Page 158 of Take My Love

“Silas!” She playfully shoves my chest. “Tell me.”

“I started lookin’ around February and picked it up from the jewelers in April.”

“That was two months ago! Why’d you wait?”

“’Cause Warren wouldn’t give me his blessin’ until I proved I was good enough to marry you.”

She furrows her brows. “What?”

“Yep, I was tryin’ to be respectful, ya know…marryin’ my best friend’s sister, so I asked for his blessin’ and he straight up said no.”

“You’re jokin’.”

“Nope. Ask Maisie.”

“So what’d you have to do?”

I sigh, knowing I’m about to embarrass myself.

“He put together an obstacle course ’round the ranch and each time I failed to get to the end, he’d make me start over. Took me four weeks to finally complete it.”

She bursts out laughing, quickly covering her mouth. “Shut up right now…”

“I swear! He said I needed to get better at horseback ridin’ and wanted to be confident I’d be able to fight off any threats if someone tried to hurt you. So he made me ride to different areas, and when I’d get to ’em, Bodie and Colt would be waitin’ for me.”

“Oh no…”

“Yep…” I shake my head. “One tased me and the other pepper sprayed me when I wasn’t lookin’.”

“You’ve gotta be makin’ this up.”

“He called itbrotherly bondin’.”

She folds her arms, looking like she’s ready to murder him. “Then what happened?”

“It was pourin’ rain, and I had to ride through a swampy pasture to find the next trail. But I could hardly see through the fog and accidentally led the horse down the wrong path and ended up in a muddy ditch. We were both covered and I had to ask ’em to help us out.”

“Where the hell was I when this was all goin’ on?”

“Workin’ or with your sister and mom. That’s why it took me so long to get through it ’cause I didn’t want you to get suspicious.”

“Did you ask my dad for his blessin’ too?”

“Of course. He gave it to me right away, but it was important to me that I also got Warren’s.”

“You know he only did that to humiliate you?”

“Oh, I have no doubt. He took several pictures.”

“I can’t believe you went along with that…” She dips down and presses her lips to mine. “How’d I get so lucky?”

“I ask myself that same question every day, love.”

bonus epilogue

Posey

Ogling my husband,I admire how handsome he is in his new Stetson cowboy hat, but especially when he’s driving. One hand on the steering wheel and the other squeezing my thigh.