Page 65 of Here With You

Em nodded. The only information that was passed to the newlyweds was there was a fire. Since then, they’d been busy keeping guests happy. Em spent the last few days coming to grips with her loss. She hadn’t even told her niece about the engagement. “You did miss a lot and I’m so sorry that I’ve been so self-absorbed.”

Brie shook her head. “It’s understandable. We figured we’d let you have a few days to yourself but then we saw you outside and thought we’d join you.”

Em sat up and smiled. “I’m glad you did because there’s so much to share. Here is the short version: Your meddling worked. Miles and I fell in love again. In fact, we’re getting married.” She looked at Miles. “He’s the kindest, most giving man I’ve ever met. He proposed the day the resort burned down.” She rubbed the empty place on her ring finger. “I think he did that so the day wouldn’t be remembered as the worst day of my life.” She looked at him. “You still want to marry me, right?”

“Emmaline, you own my heart. It’s always belonged to you. There is no place I’d rather be than right here next to you.” He stared down at her hand. “As soon as we’re finished here, we’re putting a ring on that finger so finish up your story, love. We’ve got some shopping to do.”

She giggled and tried to put the sentences in a succinct order. “May passed, and somehow, we burned down the resort. Oh, and a travel critic stayed at The Kessler. You’ll have to blame Miles if the review is bad because he was in charge.”

Both of their eyes got as wide as butter plates. “Oh, is that all?” Brie asked.

Miles smiled and pulled back his shoulders. “Nope, I won the lottery.” He reached over and shook Carter’s hand. “I’d love to stay and manage your place, but if Emmaline is open to the idea of running a dude ranch, I’d like to pursue that.” He turned to look at her. Hope and love filled his expression.

“That’s a big commitment,” she said.

“Baby, I’m all in. Whatever it takes, we’ll build our dream.”

“I’m not talking about the ranch. That part is easy, but I fear I’m not.”

Everyone at the table nodded.

“No, but you’re worth it.”

Not many people got a do-over, but she was getting one, and she wouldn’t pass it up. How many people got a second chance at their only true love?

“Now that that’s settled” Carter said. “It would seem we have new competition. I’ll look forward to it. Anything else we should know?”

Emmaline shrugged. “Nothing that you don’t already. You’re fully staffed, and Tilly is running your kitchen. She’d like to call it Edelweiss and serve her famous German food. I hate to bail on you, but like Miles said, we’ve got some shopping to do.” She looked under the table where Ollie lay on her feet. “Oh, and Ollie may seem like a very good boy, but he has a bad habit. Hide your shoes.”

“Wait,” Brie said. “Is that why I’m missing all my left shoes?”

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

Miles sat in the booth across from Emmaline and watched as she stared at the insurance check. It had been a month since the fire, and all the investigations were complete. The cause was listed as hot embers that caught fire in the dumpster on the backside of Emmaline’s house.

The insurance adjuster valuated the property at several million. Tilly said it was because she had a top-notch kitchen, but it was because Emmaline kept impeccable records stored on the Cloud.

“It’s hard to believe that a life’s worth of work comes down to this. I mean, it’s a big check, but it’s a hundred years of my ancestors’ blood, sweat, and tears.”

Miles couldn’t argue with that. The Brown had been in her family since the early 1900s. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Half is Brie’s. I tried to give her the whole thing, but she wouldn’t take it.”

“What will you do with your half?”

“I’m giving a couple of hundred thousand to Hugh. Even though he started the fire, he didn’t mean to. I thought I was doing him a favor by giving him a job, but giving him a nice nest egg that will cover Mabel’s QVC obsession is the right thing to do.”

He couldn’t argue with that. It was time for Hugh to take a break and enjoy what life he had left.

After the death of his father and his mother, he was reminded that life was too short to waste time on the small things and just about everything, but love was a small thing. “What else?”

“I’ve got a wedding to plan.”

They had decided to wait until they built a main house on the McClintock ranch to get married. They didn’t need a piece of paper telling them they were together. They’d always been together, even when they were apart. That didn’t stop him from putting a giant diamond on her finger the day they went shopping. They might know they belonged together, but that ring would signal the message to everyone else that she belonged to him.

“Put that thing away.” Cricket walked over carrying a pot of coffee and an order pad. “You can blind a girl with so much bling.”

Emmaline smiled and looked at her ring. “It is enormous and blindingly shiny.”

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