Page 149 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

“Thank you for saying yes.I didn’t want to go down on one knee or any of that because…”

She nodded happily.“Because that’s not us, is it?”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.“It isn’t, and that’s one of the many things I love about you, honey — you’re interested in what’s right for us, not anyone else.Not even just you, or just me — but us.”

She cupped his cheek in her hand and kissed him.“That’s what I used to want before I got married, and what I ended up believing was just some silly ideal that I’d dreamed up but didn’t really exist.I wanted anusthat would still allow me to be me, and you to be you.”She chuckled.“I just didn’t realize I’d have to come all the way to Bumfluff, Montana before I found you.”

He laughed with her.“Let me guess, that’s Harper’s description?”

“It is.”She looked down at the ring.“She’s going to be so happy when she sees this on my finger.She was in your corner from the beginning, you know — Dr.Dreamy.”

He shuddered.“I was and still am grateful to have her on my side — but do me a favor and don’t remind her of that name.She hasn’t used it in a while.”

“Okay.And I definitely won’t mention it this morning.She’d have everyone teasing and calling you that by the time today’s over.”

She rested her head against his shoulder.“We probably should get up, shouldn’t we — check on Jim and Harper and start getting things ready.”

He curled his arm around her waist and scooted them back down under the covers.“They can wait a little longer.Anita’s coming to organize the food, and between her and Cash, they’ll organize everyone else.”

He caught her hand and ran his thumb over the diamonds.“It’s not every day you get to ask the woman you love to spend the rest of her life with you.”

She cupped her hand around the back of his head and drew him in for a kiss — a kiss that felt like eternity.

~ ~ ~

Shelley sipped her drink as she stood just outside the kitchen door, taking it all in.The house was full of life—full of people.She’d never seen it like this before, and she loved it.

Trip was in his element, it seemed, and somehow it didn’t surprise her.He wasn’t the most outgoing guy in the world, or even in his group of friends, but somehow, he’d always felt to her like the glue who held them all together.He didn’t need the spotlight, he just worked quietly in the background.She smiled as she looked down at the fabulous ring on her finger.He knew how to go big when he wanted to!

Harper came to stand beside her and nudged her with her elbow.“How’s it going, Bells?”

“I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier.”She glanced over at where Jim was sitting in a big wooden rocking chair.The Benson brothers were gathered around him, and Cash hovered at his side.“It’s hard to believe that I’m feeling so ecstatically happy today after being afraid for our lives only yesterday.”

Harper brought her hand up to her face, which was badly bruised and swollen.“Hmph.I wish Cash would have let me have a few minutes with that little weasel before he dragged him away last night.Oops, sorry.What I meant to say was that I was more angry than fearful last night—and don’t go making out that you were some scared little damsel, either.Backbone of steel—that’s what you’ve got, my friend.”

Shelley held up her glass and Harper tapped hers against it with a nod.

“How do you think he’s doing really?”Shelley jerked her chin toward Jim.“He says he’s fine but …”

She laughed when Travis appeared behind them and slung one arm around her shoulders and the other around Harper’s.

“He’s fine,” Trav said.“The whole thing shook him up a bit—and made him a bit more aware of his own mortality, but … he’s singing your praises—the two of you—to anyone who’ll listen.”He turned to Harper.“You’re going to stay in the cottage, aren’t you?”

“I am.That was always the plan.There’s nowhere else I want to be, and after last night … I’d camp out in his yard before I went to stay anywhere else now.”She shuddered dramatically.“And you know my feelings about the bugs and wildlife out here!”

Travis laughed.“You might be some floozy from the city, lady, but you get my vote.”

Shelley loved seeing the two of them high-five each other—and loved knowing that her and Trip’s best friends got along so well.

She only half listened to the two of them chatting as she surveyed the back patio.She hadn’t known that Trip even possessed that many outdoor tables and sofas.From what she could tell, the whole MacFarland clan was here.Little Mateo and Maya were running around with Ashton—and even they seemed to adore Jim.They ran by his chair every now and then to stop and chat with him—Maya even presented him with a wildflower.

The brothers had joined the group gathered around Jim, and it seemed that the sisters were drifting that way, too.

She smiled when she spotted Emmett talking to Deacon and Ace.His girls were upstairs going through Trip’s mom’s old clothes.She’d had a tiny moment of hesitation when he told her that he’d kept his mom’s old ballgowns and some of her other clothes, but she understood it now.Alana and Tanya, and even Brooke, had been excited to see them and maybe take them.Shelley had assured him that she had no interest in any of them.

She waved when she spotted Laney climbing out of her truck; Luke had arrived a little while ago and explained that she’d be here as soon as she could.

She came straight to Shelley and surprised her by greeting her with a hug.

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