Daniel (Seven Sons Book 4)
Page 9
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “There you go again, being amazing. Who else would have thought of that?”
“I was just trying to be helpful,” she mumbled, looking embarrassed.
“We actually don’t drink on the ranch at all for exactly those reasons,” he said. “We have to be on our toes for these boys no matter what. You saw right to the heart of the need—thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Her cheeks were still a little pink.
“I’m going to have to get you used to being complimented.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Nope. I just need to bring it out. Get comfortable.”
He took a seat at the table and waited, and within a couple of minutes, she returned with two beautifully plated dishes. Chicken, wild rice, asparagus—all seasoned to perfection.
“I asked Brittany to stop at the store on our way home,” she said. “I wanted tonight to be special, and I didn’t think we’d have asparagus here.”
“No, hardly ever. None of the men seem to like it, but I sure do.” He took another bite as if to prove his point. “What makes tonight special?”
“Well, it’s not every day that a girl replies to a marriage proposal.”
She’d spoken softly, but even at that, her words made him cough. He hacked for a minute, then grabbed his water. “What did you say?” he asked when he could finally talk again.
“If I remember correctly, you asked me to marry you. Or did I misunderstand? Because sometimes, misunderstandings happen, and I totally get that.”
He shook his head. “No, I proposed. It was more of a ‘rest of our lives’ thing than a ‘Will you marry me?’ thing, but it was a proposal.”
“That’s what I figured. And so I also figured that you might like an answer.”
She was speaking casually, but Daniel’s palms were sweaty, and he rubbed them on the legs of his pants. “Answers are good,” he replied.
“I’m glad to hear that.” She forked up a bite of rice, chewed, and swallowed. “Because I’ve decided to say yes.”
“Yes? You’re saying yes?”
“Unless you think I should say no. What do you think? Should I say no?”
Daniel pushed back from the table so hard, his chair fell over. “Definitely say yes,” he said, not caring about the chair or anything else.
“All right. I’ll say yes.”
He rounded the table and scooped her up, kissing her neck until she giggled. “Thank you,” he said. “We’re going to make the most awesome married couple ever.”
“You think?” She looked up into his eyes. “Me with my baggage and you with your . . . weird gifty stuff?”
He smiled. “My weird gifty stuff and I love you and all your baggage. We’re going to make this work in a way that’s just right for us.”
She slid her arms around his neck and brought him close, and he was more than happy to kiss her as many times as she asked.
Chapter Thirteen
It was the first Friday night family dinner since Claire had arrived on the ranch, and Lillian had kept her busy all day with this job and that. Lillian was an absolute powerhouse in the kitchen.
“I don’t usually make fried chicken for this many, but for some reason, today just felt like a fried chicken day,” she explained to Claire as she dropped six more drumsticks into the fryer. “When you’re done with that coleslaw, would you mind checking on the potatoes? They should be almost ready to mash.”
Mashing the potatoes helped Claire stay in control of her nerves, but once everything was out on the tables and she was no longer hiding in the safety of a kitchen, she had to take several deep breaths. Daniel had promised to make the announcement early to get it out of the way, and as soon as grace was said, he stood.
“Hey, everyone? Could I have your attention, please?” He waited until all eyes were on him. “We all know that we’re in the middle of a season of miracles and of thanksgiving for those miracles. Well, tonight I’m extra thankful for a miracle I’ve been given—finding Claire and convincing her to be my wife.”
Everyone cheered, and Claire was immediately swamped with congratulations. Ephraim came up and give her a big hug.
“Duchess of Dough?” he said in her ear.
“Not a chance.”
“Chocolate Chip Chickie?” He stepped back and looked at her hopefully.
“Absolutely not.”
“Princess of Pasta?”
“You’ve been putting a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”
He grinned. “Quite a lot more than I should have. How about Good Lookin’? Then I can say, ‘Hey, Good Lookin’. Whatcha got cookin’?’ and it’s a compliment as well as a nickname.”
“I’m going to say yes just to put you out of your misery.”
“I can live with that.” He gave her a fist bump, then moved on to let the others have their turn to congratulate her.
Soon afterward, everyone gathered up plates and began to make their way through the line. Lillian had taken special care to make sure there were lots of things on the table without lactose, and she guided Hunter toward those things. Daniel was positive Hunter wasn’t lactose intolerant, but Lillian wanted to give it a try just in case.
Claire grabbed her food and settled down next to Caleb and Natalie, and Daniel joined her a few minutes later. Only five minutes or so had gone by before Michael ran up. “Daniel, Hunter’s in the bathroom again!”
Daniel muttered something under his breath and clenched his fist on the table. “Thank you for letting me know, Michael,” he said after he got his temper under control. “I’ll go check on him in a minute.”
“You were hoping you were wrong, weren’t you?” Caleb asked quietly.
“You bet. If we could solve this just by keeping him off lactose, that would be simple. But this? This is crazy.” He turned and offered Claire a smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to spoil tonight with a bad temper.”
“No, it’s all right.” She slid her arm through his and snuggled up to him. “This is what tipped me over the edge in wanting to marry you—seeing how you are at work. You really love your patients, and that made me really love you.”
“Oh, yeah?” He bent over and kissed the tip of her nose. “You love me?”
“I said I’d marry you, didn’t I? Don’t those go together?”
“Not always.”
“Well, they do in this case. I consider myself a very in-love woman.”
One at a time, their guests ate their fill and then trickled off, shaking hands with the engaged couple before leaving. Claire had never been given so many handshakes and hugs in her entire life.
“Claire, this is Ringo. He used to work here in my grandpa’s day,” Daniel said, motioning toward an older man who had stepped forward. “He’s in town visiting family for the holidays, and Mom invited him over.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Ringo,” Claire said, taking the man’s hand.
“You too, young lady,” Ringo replied.
Daniel touched Ringo’s shoulder. “This gentleman here practically ran the entire wheat crop harvest,” he said, and then his face changed. He paused and grew still. “Claire, have you seen Hunter?”
“He’s in his room, resting, like you told him.”
“Okay.” Daniel turned to Ringo. “How’s your health been lately?”
Ringo shrugged. “Oh, this and that. Doctor tells me I’ve got some lymph edema going on, that my lymphs aren’t moving fluids through like they should. But they’re working on that.”
“I’m glad they’re keeping an eye on you.” Daniel gave the man a proper goodbye, but as soon as he could, he broke away and raced toward his cabin. Claire followed him, wondering what on earth was going on.
Daniel strode down the hall and entered Hunter’s bedroom, slowing down just enough not to sound like an elephant and scare the boy. “Hey, Hunter,” he said. “Do you mind if I examine your stomach again?�
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“Uh, sure,” Hunter said, and Daniel placed his hands on the affected area. Then he shook his head, turned, and left the room, Claire still following him.
“This is incredible,” Daniel said, pacing in the hall. Claire couldn’t tell if he was agitated or excited. She was about to ask him, but he raced into his room, grabbed a laptop, carried it into the kitchen, and set it on the table. He did some fast typing, and then some fast reading. She wanted to ask him what was going on, but she recognized the look of a man who was on to something, and she didn’t want to disturb his train of thought.
“Yes. Yes!” He leaped up, grabbed her, and spun her around. “Claire, I know what it is!”
“What? What’s going on?”
He set her down and took a deep breath. “Okay. Sorry. I’ll try to explain. At the beginning of this week, I noticed that I was starting to see injuries and illnesses show up as colors in the body. That’s new for me—never happened before. When I examined Hunter, his stomach was blue. I don’t mean like, from lack of oxygen—I mean, it had a blue aura or something like that. I had the thought that if I could find someone with the same shade of blue who had already been diagnosed, it would point me in the right direction for Hunter. I haven’t been able to find anyone until tonight.”
“Ringo,” Claire said.
“Bingo,” Daniel replied. She didn’t know if that was an intentionally terrible joke, but she’d let it go. “When I touched him, I realized that he has a blue aura too. I wanted to check the exact color, and so I did just now when I touched Hunter. It’s the same shade of blue, Claire! This is what I’ve been looking for!”
“That’s fantastic!” She squeezed his arm. “So tell me what it means.”
“Okay. Ringo has lymph edema. We have lymph glands all over our bodies. Their job is to remove wastes. When those lymph glands don’t work, it causes all kinds of problems. I think I know what’s going on.” He brought himself up short. “But I’m not going to jump the gun. I’ll call Monday morning and schedule some tests, and then we’ll know for sure.” He exhaled and pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. “I’m just so, so grateful.”
Claire was moved to tears, seeing Daniel so humble. “Are you going to tell him you have a diagnosis?”
“Not until it’s confirmed. I don’t want to get his hopes up prematurely, even though this feels right.” He reached out and caught her hand. “Do you know what else feels right?”
“What’s that?”
“You. Having you in my life. Loving you. Making plans to marry you. All those things feel incredibly, unbelievably right.”
“I think so too,” she said, scooting her chair a little closer.
“And I think that on Monday morning after I call to schedule Hunter’s tests, we should see about a marriage license or something. What would you say to that?”
“I’d say, wow, you really don’t waste time around here,” she replied with a laugh.
“When something’s right, why wait?”
She thought about it for a minute, then snuggled in again. It was definitely right. “Okay, but I’d like an actual, real honeymoon.”
He pulled back and looked at her in surprise. “Why wouldn’t we have one?”
“I know it is in family businesses—they hardly ever get to leave because things fall apart when they do. If we take off for a week, is everything here going to be okay?”
“Sure they will be. We struggled a little bit while Adam was gone, but he’s pretty much the anchor around here. Me? I’m just the dude who hangs out and puts Band-Aids on people. Anyone can do that.”
“Nope—no one else can do what you do.”
“That’s a sweet compliment, but seriously, they’ll be fine. I’ll take you wherever you’d like to go.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Anywhere? Like, anywhere in the world?”
“Sure. Why not?”
She snorted. “Because I’ve seen how simply you all live.” Kind of awkward, bringing up money, but they were getting married, so she probably ought to know their budget, but at the same time, any discussion of money made her antsy.
“That’s by choice, not necessity.” He stroked down the side of her cheek. “You name it, we’ll go. We’re actually pretty well off, Claire. You won’t want for anything.”
She blinked a few time. “Well off?”
“Yeah. And it’s not ranch money that we’re siphoning off the top.”
She chuckled. “I didn’t think that.”
“Just wanted to be sure.” He pushed his laptop toward her. “Here. Google. Anywhere you want.”
She looked at him, at the love on his face and all he offered her—all he’d been offering before money even entered the picture. This place might not run on actual magic, but it certainly was magical, and she felt like a servant girl invited to the ball.
Hmm. She wondered if it was okay to wear a black leather jacket to a ball . . .
About Amelia C. Adams
Amelia C. Adams is a wife, a mother, an eater of chocolate, and a taker of naps. She spends her days thinking up stories and her nights writing them down. Her biggest hero is her husband, and you just might see bits and pieces of him as you read her novels.
You can reach her at ameliaadamsauthor@gmail.com.
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The Kansas Crossroads Series:
A New Beginning (free!)
A Free Heart
The Dark and the Dawn
A Clean Slate
A Clear Hope
The Whisper of Morning
A Careless Wind
A Narrow Road
The Bitter and the Sweet
The Calm of Night
A Begrudging Bride
A Broken Wing (A Kansas Crossroads novella)
A Twisted Fate
An Unspoken Dream
A Joyful Noise
The Nurses of New York series:
Sea of Strangers (free!)
Cause of Conflict
Touch of Tenderness
Heart of Hearts
Test of Time
The American Mail-Order Brides series:
Hope: Bride of New Jersey
Tabitha: Bride of Missouri
The Hearts of Nashville series:
Whiskey and Women
Records and Rebels
As part of the Brides of Beckham series by Kirsten Osbourne:
Mail Order Molly
As part of the River’s End Ranch series:
Accidental Agent
Rugged Rockclimber
Welcome Wagon
Santa’s Shopkeeper
Delivering Destiny
Lucky Lifeguard
Poinsettia Promises
As part of the Grandma’s Wedding Quilts series:
Meredith’s Mistake
As part of the Magnolias and Moonshine series:
Sweet Georgia Peach
As part of the Burnt River series:
Ashley’s Hope
Phoebe’s Fate
As part of the Rocky Mountain Romances series:
Utah Sunrise
As part of the Mail Order Mounties series:
Bride for Joel
Bride for Jonathan
Bride for Samuel
As part of the Seven Sons series:
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