Page 154 of The Mountain Echoes

I know she’s seen the box and the ring. I saw her snoop through my underwear drawer in our bedroom at Longhorn Ranch.

We live together now.

I open the box, pull the ring out. It’s simple—a white gold, hammered band, and a small diamond like a sunrise.

We’ll have no speeches. No kneeling. Only the basics.

I slip the ring on her finger. “Congratulations, darlin’. We’re engaged. And just so there’s no argument about this, I want you to know that we’re getting married before the end of the year.”

She stares at the ring, then back up at me. “Are we now?”

The live music has slowed.

People are probably watching us.

I thought about doing this privately and then decided, the hell with it. I want the world to know that we’re getting hitched.

“I’m not askin’,” I remark. “I already know the answer. You love me.”

“Do I?” She’s barely able to contain her laughter, her happiness.

She loves the ring. She told Joy, who told me.

“You’re mine,” I whisper.

“Yes, I am,” she agrees.

I kiss her. There are hoots and clapping around us.

She rests her forehead against mine. “We’re getting married. But not here.”

I pause. “Where then?”

“Napa,” she says with a big smile like she’s been planning this forever. “The vineyard. It gave me myself back when I had nothing else. I want to start our life in a place that reminded me who I was.”

A knot tightens in my throat. “Then Napa it is.”

She steps in close, a smile still on her lips. “I love you, Maverick Kincaid.”

Those are the best words I hear every damn day, and I intend to keep on doing so.

CHAPTER 37

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The breeze carries the scent of grapes as the California sun bathes the valley in that golden sheen you only get in wine country. Rows of vines stretch behind us, fruit heavy, almost ready for harvest. Beyond them, gentle hills rise and fall like a sigh.

Knight’s Tale is set up for my dream wedding—simple and intimate.

A long table is set under a wisteria-covered pergola, linen napkins folded beside plates, Wildflowers tucked into simple glass vases.

There’s laughter spilling over wine and the clinking of glasses. The source of which are people from Wildflower Canyon and Knight’s Tale.

My husband, Maverick, rests his arm across the back of my chair as he listens to Zane embellish a story about a horse and him and an adventure that sounds like it’s out of a Western.

Joy’s laughing so hardshe’s crying.

Elena’s trying not to choke on her wine.