Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,90
amended, leading her toward the truck. It was a king cab, with four doors, so she could put Remmy and Thomas in the back. All four of them could easily fit inside, and she ran her free fingers along the bed as he led her to the driver’s seat.
“Just get in and try it,” he said, opening the door for her.
Jess met his eyes briefly before getting behind the wheel. She saw the yellow sticky note on the radio screen, but she planted her hands on the wheel in proper driving position before she truly let herself read the words.
Look in the back seat.
Smiling, she twisted to look behind her.
“Surprise!” Remmy said, popping up and almost hitting Jess in the mouth. She giggled and handed Jess another envelope.
“What’s this?” Jess asked her.
“I’m not allowed to say.” Remmy sat down and watched as Jess flipped over the envelope and out dropped the key to the truck.
Dallas hadn’t closed the door, but Jess couldn’t see him either. She got out of the truck, the key in her hand. He stood down at the tailgate with Thomas, both of them holding deep, luxurious red roses.
Jess hadn’t known that roses were her love language until Dallas had started giving them to her. She held up the key, and he held up his rose.
Thomas came forward and handed her the rose he held without saying anything. Remmy climbed out of the truck, and the two children stood there and watched as Dallas dropped to both knees, that rose in his hand getting overshadowed by the little black jewelry box he’d procured from somewhere.
Jess pulled in a breath and held it. Her heart hammered in her chest, and everything seemed to be moving so fast now.
“Jess,” he said calmly. “I love you, and my kids love you, and we want you to come live with us and be part of us. Will you marry me?”
She’d started nodding about halfway through, tears filling her eyes.
“Yay, yay, yay!” Remmy yelled, jumping up and down.
Jess stopped to kiss the top of her head and run her hand down the side of Thomas’s face before she hurried into Dallas’s waiting arms. “Yes,” she whispered in his ear as she clung to him. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Dallas set her down as the kids came over. The four of them huddled together, and Dallas asked, “Who wants to tell her?” He looked at Remmy and then Thomas. “Not you, Remmy.”
“Daddy—”
“Thomas is going to,” Dallas said, silencing his daughter. She loved to talk so much, and Jess actually felt a little bad for her as her expression fell.
She looked at Thomas, who looked steadily back at her. “We want you to come be part of us real soon, Jess,” he said. “So we’re proposing a really fast engage-gage-ment.” He looked at Dallas as he stumbled over the word.
Dallas nodded that he’d gotten it right, and Jess looked between the two of them.
“How fast?”
“You tell us how fast you can do it,” Dallas said quietly. “We’ll be ready.”
Jess had no idea. She needed to call her mother. And talk to Ginger. And figure out what she needed to buy. Food. Flowers. A venue. Her mind raced, and she simply stared.
Then she closed her eyes, and she quieted the racing thoughts with one simple statement. Help me to see what I should do here.
She’d been working on listening and watching more, instead of panicking. Thinking things through instead of jumping to conclusions.
She did not need food or flowers. She didn’t need a venue—she could get married here on this ranch, or in that huge back yard of Dallas’s, or on her father’s ranch where she’d grown up.
She didn’t need much. She needed the three people she stood with and a dress.
“Would you be willing to fly to Montana for the wedding?” she asked.
The three of them looked at each other, and the kids started nodding.
“I’ll do what you want, Jess,” Dallas said quietly. “But Luke can’t travel until he’s officially out, and that’s not for two more months.”
She nodded; she knew how important Dallas’s friends were to him.
“Let’s do it in the back yard,” she said. “As soon as I can get my parents and sisters here.”
“Really?” Dallas asked.
“Yes,” Jess said. “You need something nice to wear, my cowboy mechanic.” She kissed him, not caring that his kids stood there watching. She broke the connection early and looked at Thomas and Remmy. “You’ll both need something nice too.”
“We can get clothes,” Dallas said. “I’ll ask