Page 118 of Midnight

The pot roast and veggies she’d started this morning after talking to Jacob were done and on Warming. The table was set and waiting for Ash to come home. His random arrival times didn’t bother her. She’d been her own boss with her own timetable for years and years, while his day was more random. Law enforcement didn’t clock out in the middle of emergencies.

She was pouring herself a glass of iced tea when she heard the garage door going up. The brighter light of her life was home!

She set the glass and pitcher back into the fridge and turned just as he walked into the kitchen carrying a bouquet of roses and a very obvious bakery box.

“Asher! How beautiful!”

“For the most beautiful girl,” he said, and brushed a kiss across her lips as he handed them to her and set the bakery box on the counter. “Gotta lock up the cop. Be right back!”

“Lock up the cop” had become his byword for storing his weapon. She was fine with locking up the gun, but she loved the cop part of him. She set the flowers at the end of their table so she could see them while they ate and sat down to wait.

When he came back, instead of sitting down, he knelt down on one knee and opened the little black velvet box he was holding.

“I love you, Nora, and since we’re already planning a wedding, I felt this huge need to put a ring on it. I lost you once. That will never happen again.”

Nora gasped. “Oh, Asher! It’s stunning,” she said as he slipped it on her finger. “And it fits!”

“I know my woman,” he said, then leaned over and sealed it with a kiss.

Nora put her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

* * *

Their dinner was a hit, as was the Italian crème cake he’d brought home. They were cleaning up the dishes together when he brought up getting married again.

“Can you get off anytime tomorrow so we can do the marriage license thing? It won’t take long. I have friends in high places and also in the courthouse,” he said.

Nora shook her head. “I’ll bet you do, and yes, I will make time. Just text me the address when you’re free and I’ll meet you there.”

“Deal,” he said.

That night, when Nora turned back the covers, she found more rose petals in the middle of the bed, and Asher was reaching for her to pull his old football jersey over her head.

“Life won’t always be a bed of roses, but as long as we have each other, we’ll just keep planting them anyway,” he said, then picked her up and laid her down among them.

Nora’s heart was pounding as he moved toward her. Yet another facet of this man she never saw coming, and then his mouth was on her breast, and his hand was between her legs. She tried to stay focused, to watch his face as they made love, but what he was doing made her crazy. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she was lost. She was still reeling froma climax when he slid between her legs, and after that, she was gone.

* * *

He left the next morning while she was still asleep, and she woke up to a picture he’d sent.

She was flat on her stomach. Obviously naked, but with the covers pulled up to her waist. One arm was hanging off the side of the bed, and there were dozens of rose petals stuck to her skin.

It came with a heart emoji and a message.

They will wash off. Mine did. It was damn sure worth it.

She burst out laughing and headed for the shower.

* * *

The ensuing two weeks were hectic.

During that time, the final papers for the sale of her family house were sent. As promised, the remote signing went off with a hitch. The money from the sale of the house was deposited into her bank account. It was official. She kept imagining the joy for Chris and Ellen, and felt good about the way it had all ended.

After consultations with all involved, Asher and Nora opted to get married the day before Thanksgiving. Gunner had put in a prior request not to be on holiday shift because of his brother’s wedding. Construction would come to a halt on all work sites for Dylan and Angie. And for the first time in what Pearl called “forever,” the Yellow Rose was going to be closed for three days for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Asher and Nora sent them round-trip tickets fromAmarillo to Austin and back. Dylan and Angie were picking them up at the airport and taking them home with them. Gunner was driving up to Dylan and Angie’s the day before the wedding, which was going to be held at Asher and Nora’s house.