Chapter 70

CHAPTER 70

SLATE

T he night after I'd gotten back, the whole family sat around a fire in the backyard. Austin had decided to stay a couple more days, and to my surprise, he still hadn't threatened to break my kneecaps if I hurt his sister.

Instead, he sipped his beer, smirking every time he looked at us, sitting side by side and holding hands most of the time. Doug and Jeanie sat on the other side of the dancing flames, his arm around her shoulders as she sipped her tea.

We'd eaten in the kitchen, another of Jeanie's incredible meals. Tonight, however, I'd helped her, really trying to learn in the kitchen now that I'd have a family of my own to cook for soon. Plus, I enjoyed spending time with her and learning all her family secrets to recipes.

Everyone was animated and lighthearted, talking about everything and nothing all at once. With Jess's hand in one of mine and a beer in the other, laughing with these people and knowing that my time here wasn't running out anymore, life was feeling pretty damn good to me.

"It's good to have you back, Slate," Doug said, smiling as he tipped his bottle of beer at me. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away for long."

"Thanks." I chuckled, shaking my head at myself for leaving in the first place. "I want you to know that I'm looking into houses to rent in town. I won't overstay my welcome."

"Nonsense," Jeanie said immediately, leaning forward and giving me a stern, motherly look of warning. "You already have a house. This one. There's no need to waste money renting another."

"You can stay right here as long as you like," Doug agreed. "Forever, ideally."

I laughed. "It's looking like I might just do that. You're sure it'll be okay?"

"We wouldn't have it any other way," Jeanie said. "Doug and I need to scale down anyhow. We've been talking about it, and once the money starts coming in, we'd like to build ourselves a smaller place. A cottage, perhaps. Nice and cozy and without so much work to be done."

Jess blinked hard, clearly taken by surprise. "Really? What about the house?"

Her parents exchanged a look before Doug smiled at her. "Well, that's your problem now, isn't it? Or at least, it will be once we build the cottage."

"Let me do that for you," I volunteered immediately. "I've been thinking that I should probably sell my house in the city anyway. It's a double story with a pool that I thought I might have Beau splashing around in when he gets old enough, but a farm is fun too."

"Lots of fun," Austin agreed. "Especially for a young boy."

"Exactly, and if I'm going to be living here, then I might as well sell it. It should go fast in that neighborhood, so if you're serious about letting me stay, I'd really appreciate you allowing me to help with the cottage."

Surprise registered on Jeanie's face, but Doug nodded. "We'll talk about it. Thank you, Slate."

"Are you sure you don't want to live in your house anymore?" Jess asked, her brow furrowed and confusion written all over her expression. "Why? It's your house."

"It was your grandparents' before it was ours and their parents' before it was theirs," Jeanie said. "How none of the Merricks have built a smaller place here to live in once they passed it on, I don't know, but it's too big for us now, sweetheart. Besides, it's not like we're moving out tomorrow."

"Fair enough." Austin chuckled, giving me a pointed look before his nose wrinkled. "It's look like you're going to have a ton of maintenance to do soon, man. Just don't touch my bedroom."

"I won't," Jess promised, but she still looked a little dazed.

As we fell silent, cows mooed and I grinned, feeling a true sense of belonging wash over me in peaceful little waves. Austin eventually changed the topic.

"It's been great spending more time here this summer," he said, glancing at his sister. "If you guys wouldn't mind, I'd like to keep coming home more often."

"Are you kidding?" she asked, a wide smile appearing on her lips. "I'd love that. It's been so good having you here. Are you sure you don't just want to stay too?"

He laughed. "No, thanks. Your boy here might be over the city, but I'm not. My life is there. I'll visit more, though. I promise. Someone will have to make sure y'all keep working instead of just spending all that oil money."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "As if I'd ever stop working. We might need to look into installing some security measures, though. The farm isn't as safe as it once was now that we're going to be selling the oil from here."

"What do you think is going on with Oden Sawyer?" Jeanie asked thoughtfully, obviously knowing exactly what her daughter was talking about as she wrapped a flannel blanket around her shoulders. "Is he going to leave us alone?"

She directed the last question at me and I nodded. "He will. He has nothing to gain from you anymore, but if he does come back, I'm working on getting proof that he sabotaged your equipment so that we can slap him with some charges."

"It seems unlikely we'll get any proof of it so long after the fact," Jess said, turning to me. "Do you really think there's any hope?"

"I know some people who were more than happy to share their private messages back and forth with Oden. He's done a lot of people wrong and they were happy to return the favor. My investigator is also back in town. We'll find something."

"Either way," Austin said. "I'm with Jess. A little bit of security might not be a bad idea. Between big oil companies, environmentalists, and jealous people from neighboring towns, you can't be too careful. I'll help if you need me to?"

"I've got it," I said. "I'm already in talks with a company Mira's used before to secure sites like this one. We'll be safe."

Jess sighed. "I can't actually believe we're even talking about this, though. Things really have changed, haven't they?"

"Not as much as they could've." Jeanie shot me a smile before she drummed her fingers on her thighs and finally scooted forward on her chair. "Well, on that note, one thing that hasn't changed is we need to be up at the crack of dawn. I'm turning in. Good night, my loves. You all get some rest, okay?"

"We will," Austin promised, draining his beer before he got up as well. "I'll walk in with you. I've got a few emails to send before I turn in."

He took his mother's arm, talking to her quietly as he led her into the house. Jess grinned at her dad. "I should probably get to bed myself. Those chores won't do themselves in the morning. Good night, Daddy."

"Good night, sweetheart," he said.

She glanced at me. "Are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a few," I said, squeezing her hand before she let go of mine.

Smiling as she backed away, she nodded. "I'll see you soon."

She spun around and headed inside, and I stared into the crackling flames across from Doug. While I was happy things had worked out for him and me to have this conversation tonight, I didn't even really know where to start.

"I love your daughter more than I ever thought I could love anyone," I finally confessed, glancing up at him and finding his gaze already locked on me. I drew in a deep breath to steady my nerves. We'd just talked about me building a cottage for them so that I could move into their house with Jess. This couldn't possibly come as much of a surprise to him. "I know that it might seem fast, but I'd like to ask for her hand in marriage."

Doug scowled at me for a moment, and my heart suddenly started going nuts in my chest. Did I misread the situation? Is it too soon?

A wide grin suddenly broke out across his features and he laughed, guffawing into the dark night. "I thought you'd never ask, boy. My answer is yes. Jeanie's too."

"Jeanie's?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "How do you know?"

He chuckled. "We knew you were going to ask for our permission the moment you showed back up, son. We respect you and you're just the kind of man we always hoped she would fall for, so it hardly merited a discussion, but we had it anyway and our answer is yes."

Flooded with indescribable joy and relief, I couldn't say anything for a long moment. I just sat there, staring at him and blinking back more tears. For fuck's sake. A guy doesn't cry for three decades and then suddenly, he becomes a faucet? Is this what love is? Shit.

Doug chuckled. "Take it all in, son. These are the days you're going to be looking back on for the rest of your life. Yours is only just starting, and when I'm gone, I know I'll be able to rest easy knowing our Jess is safe with you. Jeanie too. God willing though, I'll go before her."

Ah, fuck it. I let the tears fill my eyes as I walked around the fire to embrace the man. I didn't bother hiding my emotion or my intention to hug him, and he laughed gruffly but opened his arms, squeezing me tight for a second before he let go.

"When will you ask her?"

I grinned as I straightened up and headed back to my own chair, raw all over again and happier than I'd ever thought possible. "Soon. Before the end of the summer. Why wait when you know it's right?"

"Why wait, indeed," he agreed, smiling through watery eyes of his own as he leaned back in his chair. "You know the wedding is going to have to be here, right?"

I nodded, laughing as I took a look around the enormous backyard. "I think we could make that work, but she has to say yes first."

Doug chuckled, raising both of his eyebrows at me as he held my gaze. "I wouldn't worry too much about that if I was you. That girl loves you, son. Now you just have to promise me that you'll spend the rest of your life loving her just as much as you do right now."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that if I was you," I said, repeating his own words back at him. "It would be impossible for me not to."