“You’re telling me that a big strong cowboy like you ’s afraid to have his feet done? Come on, don’t be such a big puss.”
Ian laughs. “A big puss? Did you just call me a big puss?”
Mildred shrugs and picks up her magazine. “I call it like I see it.”
Ian sits back in his chair and takes off his hat, resting his booted feet on the edge of the foot tub. “Can’t let someone besmirch my good name like that and get away with it.”
“Besmirch. That’s a quarter word.” Mildred’s acting like she’s not paying him any attention, but I know better. She’s just as enthralled with him as Jorge and I are, in her own bratty old-lady way. My heart is melting into a puddle of goo as I watch him work to break down her walls. No one has ever gotten this much conversation out of the woman. And I know her well enough to see that she finds him charming. It’s pretty impossible not to.
He tilts his head to face her. “Will you hold my hand during the cheese grater part?” he asks her.
She cackles. “Get your girlfriend to hold your hand. I’m spoken for.”
Ian looks at me. “Will you hold my hand?” he asks.
I come over and stand next to him. “Sure, babe. I’ll hold your hand.”
He looks over my shoulder at Jorge and winks before focusing on me again. “How about marrying me. Will you do that too?”
Chapter Forty-Eight
I’M STANDING THERE HOLDING HIS hand, confused as I watch him reach into his pocket and dig around.
“What?” I’m sure I don’t understand what he’s saying.
Is this another tease on Mildred that I’m just not getting?
He pulls a black box out of his pocket and flips the top open with one finger. “You heard me. I asked you if you’ll hold my hand during the cheese grater part and if you’ll marry me.”
A diamond ring is sparkling up at me from a bed of black velvet. My heart stops beating.
“OH MY GOD!” Jorge yells in a voice more suited to a game show win. “HE IS PROPOSING TO HER RIGHT HERE IN THE SALON!” Jorge starts jumping up and down like a human pogo stick. “SUNNY! GET YOUR SWEET BUNS IN HERE!”
I’m too stunned to reply. My mouth hangs open but no words will come out. The most beautiful man in the entire world, the one who accepted all my friends and my crankiest client-slash-grandma with open arms … literally with open arms … wants to be with me forever. Am I in a coma, having a coma dream? Did that cougar really tear me apart and all of this has been a fantasy cooked up in my drugged-out mind? Am I really still in an Oregonian hospital being poked and prodded by Nurse Ratched?
“Well? Are you going to answer him or not?” Mildred says, as cranky as ever. “We don’t have all day.”
I look over at her, tears in my eyes. “Should I say yes?”
“Do you love him?”
I nod. “Yes. A lot.”
“Is he good to you?”
I nod again. “The best.”
“Does he give you orgasms?”
I bark out a laugh. “Yes.”
She shrugs and goes back to her magazine. “I’d say yes if it were me, but it’s not me he’s asking.”
Ian points at Mildred with his thumb. “Mildred would say yes.”
“If you don’t say yes, I’m quitting,” Jorge says.
“You can’t quit, you own this place,” I say, tears running down my face.
“I’ll sell out. I swear to God, I will.”
Ian holds his hat against his chest and gives me a nervous smile. “Babe, I can’t promise you that I’ll always be perfect, but I’ll do my straight best to try, and I’ll make it my life’s goal to always make sure you’re happy. All you’ve got to do is marry me, and I’ll do the rest.”
I can’t think of a single reason to say no anymore.
“Yes. I’ll marry you.” My heart starts beating in a mad rush and my face flushes pink. I cannot believe I just got engaged!
Ian takes the ring out of the box and puts it on my finger.
“It fits perfectly,” I say in a tiny girl voice, turning my finger left and right so the light will catch it and make it sparkle more.
“Of course it does. Andie helped me pick it out.” He grins, his face lighting up with love and light. I’ve never seen anything so amazing in my entire life.
I can’t stop crying when all my friends surround me and hug me from all angles. Ian waits his turn, but when he finally gets a chance, he wraps his strong arms around me and buries his face in my neck, lifting me up off the ground.
“Love you, City,” he says.
“Love you too, Country,” I say back.
“Get a room,” Mildred says.
When I peek over Ian’s shoulder at her I see that she’s smiling.
Chapter Forty-Nine
THE BREEZE COMING OFF THE ocean is as mild and humidity-free as I’ve ever known it to be. My simple white sundress picks up and floats around my knees as I settle my bouquet at my waist.
“You ready?” Angus asks, holding out an elbow for me.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, putting my hand through his arm.
“I feel pretty lucky, being the one to walk you down the aisle.” We take it slow since Angus’s knees aren’t the best these days.
I smile, feeling very shy. “Since my dad passed, I really wasn’t sure what to do.”
He pats my hand. “I’m your father-in-law now. You can call me dad if you want. Angus if you prefer. I’m just proud that I can have two daughters now when all I ever thought I’d have is sons.”
We walk out of the hotel’s small banquet room and make our way across a small area of the pool to reach the boardwalk that will take us down to the beach were our wedding party is waiting.
“Thank you for helping Ian get started out here,” I say as we walk across the pool area.
“We’ve always told him when he was ready we wanted to be investors. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and the work ethic to be proud of. He’ll make the ranch work.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to have chickens.” I laugh at the whole idea. Angus just finished building the coop for us yesterday. I nearly cried at how cute the tiny little shutters were that he put on the windows.
“You can always make Ian collect the eggs,” Angus says, knowing of my extreme chicken butt paranoia.
“No, I’ll do it. People have to sacrifice when it comes to being married. I’m just going to have to deal.”
“That’s-a girl,” he says, smiling and patting me again. “We’ll make a rancher out of you yet.”
As we begin our walk down the boardwalk, I can see my future husband waiting for me. He’s standing at the end, in the sand, next to a priest we hired for a couple hours, wearing a tux and his black cowboy hat. Andie is on the priest’s other side, standing with a bouquet next to Jorge. They’re both in pink. Kelly couldn’t make it because she’s about to give birth, but she sent me a picture of herself in a pink dress and I have it tucked into my flowers. I take a peek at it now to remind me that she’s here in spirit.
Mack is Ian’s best man and Boog is beside him, looking extremely uncomfortable in a tux, his beard hanging down the front of it.
It’s quite a motley crew we have, but I wouldn’t want it any other way, and neither would Ian, thank God. I finally found a man who wants me exactly as I am and loves me back as much as I love him.
When I reach the end of the boardwalk, I step onto the sand, thankfully only needing to go a couple of feet before I’m on Ian’s arm. Heels and sand don’t go very well together, but there’s no way in hell I was going to wear flip flops on my big day.
“I’ve been asked to keep this ceremony short and sweet,” says the priest smiling at everyone, “and the very best way I know how to do that is to ask the couple to write their own vows, which Candice and Ian have happily done. Ian, would you like to start?”
“Happy to.” Ian winks at me, but I can tell he’s as nervous as I am. His hands shake as he pul
ls out the paper to read what he’s written. The paper trembles.
“Candice.” He looks at me and smiles. His lips quiver. “The most beautiful girl I ever met. I knew she was the one for me the day that she shot me in the leg.”
Almost everyone laughs. A few of the less-in-the-know guests gasp. I have to bite my cheek to keep from smiling. He is so going to pay for that one tonight.
“And then when she tackled me to the ground and stuffed my face full of snow, I knew she was a fighter, so that made her even more my kind of girl.”
I shake my head at him and look over at his mother. She’s shaking her head too but smiling through tears at the same time.
“When she threw herself in front of a mountain lion and saved my life, I knew I’d be much better off with her around, what with all of life’s dangers that could come upon me as I grow older. I knew then that she’s brave and courageous, just the kind of woman you want to have your back when life comes at you.”
Several guests are nodding. Others are looking around, probably trying to decide if he’s making all this up.
“When she brought Candy the calf back to life and cared for her in the tenderest of ways, I knew that she’d be a good mother to our kids. That’s really important to me since I consider myself a family man and plan to have about ten children.”
I’m crying now, imagining having Ian’s babies. They’re going to be amazing people, I know this. I’m not sure about ten of them, though. We’re going to have to negotiate that point.
“And when she got in a bar fight with a girl who was trash-talking her friend and took a dart in the arm for me, I know she was loyal and a great companion. That’s the kind of lady you want at your side when you grow old and eventually incontinent.”
I can’t hear the guests anymore. All I can hear are Ian’s words. I’m so in love with this man, it should be impossible. But I’m not changing his diapers, no way.
“Last and not least, when she took me home and introduced me to her wonderful family, I knew that she trusted me with her heart. And I just want to say today in front of all these witnesses that I’m going to work every day of our lives together to keep earning and deserving that trust, because I know how valuable that quality is in a relationship.”
He nods his head once at me, wipes the sweat off his brow and mouth with a handkerchief and then says, “Your turn, City.” He stuffs his paper into his pocket without bothering to fold it up.
I reach into the front of my dress and pull my vows out of my bra.
Ian’s eyes sparkle and the guests laugh as I open the paper up. It’s a little sweaty and some of the ink has smeared. Good thing I’ve read through it about a hundred times already.
I clear my throat to get the frog out of it, ignoring the tears that are now drying salt tracks down my face.
“If you had told me six months ago that I’d be marrying a cowboy, living on a cattle ranch, and putting my hand on chicken butts, I’d’ve told you that you must be thinking about my friend Andie.” I look over my shoulder at her and she blows me a kiss while crying.
“But here I am, marrying a cowboy and living on a ranch, and God help me, touching chicken butts every morning.”
Ian laughs silently and moves closer.
I tap him with my flowers to make him keep his distance.
“Some people in my life have called me crazy. Maybe even a little silly. They question my need to Google things and research medical conditions. Ian is the one person in the world who just accepts those things as part of who I am.” I pause and look out at the crowd. “Google is your friend, people. I’m serious. It’s not a person, it’s a collective group of people who want to help each other, and that’s a good thing.”
I go back to my paper. “The thing about Ian is that until I met him, I didn’t know what I wanted in my life. I thought my life was full and perfect. But when I met him and suddenly had him in my face, like literally pushing snow in my face, I didn’t know what I’d been missing. Now I do know. There was this person that wasn’t in my life who needed to be. Someone who would love me no matter what, even when my boobs deflate and my butt sags and I have stretch marks like Andie does all over my belly.”
Ian frowns and shakes his head, forcing me to tap him with my flowers again.
Andie clears her throat, but I ignore her.
“Anyway, what I’m saying is, is that I’ve found true happiness, and I’m not going to screw it up. I’ll honor you, sometimes obey you, do your hair and nails, your laundry on all the odd days of the month, and I’ll cook too if you want me to, although I have to confess that the spaghetti I made you was the first time I ever cooked anything so you might want to invest in some cookbooks or some lessons for me before you take me up on that part of my offer.”
“I think you should promise to obey me all the time,” Ian whispers.
“Only in the bedroom,” I whisper back.
“Works for me,” he says, grinning from ear to ear.
I clear my throat to finish. “And last but not least, I promise to be the best rancher’s wife that I can be, since I know that’s where you heart is and that’s what you really want to do with your life.”
I look over and nod at the priest. “Tag. You’re it.”
The priest gestures to Mack. “The rings?”
Mack hands them over.
“Ian and Candice will now exchange rings, symbols of eternal love binding them together forever.”
The simple gold band slides onto my hand with ease. This time, I helped pick it out. Ian was surprised it was so simple, but I explained that I wanted something I could wear when I was messing around with chicken butts and baby cows too. My diamond will sometimes need to come off as the situation demands, but my band will be a forever and always thing.
Ian’s gold ring looks beautiful against his tanned skin. Just six months in the sun and he looks like a native. All those hours of putting up barbed wire has made him a real Florida rancher. I’m thrilled we found some land not too far away from my salon. I can live with a commute so long as Ian’s waiting for me at one end of it and Jorge is waiting at the other. I look over at my friends and see all of them wiping tears away.
“You may kiss your bride, Ian.” The priest takes a step back, and I don’t realize why until I’m suddenly dipped down nearly to the sand.
“Kiss me, City.”
“Gladly, Country.” I grab onto his neck and kiss him for all I’m worth. When he finally stands me back up again I’m out of breath.
The priest throws his arms out. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Ian and Candice MacKenzie!”
Ian takes my hand and holds it up above us. “We shine not burn!” he yells out into the crowd.
“Luceo non oro!” yells all his family back.
My husband picks me up and carries me across the sand to the boardwalk. As he walks me to the reception room, he grins down at me, his cowboy hat shading me from the hot Florida sun.
“You happy, City?” he asks, his eyes glowing green.
“Happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. What about you?”
“Couldn’t possibly be happier. You make me want to be the best version of me.” He puts me down and brushes some hair out of my face, standing chest to chest with me. “How am I doing so far?”
“Shining not burning, babe.”
“Excellent.” He lowers his head and kisses me again, and I forget where we are and what we’re doing. I can only think and feel how much I love this cowboy of mine.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elle Casey is a prolific American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and several furry friends. She writes in several genre and publishes an average of one full-length novel per month.
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OTHER BOOKS BY ELLE CASEY
NEW ADULT ROMANCE
Shine Not Burn
By Degrees
Don’t Make Me Beautiful
Rebel (3-book series)
ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Full Measure (written as Kat Lee)
Just One Night (romantic serial)
YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Duality (2-book series)
YA URBAN FANTASY
War of the Fae (4-book series)
Clash of the Otherworlds (3-book series, follows War of the Fae)
My Vampire Summer
Aces High
YA DYSTOPIAN
Apocalypsis (4-book series)
YA ACTION ADVENTURE
Wrecked (2-book series)
Elle Casey, MacKenzie Fire
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