by Bella Andre
But before they did, he said, “This is now officially the best day of my life.”
“For me too,” she agreed, linking hands with him.
And as he grinned like a fool at the sight of his ring on her finger, he couldn’t help but wonder just how soon they could pull together a wedding.
* * *
Two hours later, after they had made it home and were heading through her garden to the cottage, Taylor was still walking on air. She couldn’t stop looking at the engagement ring and admiring it—just as she couldn’t stop looking at Justin and admiring him too. He was so handsome, so smart, so powerful, so sweet. So all-around wonderful in every single way.
She had been stunned by his proposal, but not only for the reasons he must have thought. What he wouldn’t know until tomorrow morning was that—
Out of the blue, at the threshold of her cottage, he swept her up into his arms and kissed her breathless, making all thoughts fall from her brain. “We’re not married yet,” she teased once she could form words again.
“A guy can dream, can’t he?”
She caressed his cheek as he carried her over the threshold. “The whole night was like a dream. Thank you for such sweet romance.”
“It’s what you’ve always deserved.” He set her down in the living room, her body sizzling from making the slow slide against his. “I’m sorry I haven’t given you more romance before tonight.”
“You’ve always given me what I needed. If we had gotten together back in college, honestly, I’m not sure that I would have been ready for the passion between us…or for how big you make my heart feel.” She had needed some time to mature, to come into her own and figure out what she really wanted out of life. “All those years, I got to love you from a safe distance. If you had given me romance back then, I probably would have freaked out and run.”
“Then I guess I’m glad I didn’t, because I would hate for you ever to run from me.” He put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes. “You’ll tell me if I’m coming on too strong, won’t you? If I’m moving too fast?”
Again, she thought about how surprised he was going to be in the morning when he found out that he wasn’t the only one who had been moving fast. She was tempted to tell him now, but she didn’t want to spoil what she hoped would be another really lovely and romantic moment.
“Trust me,” she said, “we’re in perfect sync.” In every single way…
Their lips were nearly touching when her cell phone and the landline in the cottage both rang at the same time. She frowned as she reluctantly pulled away from him. “That must be one of my guests. I hope nothing is wrong.”
But she soon found out there was. The couple who had checked in that afternoon, then headed out to drive through the mountains of Calistoga, had blown a tire on their rental car. The manual was missing from the glove box and they couldn’t find the spare. They’d called the rental company, but they had no cars left on the lot. And when they’d called their auto service hotline, they were told there was a backup of several hours.
“I’ve got to go pick them up,” she said.
“I’ll come too.”
Taylor knew there would be many more wonderful nights with Justin, especially now that they were engaged. Still, she couldn’t help regretting that they couldn’t yet celebrate their engagement.
He seemed to read her mind. “Before you know it, we’ll be back here, warming each other up in your bathtub.”
She gave him a quick kiss, told him where to find the pump and patch kit in the garage, then went to change into jeans and a jacket. She thought briefly about taking off her ring—she’d hate for anything to happen to it while she was helping with the tires. But that was a risk she was going to have to take.
Now that Justin had put his ring on her finger, she never, ever wanted to take it off.
* * *
Four hours later, they finally made it back to her B&B. Her guests had been beyond thankful that they’d not only come to help them, but had also brought warm blankets and a flask of hot cider. After tucking them into the backseat of her car, Taylor and Justin had gone to see what could be done about the tire.
As much as the previous part of their evening had been magical and perfect, the next was one long string of errors. Once they found the spare, the security lug-nut tool that should have been with it was missing, so they couldn’t loosen the nuts to take off the flat tire. It was sheer luck that a county road maintenance worker came along in his service truck with an air compressor and a plug kit, and could repair the tire enough to get them down the hill to St. Helena.
The sun hadn’t yet started to rise, but it would soon. It was tempting to fall into bed to catch a little sleep before morning officially came. Taylor felt as though she was buzzing inside, which tended to happen when she was just on the borderline of exhaustion. But she desperately wanted to give Justin the same magical romance he’d given her just hours ago.
She wouldn’t make a habit of pulling all-nighters, but just this once surely couldn’t hurt. Fortunately, though her side still ached, she hadn’t had another full-on burst of pain in the past few days. After she gave him her surprise this morning, she’d be careful not to push her body any harder. After all, she had promised Justin that she knew her limits, and she wanted him to know that he could always trust her.
“I know you’re going to think I’m crazy,” she said, “but I have a surprise for you. One that involves taking the world’s quickest shower to get the grease off and then getting straight back in the car.”
“Of course I want to see what your surprise is,” he said, “but are you sure you’re up for whatever it is? I’d never forgive myself if I ran you ragged.”
“I’m fine,” she promised him. “And I really think you’ll love my surprise.”
His smile made her heart dance around. “Life is never going to be boring with you, is it?”
In her old life, where she’d always followed someone else’s step-by-step plans for the future, there had never been many chances to be spontaneous. But as the owner of a wine country B&B, she could see that each day would be wildly different from the next.
And she loved it.
“I sure hope not,” she agreed.
After they’d quickly washed their hair and cleaned the grease off their skin—rather than all the other naughty things they would have rather done in the shower—they dashed back out to her car. The sun wasn’t up yet, but they could see a glimmer of light just beginning to peek over the hills.
Justin’s grin was huge as she turned off the ignition a quarter of an hour later. “We’re going up in a hot air balloon?” He looked like an excited kid, and her heart melted all over again. “This is going to be awesome!”
The Morrisons were so adventurous that she was surprised he’d never been up in a hot air balloon before. Especially given that the wine country was only a couple of hours away from Palo Alto. But maybe he’d been waiting to take the flight with her, just as she couldn’t help but feel that she’d been waiting to take a trip on the Wine Train with him. There were so many wonderful things she wanted to experience with him—this was only the tip of the iceberg.
A shadow of doubt crept inside before she could block it out. Doubt that she’d be well enough in the future for too many big adventures. Doubt that he’d be a match. Doubt that even if he was a match, she could reconcile herself to the idea of him sacrificing so much for her.
She forcefully shook off the dark thoughts. They were here for Romance Part Two. She wouldn’t allow her diagnosis, and all the uncertainties that came along with it, to thwart even a single second.
They got out of the car and were soon being given information about their flight—where they’d be flying, at what altitude, and how to stay safe while in the basket beneath the balloon. She’d arranged for an exclusive two-person trip. One of the staff members would be on board as the pilot, but the owner had assured her over the phone that his pilots were ma
sters at fading into the background when necessary.
Not that she had been planning to do anything blush-worthy with Justin up there—but she did have a very special moment planned. Though things had changed since last night, she still wanted to go ahead with it.
Soon, they were climbing into the large basket and setting off into the sky. Justin put his arms around her from behind, and Taylor leaned back into him while they soared in time to the rising sun. The grapevines below undulated over the hills and valleys, a picture-perfect wine country scene in the breathtakingly beautiful early morning light.
They might not have had any sleep, but Taylor felt more crisp and clear than ever before. And despite the darkness that had tried to creep in earlier, she felt so calm now, as though nothing could ever go wrong again.
“Justin.” She turned so that they were facing each other and his hands were in hers. “Eight years ago when we met, I knew my life had just changed forever. I couldn’t imagine not seeing your smile, and I didn’t want to go even a day without hearing your laughter. I knew I’d always be head over heels for you, but what I didn’t know was that you’d end up feeling the same way about me too. Yesterday, when you asked me to marry you, you must have been wondering why it took me a few seconds to say yes.” She moved closer to him. “It isn’t because I had any doubts at all. Of course I don’t, even if neither of us can know for sure what’s coming in the future.” Again, she forced away the dark clouds that kept trying to creep in and let herself focus only on the man she loved. “The reason I was so surprised is because I was planning to propose to you. Here. Now.” She laughed. “But you beat me to it.”
He kissed her first, then said, “I love you, Taylor. So damned much I swear my heart feels as big as this balloon over our heads.”
She reached into the bag she’d brought with her, then held out a velvet box that matched the one he’d given her last night. “I can’t wait to marry you. Until then, I hope you’ll wear my ring.”
His grin was a mile wide as he opened the box, but when he saw the ring inside, he looked like he was about to tear up. “My mom would have loved this ring. I love this ring.”
Taylor still couldn’t believe she’d been able to find a man’s band inset with a fire opal. It was simply meant to be.
She lifted it out of the box and slid it onto Justin’s ring finger. There was no officiant, no family or friends nearby, no rose-covered arches or cake to cut, but as they soared through the sky wearing each other’s rings, Taylor felt as though they’d already made every vow that counted.
From this moment forward, they would love and protect each other through whatever came. She would just have to pray that it would be more good than bad. And trust that even if it wasn’t, their love would survive.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
There was no time for a nap when they returned to the B&B. After thanking Angie for stepping in at the last second for breakfast, Taylor found that her cleaning staff had an emergency elsewhere and couldn’t come. Justin insisted on helping to scrub bathrooms and change sheets and vacuum, but when his sister called to let him know that they actually did need his help setting up for the rehearsal dinner that night, Taylor insisted that he go.
It was hard to believe that the wedding was tomorrow, she thought as she took a breather on the foot of the king bed in one of the upstairs suites. Where had the week gone?
The mattress and duvet that she’d picked out for this room were so soft and cozy that she was tempted to curl up and take a little nap. But not only would the rooms not clean themselves, she also had treats to bake for afternoon tea and a mountain of paperwork to get through before Justin came back to collect her for the rehearsal dinner.
Thankfully, all she needed to perk up her flagging energy was to look down at the beautiful engagement ring sparkling on her finger. She finished cleaning and then moved on to baking, and every time the sunlight caught in the petal-shaped diamonds, she was surprised and delighted all over again.
Justin would be telling his family this afternoon—and she hoped they’d be happy that she would soon be joining their family. The only one she was worried about, to be honest, was his father.
She couldn’t imagine Michael Morrison would be happy to hear that one of his sons was marrying a woman with kidney disease. Not after the family had already been through so much with Lisa’s illness and death.
Taylor had been planning to call her parents immediately after the hot air balloon ride, but when her mom texted to say that they were heading down to Saratoga Springs for the weekend to a little B&B they’d been to for their honeymoon, she decided her call could wait. She couldn’t remember her parents ever doing anything for themselves—everything had always been about Taylor and her brother. Their talk yesterday had helped Taylor feel better about things. Maybe it had helped her mother too—enough that she was off to have a romantic weekend with her husband for the first time in nearly thirty years.
Before she knew it, the afternoon had wound down, Taylor had given all of her guests restaurant recommendations, and it was time for her to get ready for Drew and Ashley’s rehearsal dinner. She longed for a bath, but she’d likely fall asleep in the warm water. Thankfully, after forcing herself into a briskly cool shower, she felt much more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Justin walked into the cottage just as she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup at the antique table in her bedroom.
“I keep thinking I’m going to get used to how beautiful you are.” She was wearing pink silk tonight, her dress cut in a figure-hugging style that flattered her curves while not giving away any intimate secrets. “But it’s never going to happen.”
“I feel exactly the same way.” He was beyond gorgeous in a dark suit. So gorgeous that she was sorely tempted to peel the fabric off his broad shoulders. “How did I ever get so lucky?”
He moved behind her in the mirror, and as she looked at the two of them together, she felt like a princess who had miraculously found her prince.
“Something tells me you’re going to get even luckier after dinner tonight,” he told her in a husky voice as he held out his hand to help her up.
She slipped on her heels, grabbed her purse, and then they headed out through her garden to the car. “What did everyone say when you told them we were engaged?”
“They’re thrilled.”
“Even your father?”
He looked at her like she was nuts for even asking. “He wasn’t there this afternoon, but I know he’ll be overjoyed by the news when we tell him tonight. And honestly,” he continued, “none of them seemed particularly surprised. In fact, I’d say there was plenty of credit-taking going on, given that they all conspired to book my week here.”
“I hope Ashley and Drew don’t feel as though we’re trying to overshadow their special day.” Maybe it was lack of sleep that had her worrying about everything so much right now.
“If you ask me, they were the happiest of all. Two giddy people in love always think everyone else should be in love too. And to be honest, I get that now.” He shot her a devious look. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could figure out how to get Grant to fall for someone? Especially if it’s the last woman he ever thought he would fall for.”
“It sure would,” she agreed. “But what about Olivia and Maddie? Don’t you want to see them fall in love too?”
His mouth flattened into a stubborn line that she couldn’t help but find cute. “No one will ever be good enough for them.”
“You’re going to have to stop protecting them at some point, you know.”
“Nope,” he said, pretending to put his fingers in his ears. “Not listening.”
Clearly, this was an argument for another day. Good thing his sisters had her and Ashley and Serena on their side. Otherwise, who knew what shenanigans the Morrison brothers would pull to keep them forever locked up in chastity belts? Taylor knew firsthand how overrated safe was.
The venue Ashley and Drew had chosen for their
rehearsal dinner was extraordinary. Rather than booking a private room in the back of a restaurant, they had found a wine cellar that had been carved into the mountain, with large windows on one end that looked over a pond that reflected the rising moon.
And yet, even though the beauty of her surroundings was undeniable, Taylor still couldn’t settle her nerves. Not even when Justin’s brothers and sisters embraced her with open arms as soon as they stepped into the cellar.
“Congratulations!” Maddie cried.
“We always knew you two would end up together one day,” Olivia stated with a huge smile on her face.
“I’m so happy that I’m going to have another great sister-in-law soon,” Sean said as he bear-hugged her.
“And can I just say how happy I am to know that there’s another woman out there I can call when my own Morrison twin is making my head spin?” Serena said with an affectionate eyeroll in Sean’s direction.
“You know you love the way I make your head spin,” Sean said, giving her a kiss clearly intended to make his point.
Drew and Ashley hugged her as a pair. “We’re so happy for you.”
“You’re both so sweet,” Taylor said, “but I feel bad about coming in with our news when this weekend is supposed to be all about you two.”
“Are you kidding? Your engagement has made our wedding weekend even more epic!” Taylor was relieved to see that Drew genuinely meant it. “And now that we’ve got the love vibes really cooking,” he said as Grant walked over, “I’m thinking it’s time to set our sights on some of the bigger holdouts in the family. Cupid’s arrow is unavoidable, you know.”
Grant seemed not to hear—clearly, he had a great deal of practice in not letting himself be wound up by his siblings. He leaned over to give Taylor a kiss on the cheek. “It’s great to see you, Taylor. Justin gave us the good news earlier. Congratulations. We’re all very happy for you both.”
She believed he meant it, but she could also see a hint of reserve in his eyes. “Would you mind if we talked privately for a moment?” she asked.