Chapter 16

16

A bby let Wade get the door, because it would be Cheryl and his parents. She slid the tray of pizza pockets back into the oven, wishing Wade's favorite meal could be made in the slow cooker. The oven heated the kitchen, and she'd deliberately made his cake the previous day.

Knocking sounded on the kitchen entrance, and she turned that way as Bryce entered. "Hey, Abby," he said, his smile genuine. His father came right behind him, and Tex also wore a grin with his jeans, his dark blue polo, and cowboy boots. That hat never went anywhere, but as he swept his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her forehead, he'd clearly showered after his work around the ranch next door.

"Smells good in here," he said, smiling down at her. She looked at his mouth, wondering why he hadn't kissed her yet. They'd gone out several times, held hands, and he used those lips to kiss her cheek or temple. Never her lips, and her heartbeat skipped around her chest before going back to where it belonged.

"Abby," her mom said, and she turned toward her. "Cheryl has something for you." She smiled at Tex and added, "Howdy, Tex."

"Hello, Mrs. Ingalls." He moved in front of her and gave her mom a cheek kiss, then let Abby squeeze by and into the living room. The doorways in this house could use some widening, but Abby would never do it. She didn't have the vision or muscles Tex possessed.

In the living room, she'd set up two long tables and covered them with bright blue cloths. Wade's favorite color, of course. He'd sprinkled confetti in white and navy down the center of the table, and Abby had put paper plates and plastic utensils at the end of both tables.

"Cheryl, hi," she said, giving her brother's girlfriend a hug. "You have something for me?" Abby genuinely liked Cheryl, and they'd gone to lunch a few times in recent weeks. Abby had invited her friend who owned the bookshop, Georgia, as well, and the three of them had had fun. More fun than Abby could ever remember having with her girlfriends.

Cheryl smiled at her and held out a small box. "Yep. I saw this at the farmer's market this morning, and I thought of you."

"Oh." Abby took the small box and lifted the lid. A glass hummingbird sat there, and she pulled in a breath. "Wow, thank you." She looked up at Cheryl and hugged her again. "I can add it to the wind chime on the porch."

"Wade says you love hummingbirds." She looked at him with love in her eyes, and he put his arm around her and brought her into his side. He wore his prosthetics today, and he'd already practiced getting down on one knee and then both knees. He needed help getting up, but Abby had assured him multiple times that there would be plenty of people willing to help him stand after he proposed to Cheryl.

Not only that, but she'd reassured him at least that many times that Cheryl would say yes to his question. Abby found it interesting how differently Wade could see things than she could.

"Dinner is almost ready," she said, handing her new hummingbird to Tex. "Look at my new wind chime gem."

"It's real pretty," he said, gazing at it and then her. "What do you need help with?"

"I've got the salad," her mom said, coming out of the kitchen.

"Have you met Cheryl's parents?" Abby asked, bringing Tex to her side too. She introduced him and then his son, and they shook hands with Cheryl's mom and dad. With her parents there, and Cheryl and hers, and Tex, everyone who'd been invited to Wade's birthday dinner had arrived.

The timer on the oven went off, and Abby turned that way. "Those are the pizza pockets." She hurried into the other room to get them out, then used a pair of tongs to put them on a cool platter.

She carried it out to the living room, where she'd also pushed all of the furniture against the walls while Wade had been out doing their morning farm chores. "Okay," she said with a sigh, looking around. Emotion jumped into the back of her throat, and she couldn't say anything else.

Seeing everyone there in their small living room—all the people she loved the most—snuck up on her and made her realize how very blessed she was.

She'd said she'd welcome everyone and lead them in Happy Birthday . "The cake," she blurted out, her voice too high. "My goodness, I forgot the cake."

"Abby," Wade said, but she'd already spun and dashed for the door. She pulled the sheet cake from the fridge, pocketed the candles and lighter she'd already gotten out, and returned to the living room.

"Wade wanted to do cake first," she said. "He's forty-three today, and that means he gets to have dessert first if he wants it." She beamed at him, the very solid rock in her life. "He's put up with me mothering him for the past five years, and that also deserves plenty of cake as well as his favorite dinner." She met Tex's eye, which was a mistake. Her emotions spiraled out of control again, and she managed to control them by clearing her throat.

"Let's sing," she said. "And then Tex, will you pray for us?"

He nodded, and she wished they were to the level where she could brush her lips against his and tell him thank you. She needed to find out why he hadn't kissed her yet. Maybe he was waiting for her to kiss him. Or for her to give him some sort of message that it would be okay to make a move.

Maybe she needed to ask him.

"Honey," her mom said, and Abby blinked, realizing she'd been giving directions and had blanked out.

"You don't have to have cake first," she said. "But anyone can who wants to. I made pizza pockets, which are Wade's favorite food. There are pepperoni and cheese ones, as well as spinach, chicken, and Alfredo. Those are marked with a little leaf of spinach on the top."

She nodded at the pizza pockets and then Tex. He swept that sexy cowboy hat off his head and waited for the other men to do the same. He looked at her as his eyes fell closed and he seemed to concentrate so hard before he started to speak.

Abby found him utterly adorable, and her chest and face heated as he said, "Lord, we're so grateful to be gathered her for Wade's birthday as family and friends. We acknowledge Thy hand in our lives, from the littlest things to the largest. Bless this house and those who live here that they'll have the blessings they need."

He paused, and Abby didn't dare look at him either. Her hands trembled, and she pressed them tighter against her arms. "Please bless this food. Amen."

"Amen," everyone said, and Abby stepped out of the way to make room for Wade. She'd done everything they'd rehearsed, and he took a couple of steps into the middle of the room and all the people, then turned toward Cheryl.

"Before we eat," he said, his voice gruff and low. Abby sent up a fast, silent prayer that he could do this to his liking. He dug in his pocket and took out the diamond ring he'd bought weeks ago.

Abby's lungs stormed as he dropped to one knee, his bone making a thunk against the wood floor. She cringed, but no one else seemed to notice. Tex's warm hand slid along her hip and back as Wade made it down to his second knee.

"Wade," Cheryl said, her voice pitching up.

"I love you, sweetheart. I know our lives won't be easy, but I'd rather have a harder life with you in it than an easier one without you." He held up the ring. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said instantly, and she fell to her knees in front of him too. Abby's eyes burned with tears, because Cheryl always knew exactly what to do to make Wade feel normal. She flung her arms around him and hugged him, then pulled back and kissed him quickly before he slid the ring on her finger.

"I love you," she said, looking at her hand and then cradling his face in her hands. He kissed her again, and then he stayed still while she put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself as she got to her feet. Then she stood very still and offered him both of her hands so he could get up too.

He managed it, though Abby saw her father twitch toward them, ready to help. The congratulations started then, and Abby's feelings assaulted her. She couldn't stay in this room.

She turned to leave, Tex's hand catching on her waistband. "Abby," he said, but she couldn't stay. She just couldn't.

She burst out of the front door and went down the steps, sucking at the August heat. It didn't matter. It held more oxygen than the engaged air inside. She went left across the lawn instead of right toward the driveway.

"Abby," Tex said after her, and she broke into a jog. She wouldn't be able to outrun him, and she'd have to explain. What, she didn't know. She didn't understand her feelings, which meant she couldn't tell someone else why she suddenly felt like sobbing her eyes out.

In the shade on the side of the house, she stopped and pulled in breath after breath. Tex came around the corner, anxiety emanating from him. "Abby." He strode toward her and took her by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, a wildness inside her she couldn't name. "I'm happy for him."

"Of course you are." Tex drew her into his chest. "It's just a big change."

She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. "A really big change." And Abby didn't like change that much. She needed gradual steps over time, and then she was okay. Or she could figure out how to be okay.

She sniffled and stepped back, wiping her eyes. She'd worked hard on her makeup that afternoon, and she couldn't go back into the house with messy mascara and red eyes.

Tex tucked her hair gently, the movement so tender and soft. "Talk to me, Abs. What else is going on?"

She took a steeling breath. "He and Cheryl want to live here. At the farmhouse. And they should. Of course they should. He's lived here and worked the farm for the majority of the past thirty years." He'd gone into the military for about five years before he'd gotten injured and returned.

She'd gone to college and then Chicago, and of course she couldn't live here and make Cheryl and Wade live somewhere else.

"When are they getting married?"

"Christmas, I think," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know. They'll have to set a date, but I know they've talked about Christmas."

"That's lots of time," he said, stroking his hand down the side of her face again. He ran one behind her head and curled his fingers along her neck.

She looked up at him, deciding she might as well expose herself completely. "I like you so much, Tex. Is there…? I mean, why haven't you kissed me yet?"

He searched her face, as sober as she'd ever seen him. He wasn't irritated with her, and he wasn't joking. Emotions ran rampant across his face, and then a half-smile kicked up the corner of his mouth.

"You want to kiss me?"

Abby ducked her head, but Tex brought it right back up. "Sorry, that was so arrogant. I'm dying to kiss you." He leaned down as she slid her hands up his chest. He hesitated for a moment, swallowing hard, and then she closed her eyes, telling him she was ready. Beyond ready.

His lips grazed hers, and fire licked down her throat and out to her arms. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, and when Tex touched his mouth to hers again, he really kissed her. Not a touch. Not a brush.

This was a kiss , and it was the most magnificent one Abby had experienced since he'd kissed her the first time all those years ago.

She imagined herself to be living on that ranch and in the farmhouse next door that had been left dormant for so long. He'd put a new roof on it. He'd ripped out the old things and put in new ones. He'd made a lot of improvements, and he'd painted and stained worn wood to make it shine again.

While he'd been doing all of that, he'd been fixing all of the broken things inside of her too. He'd made her feel seen. He'd called her beautiful many times, and as he kissed her, she actually felt beautiful. He listened to her, and that had healed so much she hadn't even known needed to be healed.

He was a fixer, and she didn't mind him working on her, that was for sure. She hoped she fixed something inside him too, and because he kept kissing her, maybe she did.