getting married, she’ll be yours too, won’t she?”
“Oh.” I swallowed hard. “Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. But—”
“Baby doll, tell your Papa Parrish he’s nuttier’n a squirrel,” Beau instructed Marigold in a singsong voice. “Tell your Papa he’s all sauce and no wings. That’s right,” he approved as she burbled and cooed along with him. To me, he added, “I’m gonna get you in to see Merchant, Greene, and Chandler next week, and they’re gonna send all three partners to meet you if they know what’s good for ’em. We gotta jump on this like grease on a hot skillet, son. No time to mess around. Trust me, I’m gonna get everything locked up right and tight.”
I nodded mutely, but my mind was still stuck on “Papa.”
Good Lord. Good Lord, I wanted that. Almost, but not quite, as much as I wanted to make sure Diesel got Marigold forever.
“Well, I expect you two need to get on with your day.” Beau pushed himself to his feet with the help of his cane. “You can expect to hear from your aunt Marnie about thirty seconds after I remember how to make a phone call on the car speakers. She’s gonna wanna send out a press release to all your cousins, so you’ll probably wanna call your parents, if you haven’t already. Marnie’ll know better’n to try to throw y’all a party, not while there’s all this uncertainty, but she’ll wanna plan the gala to end all galas when the custody verdict comes through.” He slapped Diesel on the arm. “All the wings you can eat, eh?”
Diesel nodded halfheartedly. He looked a trifle nauseous, and I understood why. Beauregard Partridge was a force of nature even when you were used to him like I was.
Beau pressed a kiss to Marigold’s dark curls, ruffled my hair like I was twelve, and clomped out the door.
“Are you really okay with this?” I asked Diesel as we waved Beau off from the porch. “Because if you’re not, you just have to tell me. Beau means well, but I don’t want you to feel forced into anything.”
“Nah. ’Course not.” Diesel ran a hand over his jaw. His whole body radiated tension, and his eyes didn’t meet mine. “I’m grateful to your uncle. And to you.”
“Okay. If you’re sure,” I asked, biting my lip uncertainly.
Diesel looked at me, and his shoulders dropped. “I’m positive, Parrish. It’s fine. Honestly.” He drew me in and pressed a lingering kiss to the side of my mouth. When he pulled back and smiled, it looked nearly like his usual sweet smile. “Are you okay? I don’t know why I blurted out our engagement in the first place. Now that Beau knows, he’s gonna tell Mal, and you know Mal’s gonna tell Ava Siegel, and by tomorrow evening, Ava and the Beautification Corps will make sure every Tibetan yak herder knows.”
He didn’t sound upset, only wry and maybe resigned. He liked Ava a lot, especially after all the Beautification Corps had done to get his house fixed up, and I knew he liked Mal already.
I gave him a half-smile. “I told you before, I already informed Gil that I had a hot fiancé.” I shrugged. “And I’m pretty sure Tucker already knew there wasn’t gonna be a repeat of last weekend, but now he’ll know for sure.”
Diesel’s arm tightened around me slightly. “That’ll be handy, at least,” he grumbled.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing, baby.” He reached for Marigold, and I handed her over. “But I’m thinking we should both get to work while we can, because once the Thicket knows about our engagement, it’s gonna be…”
“Madness,” we said together, and Marigold clapped her hands in agreement.
12
Diesel
Running the salvage yard wasn’t quite as easy with Marigold strapped to my chest as it had been before, but it was definitely more fun in some ways. I’d never seen so many hardened