Page 67 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

She swiped at a tear.

Cash slid the ring on to her finger. “Will you marry me?”

Still switching between laughing and crying, Jo dropped to her knees in front of him, threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace, and nodded.

The day that would’ve been his wedding day to Shelly, and turned into the happiest day of his life so far. The first day of the rest of his life with Jo.

Chapter 22

One Month Later

With a blind fold secured over her eyes, Jo let Cash lead her from the back door ofSticky and Sweetand to the left of her building.

“You’re not peeking, are you?” he asked, his tone filled with a childish glee she’d seen a lot of since he’d proposed.

He hadn’t taken that five am flight the next day, he’d taken the five pm flight instead. And she’d gone with him. Then when she’d gotten back, she and Allie had talked. Really talked about what they wanted. Turned out Allie wanted to learn more about the business end of things just as much as Jo wanted to be more involved in the creative aspect.

Allie had taken on more responsibility and Jo’s candies were in store and selling like hotcakes.

She touched her blindfold and feigned exasperation. “How could I?”

“Just checking.” He squeezed her hand.

So much had happened in the last month, and so fast.

The engagement had seemed so surreal. She still couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to marry someone she hadn’t seen in almost fifteen years after only a few days, but he hadn’t given her one moment to regret it since. Their separation now seemed like some long-forgotten thing, their reunion like they’d never been a part in the first place.

In the last month, they’d also figured out how Cash could keep his restaurants and she could stay withSticky and Sweet. The busiest time of year for her was in Spring and through the summer. Cash was busy all the time, but they’d worked out a schedule, and after they were married in April, they’d rotate. It wouldn’t be easy, but they could do it.

Plus, once Cash opened his restaurant in Harvest Ranch, things would get a lot easier.

He stopped her, hands on her shoulders. “Stay there.”

The sounds of a metal on metal, a key sliding into a lock reached her ears, and then a door opened with a whoosh of air.

He took her hands again and lead her on. “There’s a step here, can you feel it?”

She searched with her toe, and once she found it, stepped up.

He led her past a doorway and into a building, then flipped on a light.

“Are you ready?”

She laughed. She loved it when he was this excited. “Hit me with it.”

He whipped off her blindfold with a flourish. “Ta da!” The building he’d purchased last week had been run down and filthy, but was now spotless from the exposed beams down to the hardwood floor. And it was almost completely empty. It still needed a ton of work to get it ready to be the restaurant Cash envisioned, but for now, sheets blocked the large front windows, a dinner table for two had been set up in the middle with a white tablecloth, a bouquet of sunflowers and roses in the middle of it, and china.

“Cash!” She stepped forward, staring at the beautiful setting. “What is this?”

He held up a finger and raced into another room, then came back pushing a cart with several covered plates. He stopped it by the table, and when she came over, he lifted the lid. “A small sampling of the kinds of foods I’ll be serving here.”

She’d been lucky enough to sample his cooking frequently over the last few weeks, but he’d kept all his recipes for this restaurant a secret. “Wow, this looks amazing.”

He kissed the side of her head. “If it weren’t for you, I’d never have come home, I’d never have thought of this place, I’d still be stuck in a rut in so many ways.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around him, and he hugged her back. “That’s sweet.”

“Speaking of sweet. I’ve finally come up with a name.”

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