“Nope. Grandma offered to take them overnight.” I popped my head up, and he smirked. “I packed their bags when you were making breakfast and put them by the garage.”
I adopted a clueless expression. “Whatever are we going to do with our time together?”
He bent to set my feet on the floor. “How ’bout you turn on the lamp and I’ll close the door.”
Grinning, I turned to the lamp, the one I’d replaced with the piece he’d done when I moved in. “You know, we don’t need to close the door if—”
A ring was hung around the switch under the lamp shade. A small gasp left me when I saw the golden band filled with diamonds. I picked it up, the metal cool on my fingertips. “Liam?”
By the time I turned, he was kneeling. Tears sprang up in my eyes.
His smile was gentle. “Kenny, will you marry me?”
My mouth still hung open, my eyes glued to the simple band full of small diamonds. It was different from what I’d worn before. So was the proposal. It was me and Liam. It was perfect.
This was the easiest decision I’d had to make in a long time. “Yes, Liam. I’ll marry you.”
He grinned and rose. I swung my arms around him. We didn’t kiss or jump around. I hugged him, hard. And he grounded me as waves of feelings splashed through me: guilt, elation, anticipation.
Excitement won out, and I pulled back, holding the ring between us.
He touched the top with his finger. “There’re a few things we can do. That’s a wedding band. You can wear it by itself. Or you can wear your wedding ring and add this.” I stared at him, eyes wide, and he lifted a shoulder. “Derek’s always going to be a part of us, and I know you miss wearing your ring. But if you want to get a separate engagement ring for us, we can pick one out.”
I glanced at the special jewelry box in which I kept my wedding ring on the shelf above the dresser. I hadn’t worn it for six months, but I did miss it. “You don’t mind?” It seemed…fitting. And like always, Liam had sensed what I needed the most.
“The thing about Derek being my best friend is that I knew where he got your set, so I found a matching band. They’ll go together, just like the three of us did.”
Could this man get any more perfect? “I love you, Liam.”
“I love you too, Kenny.” His grip tightened around me. “Did you shower today? Because I want to shower with you.”
Epilogue
Laney
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The backyard wedding had been fucking adorable, like I thought it would be. I didn’t consider myself a kid person, but Eli and Owen Barron were pretty cute ring bearers. It was early June, and the only music the happy couple included were the crickets and frogs. Liam had even sprayed his yard for mosquitos so the only bloodsuckers in attendance were family.
Not my family of course.
I avoided weddings. More like, I hadn’t been invited to any. My own wedding had been—
Nope. Not going there.
It had been hard enough to keep memories of my own happy day from superimposing Kennedy’s day. Just like the last nine months of watching her fall stupider into love. Old jealousy threatened to flare up, but I wasn’t the same girl I’d been in high school. I wasn’t jealous of Kennedy. My envy was that she’d found two decent guys in her life. I must repel good men like the mosquito control Liam had used.
The wedding was over, and I was at Rattler’s with some of the other guests. The happy couple was on their honeymoon with two little boys in tow. Next year, they might have another little one to drag along. Ever the teacher, Kennedy was planning to “work on it” this summer so she limited her maternity leave next year during the school year.
There’d been a time I had considered removing my IUD since I’d been happily married. Good thing I hadn’t, or my in-laws would have reason to interfere in my life more than they had.
I kicked back in my chair and almost put my cowboy boot on the table. I refrained. I was a fucking lady, like my husband had wanted. Besides, I didn’t need to give the town any more reason to think I was a bitch than they already had.
I took a drink of my fruity piss water, as Aspen called it.
She was sitting next to me with Lyric. Nora was even here. That girl was so young and sweet, she probably farted rainbows that smelled like Skittles. Lyric’s BFF, Isla, was not here. Big surprise. Cameron had probably taken his family to some resort to forget the fact that the son he ignored was getting married.
Bruce had attended. I saw him sneaking out after the wedding vows had been said. I would’ve said something snarky, but his head was dipped low. Not low enough for me to miss his red-rimmed eyes.
So, yeah.
I cleared away the tightening in my throat and took another drink. I wouldn’t be making snarky comments. I missed Derek too. Couldn’t believe he was gone. We had history. I hadn’t been in love with him, same for him with me. But we’d grown up together. We’d spent a lot of time together before we broke up. And after we broke up, I’d felt like a limb had been severed. I’d had no one to talk to. My closest friend had moved on. Ironic that my best friend now was his widow.
Aspen scanned the bar, her amber gaze on the hunt. “I thought Liam would have more hot friends show up.”
I chuckled. Aspen liked men. I could live vicariously through her since I wasn’t exactly free to date. People could call me a lot of things, but I wasn’t a cheater.
I took another drink of my fruity piss water. I wanted something stronger, which meant I shouldn’t have something stronger. “Are you saying that Coal Haven lacks hot men?”
“Most of them are Barrons.” Aspen’s tone was wry. “No offense to Liam—he’s cool—but I don’t need a Barron of my own. That whole last name seems to come with, like, a lot.”
Lyric grunted her agreement and pushed a hand through her purple hair. “I was hoping he’d have some of his buddies from Williston come out.”
Kennedy had talked to me about that. “They wanted a small, intimate wedding. They kept it at family and local friends only. He just wanted everyone close to her to be there to support her. As long as they had their two witnesses, he didn’t care who was invited.”
“Damn, that’s sweet,” Aspen said.
“Isn’t it?” Neither of us were bitter. I sensed Aspen and I had that in common. We’d been burned. There was no point dwelling on some other man’s romantic gesture if it’d only bring up how we’d been let down in the past.
“Where’s Holden?” Lyric asked Nora.
Nora’s big cornflower-blue eyes swiveled to the left, then the right, as if she was afraid her mom would jump out and slap her hand over Nora’s mouth. “He’s um…distracting Stetson.”
So Cameron had whisked only his wife away. “Keeping the Barrons from storming the wedding?”
Nora grimaced. “Uncle Bruce said he wanted what was best for Kennedy and told my uncle and Stetson to leave them alone.”
I ran my tongue along my teeth. “Cameron ordered Liam to stay away from Kennedy and now they’re married. He’s going to be pissed for another twenty-seven years.”
“Cameron scares me,” Lyric muttered. We all stared at her. “I mean, not like physically. He’s just so…” She swirled her hand around her head. “Negative. Terminally angry. I swear, when he walks by a garden, the flowers wilt.”
I flicked the tab on my can. “Naomi steals the souls of children and sells them on the dark web.” Nora coughed, her innocent gaze wide. “Sorry. I don’t say things I wouldn’t say to their face, but my mom already told her that so…”
Aspen snorted. “I think I’d like your mom. I missed a lot not growing up here. I kind of know Bruce. I hear a ton about Cameron.” She tipped her head toward Nora. “And I see your mom around town. What’s with the other Barron brother?”
A chill traced down my spine. “The other brother?” Did I manage to sound nonchalant?
Nora ran her fingers along the delicate chain at her neck. “He’s, um, in Texas, I think.”
“Does he have kids?” Aspen asked.
Lyric’s gaze flicked to Nora. Smart girl. If the gossip spread, it was Nora spilling the deets. Lyric would be shunned by the family on Cameron and Naomi’s decree if either one thought she was talking about them.
Nora chewed her bottom lip like she knew she wasn’t supposed to say but couldn’t talk herself out of answering. “Two sons. I haven’t met them. I-I don’t know much about them.”
“How old are they?” Aspen leaned forward, her curiosity spilling out like her cleavage. I would cut a bitch for tits like that. But I refused to get cut for tits like that, like some of my husband’s friends suggested. Assholes. All of them.
“Um… I think the oldest is close to Stetson’s age, maybe a little younger, more like Evander and Holden’s age. Thirty-ish. The younger one is, I don’t know, maybe your age. That’s all I know really.” Nora’s leg bobbed so hard under the table, her entire body shook.
“Ohmigosh, more Barron men? And with a Texas drawl? Can you imagine?” Aspen held her hands up. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Nora’s grin brimmed with relief, but she played it off. “It’s not a wedding if we aren’t talking about everyone and their relatives.”
Lyric snickered. “Right? Only with Nora here, we’re safe. She’s a Barron.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and fiddled with the tab of my can. What would they think—what would they all think—if I told them that Nora wasn’t the only Barron at the table? That I was terrified of getting pulled over anywhere in the county because I wasn’t divorced like I had let Kennedy and Liam assume and my Texas driver’s license had my legal name on it: Delaney Barron?
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About the Author
Marie Johnston writes paranormal and contemporary romance and has collected several awards in both genres. Before she was a writer, she was a microbiologist. Depending on the situation, she can be oddly unconcerned about germs or weirdly phobic. She’s also a licensed medical technician and has worked as a public health microbiologist and as a lab tech in hospital and clinic labs. Marie’s been a volunteer EMT, a college instructor, a security guard, a phlebotomist, a hotel clerk, and a coffee pourer in a bingo hall. All fodder for a writer!! She has four kids, cats, and a half blind Corgie.
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mariejohnstonwriter.com
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Also by Marie Johnston
Oil Barrons
Make Me Whole
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Oil Kings
King’s Crown
King’s Ransom
King’s Treasure
King’s Country
King’s Queen
Make Me Whole: Oil Barrons, Book 1 Page 24