He might think she needed her head examined again.
“Go get him,” her dad encouraged. He and her mom had come home to see her in the hospital and to help Declan and Skye get ready for their wedding. Next week they planned to buy a place in town so they could be here to welcome Drake and Adria’s twins. Drake stood by with Declan and Skye, Tate and Liz, and her mom, who gave her a quick hug before she passed.
“Smile, sweet girl.” Jon’s father helped her into the long coat she’d brought to hide her dress. “He needs a good surprise in his life.”
She hoped Jon liked surprises because she had a doozy.
Noah and Austin, the husbands of Adria’s sisters Roxy and Sonya, and the rest of the guests sat in the chairs that had been set up earlier in the restaurant’s banquet room, which had been decorated to look like the inside of an elegant cabin. Barnwood paneling adorned the walls, string lights with Edison bulbs draped from one side of the room to the other overhead, and an explosion of flowers Trinity had ordered from the local florist completed the stunning room. Pink roses, white hydrangeas, fuchsia-colored snapdragons, and pink and white peonies filled vases on all the tables and lined the aisle.
Roxy, Sonya, and Adria waited for Trinity in the alcove between the banquet room and the front of the restaurant.
Trinity slipped through the doors and scooted behind the table they set up so that Jon wouldn’t get a glimpse of the bottom of her dress as he walked in with Emmy. He glanced from her to Adria, Roxy, and Sonya.
“Hey, sweetheart. Are we late?” The closed doors to the banquet room threw him off.
“No. You’re right on time.” She looked down at Emmy dressed in her beautiful purple dress. “You look so pretty, sweetheart.”
Jon noticed Adria wearing a dress nearly identical to Emmy’s. “What’s going on?”
The three ladies looked to her.
Jon’s eyes filled with questions.
Trinity took a breath and dove in, knowing everything was going to be okay because Jon loved her. He wanted a life with her. And she couldn’t wait to get started.
She flipped open the satchel on the table and pulled out the business proposal he never gave her.
His eyes narrowed. “Where did you get that?”
“Tate found it in your office trash the day after I came home from the hospital.”
“Sweetheart, I told you not to worry about that. It’s not important.”
“I hope you don’t mean that, because Adria and I discussed it and we’d like to sign with you with a minor change to the agreement. Adria’s sister Sonya”—she held her hand out toward her—“is an accountant. Adria and I would like to hire her as the accountant for the new business. She’s more than capable of overseeing both your grocery store expansion and the growth of Almost Homemade.”
Jon eyed her, surprise mixed with a bit of confusion and hope. “You’re serious. You want to partner with me.”
“Adria’s other sister, Roxy”—she held her hand out toward her—“backed us when we opened. She’s a silent partner. We’d all like you to be our other partner.” She smiled at Jon, excited and hopeful and wanting him to see it. “It’s a great plan, made even better by the fact that Adria and I like to do business with family.”
Jon’s smile widened. “I’m all for that.”
“Great. But there’s only one thing that would make partnering with you in business better for me.”
“Anything,” he said without hesitation.
She pulled out the prenup. “We become life partners.”
Jon grinned and tilted his head, his eyes alight with enthusiasm and surprise. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“I love you. These last few days have been wonderful, living with you and Emmy on the ranch, having dinner together, watching you teach Emmy how to ride a horse, feeling so connected to you. I want more of that and so much more. I want you to be my husband and partner and the father of our children. So yes, will you marry me?”
“You name the day, and I will be the one waiting for you at the altar.”
“Thursday. You still owe me that dinner we never had. I thought we could do it here, tonight.”
Emmy clapped her hands. “I kept the secret.”
Jon glanced down at Emmy, then at her, his focus on the unnecessary coat she was wearing, and his eyes went wide. “You mean we’re getting married today.” That sounded like a yes to her, but she wanted him to say it.
“Declan and Skye rented out the whole restaurant for their rehearsal dinner. All of our family and friends are waiting inside with the flowers and cake and everything we need for a wedding. But all I need is you.”
“Trinity.” Her name was an answer to everything. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” Jon couldn’t believe she’d put all of this together in less than a week. He had no idea what to expect. He didn’t care. So long as she said I do, he was good.
He tried to get past Adria so he could kiss Trinity to seal the deal, but she held him back with a hand to his chest. “Business first.” She handed him a pen.
He signed the business contract he’d put together with his attorney and initialed the small changes they’d made to it. He signed the prenup knowing they’d never have to use it.
He held the pen out to Trinity. “Partners?”
She signed both documents with her usual determination and confidence, then looked him in the eye. “Partners.”
Adria quickly signed the business deal, and it was done.
A gentleman appeared behind him. “If you’ll sign the marriage license, please. Trinity has already completed the required blood test.”
He wanted to ask when she’d done that, but didn’t because the amazing woman had planned a whole wedding this week without him knowing about it. Granted, he took Emmy to school each morning and picked her up at the end of the day. Because Trinity couldn’t go in to work because of her head injury, he stopped in at Almost Homemade and completed whatever list of things she gave him to do and check on.
And that’s how she got me out of the house so she could plan our wedding.
He signed the license and smiled at her. “You know, next time you send me out on a bunch of errands and have me running your store for you, I’m going to know you’re up to something.”
“From now on, I want to be up to everything with you.”
He couldn’t help the wide grin or the way his heart beat faster with the excitement humming through him. “Deal.”
“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Crawford, I believe the ladies will join us in a few minutes.”
Jon reached out for Trinity’s hand. She gave it to him and he kissed the back of it. “I’ll see you at the altar.”
“Deal,” she mimicked. “Oh wait.” She pulled out the black velvet box he’d stashed in his desk after he’d taken his grandmother’s ring to the jeweler and had them replace the center stone with one much larger. He did it the day after they were called to Emmy’s school and Trinity had been everything Emmy needed her to be that day. “Is this for me?”
“Remind me to scold Tate for snooping.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “It’s not mine.”