A little while later, we’re all instructed to come into the kitchen, and we sit around the table. In center is fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade mac and cheese, corn, green beans, slaw, beans, and rolls. It’s like a southern Thanksgiving.
“This all smells amazing, Violet. Did you do this all yourself?” Mom asks.
Violet smiles. “It was nothing, and Margo helped, didn’t you?” she asks her, and Margo bobs her head with a proud smile.
“Good job, Margo,” Mom says.
“Everyone, before we start, I have a little announcement to make.”
Everyone quiets down, and all heads turn their attention to me. I, however, turn to look at Violet. I reach out and take her hand. “Violet, I know we’ve had our own little way of doing things, and most people would consider them backwards. But for us, I don’t think there was ever any other way. I love our story and the way everything has always managed to work out even when neither of us thought they would. And I know we haven’t been together for all that long yet, but already we have it all. So I thought…”
Margo stands up in her chair, small box in her hand. “Will you be my new mommy?” she asks, opening it just like we practiced.
Violet’s eyes flash from me, to her, and back. “What?”
“What do you say? Will you marry me and make me your husband, make Margo your daughter?”
She smiles as tears form behind her eyes. She nods. “Yes, of course I will,” she breathes out.
My heart, which was just racing, is now calm, even. I take the box from Margo’s hand and remove the ring, sliding it onto Violet’s finger. She looks at it, and a sob breaks through. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a long hug.
“This is perfect. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you for having my child, for loving me even when I wasn’t worthy of that love, for making Margo happy and being the mother that she needs, and for making me the luckiest man alive by agreeing to marry me.”
She laughs. “You have a lot more items on your list than I do, but”—she laughs again—“thank you for finding me. I was just as lost as you were, and you found me and pulled me back into the light. I never thought I’d find you.”
I pull back and press a soft kiss to her lips, knowing there will be more time for that later when nobody is looking. Unfortunately, she’s just had a baby and we can’t go past kissing, but right now, all I want is to kiss her and show her how much I love her.
I pull back and her cheeks are flushed.
“Welcome to the family, honey,” Mom says.
“I look forward to getting to know you, but first, I look forward to eating this delicious-looking meal,” Dad jokes.
We all laugh.
“Alright, alright. Let’s eat,” I say, taking my seat once again and passing the serving dishes around for everyone to fill their plate. William starts to cry from his bassinet in the living room, and Violet scoots her chair back, but I stop her.
“Eat. I’ll get him.” I stand up and leave the kitchen, picking up William. He really is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen…other than Margo. They’re tied on the cuteness scale.
“What’s the matter, little man? You lonely in here all alone?” I ask, picking up his pacifier and sticking it back into his mouth. He takes it easily; he’s always happy. I carry him back into the kitchen to eat with him in my arms.
“Someone was just a little lonely in there,” I tell everyone as I take my seat at the table.
“You want me to hold him so you can eat?” Violet asks.
“No, go ahead and eat. We’re just fine, aren’t we?” I look down, and his dark eyes are locked on mine.
It’s crazy how you can go from feeling like you have nothing left in the world to feeling like you have everything. I thank God every day that he gave me the strength I needed to move out of Chicago. I thank Him for helping me to heal, which opened me to a new love with Violet. And I thank Him every day for my loving family. I can’t help but to thank Kate too. She came into my life like an angel. She lit the world on fire and showed me things I know I never would have seen otherwise. And somehow, I feel like she’s had a hand in bringing Violet into our lives. She knows that Margo needs a mother in her life, and she found the perfect one. It’s rare for someone to find their soulmate in life, and it’s unheard of to have found two of them. I know I’m lucky and special, but I truly believe that God sent me who I needed back then. He sent me Kate. And Kate, she knew exactly who I’d need when she left, and she sent me Violet. I really am the luckiest man alive.
* * *
If you LOVED The Grand Lake Colorado Series be sure to check out the Slade Brothers!
* * *
Billionaire’s Unexpected Bride
* * *
“The rules have been broken,” he says. “We can’t pretend like they haven’t.”
* * *
I don’t break rules. EVER.
1. NEVER mix business with pleasure.
2. DON’T put my job in jeopardy.
3. Absolutely do NOT fall in love with a client.
* * *
Guess I should say . . . I didn’t break them, until I met my new billionaire client, Drake Slade.
* * *
Arrogant, rude, hated by everyone in town, and 100% NOT my type.
Billionaire’s Unexpected Bride SNEAK PEEK
“The rules have been broken,” he says. “We can’t pretend like they haven’t.”
* * *
I don’t break rules. EVER.
1. NEVER mix business with pleasure.
2. DON’T put my job in jeopardy.
3. Absolutely do NOT fall in love with a client.
* * *
Guess I should say . . . I didn’t break them, until I met my new billionaire client, Drake Slade.
* * *
Arrogant, rude, hated by everyone in town, and 100% NOT my type.
* * *
The day my perfect LA life was uprooted to move to middle-of-frickin’-nowhere Colorado was the day I was convinced my life was over.
* * *
Raise and promotion be damned, what good is it if the only place in town is a Dollar Store?
* * *
But here I am, wearing a denim skirt and cowboy boots, rootin’ and scootin’ my way around town, and square dancing my way into Drake’s bed.
* * *
Don’t worry, I have a plan. Sort of.
* * *
He’s just a little distraction to make my time here pass. After I get the town to love him, I can move back to LA.