“You changed my life, Sloan. I actually didn’t realize how unhappy I was until I met you. Most people, especially Grant, will tell you what a miserable grump I was to be around. And then you came into my life. You showed me what it was like to smile again, to laugh again, to live again. You gave me a reason to want to get up in the mornings. Or, in my case, you gave me a reason to want to sleep in. And I know that you dropped your entire life just to stay with me. I know how much you sacrificed for me. I’ve always been a bit of a loner, and I don’t like big public displays of affection,” he said, and everyone laughed. “But I wanted everyone here today because I want you to know how proud I am of you. I don’t want to hide anymore. Sloan Hill, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
I dropped to my knees and hugged him.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”
He took out a ring, and I held out my finger. I’d owned jewelry that was worth more than a car before. I’d owned jewelry that was big, flashy and impossible to ignore. But I had never before owned anything as beautiful as the ring he put on my finger right then. It was a plain silver ring, but in the middle was a tiny little horse.
“It’s Betty!” I gasped.
“Another lucky charm,” he said and smiled.
I leaned in and kissed him, and the whole crowd burst into applause again. Afterward, we walked around while everyone congratulated us. I laughed when I saw Victoria.
“Vic! I just talked to you! You said you were in New York.”
She shrugged. “Well, I lied.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t even suspect this for one minute. I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“You know, most of these people are either Brady’s family or people that I’ve come to love from the area. You’re the only person that’s here from my past. You’re like my family, you know.”
She grinned. “I’ve always wanted a sister.”
“Are you staying here for a while?”
“Oh yeah, Brady has organized for everyone to stay the whole week. I hope he realizes that he’s going to have to do it all again when you actually get married.”
“Will you be my bridesmaid? Sorry, I know that’s very premature as I only just found I was getting married. But I couldn’t think of anyone else to ask but you.”
“Yes!” she said and hugged me.
I looked around and chuckled. I leaned in. “You know,” I whispered, “you are the most fashionable person here. As much as I love everyone in this town, will you help me choose a dress?”
She laughed. “We’ll have a New York-meets-Wyoming wedding. Which reminds me, Brady has organized a buffet of food. I had a look at it before you got here and there is not one thing that’s carb-free.”
“I’m sorry,” I chuckled. “There’s no such thing as diets in this part of town. Want me to try and organize something else for you?”
She shook her head. “Are you kidding me? I want to eat all the bread before I go back. Come on; I’m starving.”
After an afternoon filled with food and laughter, Brady and I finally snuck off to spend some time together.
“I wanted to take you away from the crowd for a while. Just, you know, to see how you are. You do want to marry me, right? I mean, you didn’t just say that because everyone was watching? I sort of put you on the spot there.”
I laughed. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my whole life. I cannot believe that I am actually getting married to a cowboy. Now that’s something that most people never think will happen. It’s like that movie I did came true. Thank you for doing this. And thank you for making sure all our favorite people were here to experience it. Harold would’ve been so proud of you, Brady.”
“Yeah, I thought of him the whole time. So, what do you want to do now? I’ve invited everyone over for a barbecue tonight. But we have a few hours to kill until they get there.”
I grinned. “How about a horse race?”
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Alycia Taylor
Dirty Stepbrother Page 156