by T. L. Haddix
Sarah hugged him back, grinning. “Well done, husband.”
Smiling, Owen kissed her. “Well done, indeed.”
“I’m telling you, they’ve eloped. The son of a milk cow has gone and eloped with our daughter. Why are you laughing?” Ben stopped pacing, hands on his hips, and glowered at her. “This is not funny.”
Ainsley couldn’t help it—he was so adorable in his outrage. She lifted her leg and nudged him with her foot as he resumed his pacing. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little?”
“No! I showed you the texts from Dad. I never expected my parents to do this. I should have.” He shook his head and muttered as he walked over to stand by the front door, looking out the sidelight window for what had to be the hundredth time. “Damned Campbells.”
“Like you aren’t one of them!” Ainsley had to hold on to the stair railing to keep upright, she was laughing so hard. “You’re going to feel really silly when they come in and they’ve been shopping for antiques all day.”
“It’s almost eleven o’clock at night! How many antiques do they need? I’m telling you, they went to Vegas or somewhere like it.” He stomped over to her, phone in hand, and read her the texts he’d been brooding over. “Hey, Dad. Are you all still on the road? Tried to call and it went to voice mail, Mom’s too. Just checking in. And then his response, the one that’s so comforting? No signal where we are. We’ll be in soon. Stop fretting. Fretting! Where in the world could they be around here that they don’t have signal for that long, but he can still text me? On an airplane, that’s where.”
He went back to the window with a huff. “Do you know, I tried to call for half an hour. And then, when I asked where they could be, I get lectured. Via text! Benjamin Wayne, last I checked, we didn’t need your permission to leave home. Could be you have a guilty conscience over something. Can’t imagine what that would be. He threw that in there because we eloped. I know he did.”
“Maybe they’re having a tryst. You know they do that sort of thing on occasion.”
Oooh, that got her a stern look, which only made her giggles worse.
“Not having Lily along with them, they don’t. And they do this on the same day Warren, the man who cashes in his sick time and has to be cattle-prodded off the place to take a real vacation, suddenly asks for the whole day off to take care of ‘something personal’? And Lily, who has a strong sense of personal responsibility and has been known to miss family events because of work, decides to jaunt off to wherever with her grandparents? No. They eloped.” He gave a low growl. “I’m going to kill him. He wasn’t supposed to do this.”
“Do you mean your father or Warren?” Ainsley scraped the last bite of ice cream from the pint she’d been savoring. She secretly thought he was right about an elopement, but she was enjoying watching him have a hissy fit too much to tell him.
“Both of them.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “I was supposed to vet him before they got this far.”
Setting the empty cup aside, she stood and went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Sweetheart, they got ‘this far’ a long, long time ago. You would have had to vet him when he first arrived to avoid it happening. Are you really that upset that they might have gotten married? He loves her, you know.”
“Are you sure? Really sure?” Ben held her close. “I just worry. I want her to be happy.”
“I know. So do I. And of course I’m sure. You’ve watched how they are lately. You’ve even been teasing them mercilessly about how close they are. Admit it—you’re upset because you weren’t invited along for the adventure.”
He grumbled into her ear then pinched her behind, making her jump. “She’s supposed to have the big-deal wedding. She’s the best parts of you and me, and I want to show her off to everyone. I want her to be a princess for a day.”
Ainsley kissed him softly. “So we’ll throw a big party once they’re home and Easton’s healed and things have calmed down.” She pinched him back. “I love you dearly, you silly man. It melts my heart when you go all overprotective daddy and start overreacting. Makes me realize how lucky I am to have you.”
Ben’s face softened, and he pushed her hair back off her forehead. “I love you, too. Overreacting.” He snorted, but before he could continue his thought, lights flashed across the foyer. He released her with an absentminded pat on the bottom and opened the door. “Finally!”
Dropping her face into her hands with a groan, Ainsley followed him. “If we can just get through this without bloodshed or anger, I’ll be happy.”
He huffed at her over his shoulder. “As if I’d pull an Owen and punch him.”
She poked his ribs. “I was rather referring to your daughter punching you!”
“She wouldn’t!”
Ainsley sent him a warning look as his parents, Lily, and Warren got out of the car. “She’d better not have a reason to.”
Ben rolled his eyes, but he was fighting a smile. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chapter Forty
When Lily saw her father standing on the front porch, she whimpered. “I told you he knew. We’re in such trouble.”
“Leave him to me,” Owen said.
Ben had his arms crossed and was glaring down his nose at them as they approached. When Lily started to speak, he held his hand up and came down the three steps that separated them. He didn’t say a word, just took her left hand in his and studied the ring Warren had placed there.
“You’re grounded, every single one of you,” he finally said, his voice gruff, then he pulled her in for a tight, tight hug. “Ah, hell, Tiger Lily. You’re as rotten as you can be, do you know that?”
“She comes by it honestly,” Sarah said.
Ainsley smiled and laughed, though she was blotting her eyes. “Yes, she does. Lily Jane, come here.”
Lily went to her gladly, immensely relieved when her father shook Warren’s hand then, pulled him in for a hug.
Ben left his arm around the younger man’s shoulders, then turned a stern face toward Owen and Sarah. “You two were supposed to advise us on how to handle them, not aid and abet.”
“Daddy! What do you mean, advise? Grandma, Grandpa, you weren’t matchmaking us were you?” Lily groaned when they exchanged a sheepish look. “Of course you were.”
“We knew you and Warren were working through some things,” Ainsley said as she hugged Warren. “It just made sense to call in the pros.”
“Well, I for one am grateful for any and all assistance.” Warren’s smile was soft as he looked at Lily. “I think we would have made it eventually, but it’s nice to not have to suffer through months and months of torture, waiting to find out whether the girl likes me or not.”
Lily slid under his arm, leaning against him as she shook her head. “The girl doesn’t just like you, mister. You’d better be aware of that.”
“I am.”
Ainsley sighed happily and patted Ben’s chest. “Satisfied, Papa?”
Lily held Warren a little tighter as they waited for Ben’s response. He was studying Warren closely.
After a tense minute, Ben nodded. “I am. I still wish you’d waited and let us ‘do it up fancy,’ as Emma and Pip would say.”
“We will be doing that.” Lily could tell she’d surprised him, though pleasantly. “Make no mistake, I want a big wedding, a fancy gig. That was part of our agreement—Warren gets the quick elopement, I get the party. So we’ll be planning something for a few months from now, but this way, he doesn’t have to worry about a shotgun in his back every night.” She gave Ben a saucy wink as Warren grimaced.
Ben had his hands over his ears. “No. No. Stop while you’re ahead. Come on, let’s get in the house. It’s past my bedtime, and most of yours. You’re all still grounded, remember.”
Everyone laughed and started up the steps, but Lily held
Warren back, a hard wave of sadness hitting her as she realized the house in front of her was no longer her home. When her father stopped at the top of the steps and turned, realization dawning on his face, she couldn’t stand it. After a squeeze for Warren, she dashed up to Ben and hugged him.
“A nice, long engagement allows a man to plan for this, to prepare for it,” he said after a bit. “I find myself having a hell of a lot more sympathy for Logan in regards to Colin right about now.”
“We’re just down the road,” Lily reminded him, wiping tears from her cheeks. “You can come visit, and we’ll be here every day.”
“It’s not the same.” He smoothed her hair back as Ainsley came back out onto the porch. “You know, this is an awfully big house. There’s room…”
Lily shook her head. “I love you, but no.”
“Damn it, I know.” Ben looked at Warren. “You realize how lucky you are, right?”
Warren nodded. “I do.”
With one last hug, Ben let her go. “Then get on home before the sun comes up. Go be happy, both of you.”
“We will be,” she promised him.
Warren took her hand as she joined him. “We can stay here tonight if you need to.”
She shook her head and smiled back up at her parents. “No. It’s okay. I’m ready.”
Walking away wasn’t easy, but knowing she’d be with the man she loved, who had chosen her as much as she’d chosen him, made leaving home possible. As they got in her truck, she closed her eyes and gave thanks that she had the family she did and that everything had turned out the way it had. So much could have happened at any point to take her away from Warren or him away from her, but instead, here they were, on the road literally to start a new life together.
Granted, they weren’t going far and the new life strongly resembled the old, but it was everything Lily had ever wanted and more, and she was grateful beyond words to have the chance to live it. She couldn’t ask for anything else.
Lily’s Chicken Salad
One chicken breast, baked or cooked, shredded
2 tbsp minced red onion
2 tbsp minced celery
2 tbsp minced sweet pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
3-4 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp chopped, toasted pecans
Salt to taste
Mix it up, spread it on crackers, whatever. OMG yummy.
Also by T. L. Haddix
The Firefly Hollow Series:
Firefly Hollow
Butterfly Lane
Dragonfly Creek
Cattail Ridge
Cricket Cove
Stormking Road
Fern Valley
Snapdragon Way
Stardust Valley
Kathy
Spring Valley
Murky Pond
The Shadows Collection:
Secrets in the Shadows
Under the Moon’s Shadow
Shadows from the Grave
Hidden in the Shadows
In the Heart’s Shadow
Deception in the Shadows
Seduction in the Shadows
Redemption in the Shadows
Writing as Mallory Love:
Capturing Colleen (Sunset Motel, Book One)
Seducing Samantha (Sunset Motel, Book Two)
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