Page 152 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

I shook my head and kept cheering as they approached.

As I’d suspected, Courtney wasn’t about to let Xavier win, but she did keep things close, and when she went past Conner’s checkered flag first, both riders looked like they were having the time of their life.

Followed closely by the dogs.

“I can’t believe I lost to a girl!” Xavier wailed as he stopped. Mostly in jest.

“Girls are awesome,” Courtney said as she pulled her helmet off. “Right?”

There was a lot of heckling and jeering, but everyone was laughing and telling Xavier how great he’d done. I was about to step forward and join them, but William’s fingers gently fastened around my upper arm. I stopped, looked up at him, and found a nervous expression on his face. “What is it?”

He cleared his throat, looked behind me, then said, “I have something for you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“An early Christmas present.”

We’d talked about marriage, but I didn’t think he’d propose in front of everyone. William was a private person.

Patrick appeared at his side with a small box wrapped in blue paper with snowflakes on it. It was too big to be a ring. William took it then handed it to me.

“Open it!” Xavier ran over, his loss forgotten.

“Do you know what’s in here?” I asked him.

He shook his head but didn’t look me in the eye.

“Uh-huh.” I tugged one edge free, then another.

Everyone had gone quiet and even Greta had gathered around.

I made quick work of the paper and found a brown cardboard box underneath. When I opened that, I discovered two wrapped items. I glanced at William, who looked a little pale.

The first one easily fit into my hand, and as the tissue paper unwound, a ceramic dog that looked just like Frank appeared.

I blinked and looked at William. “You had someone sculpt Frank?”

He nodded. “Keep going.”

I put Frank back and revealed a perfect icon of Sky, Logan’s Malamute. He was the dog that had originally introduced us.

“What is this?” I asked.

William put his arm around me. “Since we’re remodeling, I thought you might want to redo your kitchen.” He smiled. “I know, from personal experience, how much you actually hate cows.”

Everyone laughed.

I nodded. “I like the decorations, but I do hate cows. Why give these too me now?”

“As a distraction.”

Patrick plucked the box from my fingers, and William took my hand and went down on one knee.

I glared, but mostly to keep from tearing up.

Courtney dropped a ring in William’s other palm, and he held it up for me. The diamond was huge, and the first thing I thought was that I’d never wear it on the ranch.

William’s voice drew my attention back to him. “Brooke Shaw, I love you. I don’t ever want to live without you. I want to have a family with you. I want to work beside you. I want to grow old with you.” His voice hitched. “I want to be yours. Will you marry me?”

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