Page 109 of Grit
“Goats are fascinating creatures.”
She reached for his hand, and he lifted her off the bed just as Emmie, Ox, Abby, Leigh, and Joan came in the bunkhouse.
“…think it’s a great idea,” Joan said.
“It’ll be so beautiful in the spring with the wildflowers,” Leigh said. “I could do the cooking for you.”
Joan was beaming. “Melissa, you’ll never guess what.”
Melissa said, “Ox and Emmie want to get married at the ranch.”
“Yes! How did you know?”
“Crazy, wild guess when you’re walking around with a glowing engaged woman and talking about wildflowers and catering.”
Emmie laughed. “We love it here, and it’s the family place.” She took Ox’s hand. “It feels right.”
Ox said, “I am one hundred percent on board with this as long as there are no cows in the pictures.”
Melissa scowled. “Why the hate?”
“But you want goats, right?” Abby was bouncing up and down. “Goats make the perfect wedding guests! We can tie the ring on Princess’s back and have Lala carry a basket of flowers and—”
“Wouldn’t Mr. Hummus eat the flower bouquets?” Ox said.
“His name is not Mr. Hummus!”
Cary leaned against the wall. “Now I’m hungry.”
“This place is gorgeous now,” Emmie said. “You could easily host weddings here. There’s lots of parking in the pasture. There’re beautiful trees and the creek.” She motioned around the bunkhouse. “You even have a honeymoon cabin.”
Melissa said, “We’d need to build some kind of deck or pavilion if we want to host any events that aren’t family, and I’m tapped out since we finished this. I’m all on board for a simple wedding here at the ranch for you guys, but if you want something bigger, then you’re going to have to wait for a while.”
As everyone chatted happily about Ox and Emmie’s wedding, Cary was overwhelmed by that familiar burning in his chest.
Jealousy.
He was happy with Melissa. So fucking happy. They were getting closer every day, but he had to wonder if it took him four years to convince her to be his girlfriend, how long would it take her to say yes to being his wife?
Because he definitely wanted to marry her. Maybe even add another kid if it was in the cards. Ten years ago, the thought of getting married again would have caused him to flee. Now it was all he could think of. He wanted to get married. He wanted to be Abby’s stepdad. He wanted Melissa to have another baby.
Did men have biological clocks, because seriously, what the fuck?
He couldn’t rush her. If he rushed her, she’d just dig in her heels.
And Melissa was giving him another odd look.
Snap out of it.Cary said, “Ox, if you want to work on a deck with me, we can probably build something ourselves. I’ve built decks before. It can’t be that different.”
Ox nodded. “That’s an idea. Would definitely save some money if we did it ourselves.”
Melissa said, “Free labor for me? Cool. I’ll take it.”
Cary said, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll figure out some kind of payment structure for you.”
Ox laughed, and Emmie stepped on his toe.
Abby said, “What’s a payment structure?”
