were ushered out of the courthouse by a harried clerk who wanted to lock up for the day. I'd ridden to the courthouse with my mother and Colette, but I rode with J.J. to Crave.
When we parked in front of the building, I reached out and placed a hand on his forearm.
"I forgot to give you your wedding presents earlier," I said.
J.J. leaned back in his seat. "I didn't expect—"
I lifted a hand. "I didn't expect you to, either, so we're even."
He grinned and stopped arguing.
Compared to the jewelry he'd purchased for me, I was almost ashamed to give him his gift, but I refused to give in to the emotion. J.J. and I were in different places in our careers right now and I'd gotten him the best I could afford.
During our shopping trip in Dallas to get my wedding dress, I'd walked past a store that specialized in monogrammed and etched gifts and gone inside on a whim. While I was there, I found a sterling silver set intended for a man. It included a key ring and money and tie clips.
I intended to get his initials etched into the silver, but when the clerk asked if they were for a special occasion, my mother had piped in that I was getting married and they were a wedding gift for my fiancé. So, instead of his initials, they were engraved with an intertwined L and J, the first initials of our names.
At the time, it seemed a little hypocritical to me, but after my conversation with him earlier, I was glad my mother had made her offhand comment.
I handed the small box, neatly wrapped in silver paper, to him. J.J. stared at me for a moment before he finally opened it.
When he picked up the key ring first and saw the keys dangling from it, he gave me a questioning look.
"Keys to the house," I said. "Since you're officially living with me as of today, I thought you might need them."
He flashed me a grin then his eyes focused on the engraving and his smile softened into something more tender.
"Thank you," he said. "They're beautiful."
I laughed since that was the exact phrase he'd wanted me to use when he'd given me my gifts earlier. "I think you forgot something."
Again, he shot me a confused look.
"You're the most amazing woman alive?" I prompted.
J.J. laughed with me and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "You are the most amazing woman alive, but don't expect me to tell you that in front of my mother or sister."
We were both laughing as we exited the car and were met by the photographer Colette insisted on hiring.
The next twenty minutes were a blur of pictures and positioning. I was shifting on my sore feet for the third time in as many minutes when J.J. called a halt to the proceedings.
"That's enough posed pictures," he stated to his mother. "Lee needs to sit down, put her feet up, and get something to eat."
Colette looked like she wanted to argue until she looked at my feet. "Oh, sweetie, your poor feet are so swollen."
Within minutes, I was settled at a table next to J.J. with my shoes off and Colette sent Cam into the kitchen to get a pan full of cool water for my feet.
J.J. sat next to me and I watched with wide eyes as a group of people came in carrying boxes and bags full of food.
"What's this?" I asked J.J., leaning closer so no one could overhear me.
When we'd talked about the reception, there was a discussion of cake and champagne. Well, champagne for everyone else, sparkling grape juice for me. But no one had mentioned food. But the bakery in town didn't have time to make us a cake, so Cam mentioned putting together ice cream sundaes as our reception food. It was fine by me because I was beginning to get strange cravings, which did include the stereotypical ice cream, but usually topped with fudge, pretzels, and bacon crumbles. Cam said she was putting it on her menu and calling it the "Lee Special."
J.J. put his mouth next to my ear and murmured, "Your mom and my mom teamed up and put this together. I think you'll like it."
I glanced over at him, our faces a few inches apart. "What—" Then, I smelled it. There was a steakhouse aptly named Chop about thirty miles from Farley that had the best prime rib I'd ever tasted. I very rarely got