Cheap Trick: A Dawson Family Novel

by Goodwin, Emily

  “Let’s hope so. Dex hasn’t been around the cats that much.”

  Before officially moving in, I started bringing Dexter over to try and ease him into moving, but he’s such a doofus most the time nothing seems to faze him. I pet him for a minute before Danielle and I go upstairs to shower.

  I pull a small box out of my drawer while she’s drying her hair and put it in my back pocket. It’s too big and is obvious. Wearing a jacket would be even more obvious since it’s hot as hell outside tonight. I wrap my fingers over the box and go downstairs, impatiently watching TV until Danielle is ready to go.

  We go into the barn before leaving, checking to make sure the animals have enough water on this hot ass day. Danielle stops next to the pasture gate, taking a few seconds to look around.

  “It’s so pretty out today.”

  “And hot.”

  She makes a face. “I kind of like the heat. Mostly because I don’t have to do any sort of physical labor in it and can just lie out and tan.”

  “I do like looking out and seeing you tan.”

  She wiggles her eyebrows. “That’s because I tan topless.”

  “It’s not bad in the shade,” I tell her, motioning to a large oak tree near the barn. Taking her hand, I start toward it, hoping she won’t question anything. We have to go this way to get to the car anyway.

  “I do like this spot.”

  We pause under the tree, and I dig the little box out of my pocket, holding it down at my side so Danielle doesn’t notice.

  “I love you,” I tell her.

  “I love you, too.” She smiles up at me. “So much.” She steps close.

  “Enough to spend the rest of your life with me?” I wrap one arm around her, and she rests her hands on my shoulders.

  “Hmmm…let me think about it. Yes.”

  “Good.” I bend my head down and kiss her. “Because if not, that would make this a little awkward.”

  “Make what?”

  I pull out of her arms and get down on one knee, holding up the little box. “I have loved you since the day I met you. I waited nearly a year to tell you how I felt, and I don’t want to wait anymore. Will you be my real fiancée this time around and marry me?”

  Danielle brings her hands to her face and nods. “Yes! So much yes!”

  I stand back up and slip the ring on her finger. “This one is real, I promise.”

  Danielle laughs and brings her hand to her face. “It’s gorgeous!”

  She’s still looking at the ring as I envelop my arms around her. “Oh my God, we’re actually engaged!” She makes a little squeaking noise. “For real!”

  “I love you so fucking much, Danielle.” I grab her ass and kiss her neck. “I can’t wait until you’re my wife.”

  “Danielle Dawson has nice alliteration. I’ll sound fancy.” She looks at the ring again and the sunlight sparkles off of it. “Does anyone else know?”

  “Owen went with me to pick out the ring,” I tell her. “But I didn’t tell him when I was asking. I didn’t want him to blow it.”

  “That was probably a good idea.” Danielle’s eyes get all teary as she smiles. “Let’s go. I want to show this off to your family.”

  I take her right hand, and she holds her left hand up again, turning her fingers so the ring sparkles in the sunlight.

  “Are you going to call your parents?” I ask her when we get into the car.

  “Maybe not tonight, but I will.” After finding out that her parents were hoping to sell the farm behind her back, Danielle confronted them. They were on the phone, and I could hear the back-and-forth yelling from the other room.

  Her father thinks she’s throwing her life away. Her mother seems more concerned with having to tell people her youngest daughter is a bartender. Neither were happy when Danielle told them she was staying here for good, and there were a few days there when it seemed like she’d never talk to her parents again.

  And then they showed up, wanting to smooth things over. Life is too short to be angry with each other like that. You really don’t know what day will be your last.

  Everyone but Owen is at my parents’ already. He’s usually the last to arrive. Everyone is gathered in the kitchen like usual. Archer is holding Emma, and Jackson comes running to give me a hug.

  “Something weird happened today,” I start when Jackson goes back to his toys. That gets everyone’s attention.

  “Yeah,” Danielle says, nodding her head. “It was really strange.” She holds up her hand. “This ring just appeared on my finger.”

  Quinn almost drops her food. “You’re serious this time?”

  “Yes,” Danielle and I say at the same time.

  “Oh my God, congrats!” Quinn jumps up and gives us both a hug.

  “Look at you!” Danielle looks down at Quinn’s stomach. “You popped overnight!”

  Quinn puts her hand on her baby bump. “It’s part baby and part food.” She gives me a hug next and then grabs Danielle’s hand. She, Scarlet, and Mom gush over the ring.

  “You’re finally crossing over to the dark side.” Dean pats my back. “I mean the married-life side.”

  “It’s about time,” Archer laughs. “I’m happy for you two.”

  Weston’s phone rings and he steps aside to answer it. “Sheriff Dawson,” he says, sounding serious.

  “Remember when you and Owen called him Lord Fart Face for an entire year?” Dean asks.

  I laugh. “And you were Captain Shart Pants. You got so pissed every time we called you that. So naturally we said it as often as possible.”

  “Because I never sharted.”

  “We were driving home from visiting Aunt Mary. We all smelled it for the two-hour car ride,” Dad says, and we all laugh.

  I look out the kitchen window, seeing Owen pull in the driveway. I’m able to sense him, as weird as that sounds. We can’t really explain it, other than saying it’s a twin thing. He comes into the house, already smiling. He didn’t know I was asking Danielle to marry me, but he’s able to sense it too.

  “Glad you finally manned up,” Owen says, pulling me into a hug.

  “Me too,” Danielle laughs, and I go back to her, wrapping her in my embrace. “Though if anything was worth waiting for, this was it.”

  Epilogue

  Danielle

  About a year later…

  “I finalized the menu for the bakery,” I tell Logan, watching him put another log on the fire. He comes back to the couch, picking up the papers from the coffee table, and sits next to me.

  “Are you warm enough?” he asks, reaching for another blanket.

  “I’m fine,” I tell him, though I know he’s going to keep pampering me like crazy. He’s been at it all week, and I don’t think he’s going to stop any time soon. “The temperature did plummet fast today.”

  “Yeah. But it’s supposed to warm back up soon.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Gotta love the spring weather in the Midwest. It was hot two days ago and back down to freezing today.” Logan pulls my legs into his lap and starts rubbing my feet. I lean back, closing my eyes. “That feels good.”

  We got married in October, much to my own mother’s dismay. It wasn’t enough time to plan a big fancy wedding, but that’s not what we wanted anyway. Just a week or so after Logan proposed, we started looking around for places to have the wedding. We joked about having our reception in an old barn, back when we were pretending to be engaged. After I had a real ring on my finger, it started to sound like what we actually wanted.

  And then it just so happened that the newly restored venue in a century-old barn had a cancelation, and we were able to snag a date the first weekend in October. The weather was perfect; bright, sunny, and a crisp sixty-five degrees.

  “Are you going into work tonight?” he asks, looking over the menu.

  “I should if we want to make sure we’re ready to open next week.”

  “You’ll be ready.” He moves his hands up my leg, and
I know it won’t be long until those fingers are inching toward my core. Which is fine by me. I’ve had the sex drive of a teenage boy lately, and Logan is very eager to please me. “Don’t wear yourself out.”

  “I’m fine,” I tell him. I just got over a nasty cold, and he’s been babying me like crazy. “We’re fine.” I rest my hand on my stomach, hoping to feel our baby kick again. I felt her for the first time just yesterday, and I can’t even describe how incredible that feeling is, and how excited I am for Logan to be able to feel her too. I’m only seventeen weeks along and am just now starting to show.

  We haven’t picked a name yet, but our little girl will be the fourth granddaughter in the Dawson family. Mrs. Dawson jokes that it’s making up for the years when it was all boys, though now Jackson is outnumbered. He loves his baby sister dearly and is a good big brother.

  “This looks good.” Logan glances at the menu again before lying down with me on the couch.

  “I’m nervous.”

  “You’re going to blow everyone away.”

  “I hope so. At least it’s already an established bakery. Fingers crossed I make it better and not worse.”

  “You will,” he says, and I know he fully believes it. A few months ago, Mia Harris, an elderly woman who’s owned a bakery on the main street in Eastwood’s downtown for years, decided to put the store up for sale. It’s in the building right next to the spot my grandma wanted to open her own shop.

  It’s a bit of a risk, but Logan and I decided to buy it. I might stick one of my pies on the counter for people to sample, but I’m more interested in the business side of it than the actual baking side. I spent the last few months coming up with a solid business plan and already have a few contracts lined up with other venues in the area.

  This is the last thing I thought I’d be doing with my life. Owning a bakery. Getting married to my best friend. Deciding to start trying for a baby on our wedding night.

  It wasn’t easy getting to where we are. There were lots of good days and just as many bad. I made mistakes along the way. But I learned and I grew, and every time I failed, every time something didn’t go as I hoped and planned, I reminded myself that I’m lucky to get to fail.

  Because I’m alive, and I’ve made a promise to both myself and Grandpa to never take a single day of my life for granted.

  Logan’s lips land on mine and my heart feels so, so full. I have so much in my life to be thankful for, and I know, no matter what gets thrown at us, we’ll get through it.

  Together.

  * * *

  Owen’s story is next! FIGHT DIRTY releases on June 13th, 2019. Sign up here to request and ARC and/or receive an invite to take part in the new release promotion.

  Thank you

  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy life to read Cheap Trick! I had so much fun writing Logan and Danielle’s story, and found writing Danielle’s character to be so refreshing and cathartic, so she’s a very relatable character for me.

  I appreciate so much the time you took to read this book and and would love if you would consider leaving a review. I LOVE connecting with readers and the best place to do so is my fan page and Instagram! I’d love to have you!

  www.facebook.com/groups/emilygoodwinbooks

  www.instagram.com/authoremilygoodwin

  About the Author

  Emily Goodwin is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of over a dozen of romantic titles. Emily writes the kind of books she likes to read, and is a sucker for a swoon-worthy bad boy and happily ever afters.

  She lives in the midwest with her husband and two daughters. When she's not writing, you can find her riding her horses, hiking, reading, or drinking wine with friends.

  Emily is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency.

  Stalk me:

  www.emilygoodwinbooks.com

  emily@emilygoodwinbooks.com

  Also by Emily Goodwin

  First Comes Love

  Then Come Marriage

  Outside the Lines

  Never Say Never

  One Call Away

  Free Fall

  Stay

  All I Need

  Hot Mess (Luke & Lexi Book 1)

  Twice Burned (Luke & Lexi Book 2)

  Bad Things (Cole & Ana Book 1)

  Battle Scars (Cole & Ana Book 2)

  Cheat Codes (The Dawson Family Series Book 1)

  End Game (The Dawson Family Series Book 2)

  Side Hustle (The Dawson Family Series Book 3)

  Dead of Night (Thorne Hill Series Book 1)

  Dark of Night (Thorne Hill Series Book 2)