20

 

“You’ve got a big job today, Reesie. Think you can handle it?” Graham attached the custom designed collar around Reesie’s neck and stood back to admire it.

Goliath sat at Graham’s feet, solemnly staring at the collar.

Graham pulled a treat from his pocket and tossed it to the dog. “Here you go, boy. Sorry, Reesie’s gonna cover this one, but you’ll have a much bigger job here soon. I hope and pray.” He turned his attention back to the llama. “You look great. Now don’t get dirty in the next few minutes, OK? Rori will be out soon and we’ll take this thing off of you.” Graham patted the llama’s rump and made his way out of the enclosure, the sun casting its first glorious rays of the morning across the grass. Dew shimmered like the diamond he’d just attached to Reesie’s neck. Not a spot of clouds speckled the brilliant blue sky.

A perfect morning for proposing.

Graham paused, resting his forearms on the top of the gate, smiling at Goliath rolling around in the moist grass. Jumbo’s head bobbed up from grazing in the adjoining enclosure. He sauntered over to the fence, still munching.

Graham narrowed his eyes, steering clear of the big fella. Although it was still a love-hate relationship with that one, he’d gone from never seeing a llama before his visit to Forever Family to them totally winning him over. How quickly they’d grown on him. Friendly and inquisitive, they were such fun to be around, and he didn’t think he’d ever grow tired of caring for them.

If Rori gave him and Goliath a chance to do so.

Would she?

God, You brought me to this place, to Rori. Help her see that we belong together. That with You, all things are possible.

He turned and headed to the barn, determination and anticipation making his steps light. With a long to-do list before their big dinner tomorrow, he’d feed and care for the animals so Rori wouldn’t have to worry about them.

All the animals except Reesie. He’d have to concoct a reason for her to feed Reesie. That was the only way she’d find her surprise.

Better get to it. He had a lot to do.

 

****

 

Rori stepped out of the shower and quickly dried off, pulling on jeans and a sweater. Today was Christmas Eve, and she had a lot to do before Graham came over to help her get ready for the big get-together with their families tomorrow. She smiled, thinking of how sweet he’d been over the last month. He’d shown up to help at the sanctuary every day since racing season ended.

He’d lived up to his word. And then some.

She lifted the curtain by the front door and glanced out, joy jolting through her veins.

Graham’s big black truck was parked outside already.

She filled two coffee mugs and headed to the barn, her steps light and her heart soaring at seeing him. She entered the barn, and Goliath bounded over to greet her. She set the mugs down and scratched his belly for a bit. “Gotta go find your daddy, big boy. Sorry.”

With a moan, he curled up in the straw, resting his snout over a giant paw.

Chuckling, Rori picked up the mugs and went in search of Graham.

As usual, the man was humming as he mucked out a horse stall.

Rori stepped quietly towards the sound and leaned a shoulder against the frame of the open stall, waiting for him to realize she was there.

When he looked up, a wide grin brightened his face. She loved it when those crinkles fanned out from his warm brown eyes.

“Hey,” he said, all soft and welcoming, and lifted the brim of his cap. In two steps, he took the mugs from her hands, placed them on top of the stall gate, and then tugged her hips towards him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him.

He smelled wonderful. Of hay and woods, of outdoors and manly soap.

“Hey back.” She stood on her tiptoes to press her lips to his and deepened the kiss when he tugged her even closer, holding her tight against his chest. Being in his arms felt so right, so comforting. She felt protected, loved, even though he’d never uttered those three special words to her.

He might not have said he loved her, but he’d shown it. He’d juggled the demands of his career and shop to help her at the sanctuary. He’d rallied his friends to remodel and renovate the house and barn. He’d even offered her money, but she’d refused every time. She wouldn’t take his money. His presence in her life meant more than his money.

She pulled back with a smile. “You’re here awfully early this morning.”

He reached for the coffee and handed her a mug. “Didn’t want you to worry about things.”

“When do you ever let me worry about things?”

“That’s good. I want you to feel that way.”

“Protected and shielded from life’s worries?”

“If I could do that, I would, but that’s not up to me. That’s up to God, but I promised Him I’d do my best to help Him out.”

She chuckled.

His knuckles grazed her cheek and slid down her jaw, his deep voice husky, his coffee-colored eyes intent, serious. “Seriously, sweetheart, I want you to feel, no, more than that, I want you to know, that I’m here for you. That you can count on me.”

Had he read her mind? How could he have known what she’d wanted, what her soul longed for, all these years? Her eyes watered, and a huge lump refused to slide down her throat. “Thank you, Graham. You don’t know how much that means to me.” How many times she’d prayed for that very thing.

He sipped his coffee, keeping his gaze on her over the top of the mug, but a mischievous sparkle glinted from his eyes, replacing the seriousness from the moment before.

“So what do you want to tackle first?” she asked, as they walked into the main part of the barn.

Goliath’s head lifted, but he didn’t get up.

“Reesie still needs to be fed, and then we can move on to the dinner setup.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She filled a bucket with grain, but before she could pick it up, Graham grabbed the handle and scooped the bucket off the floor.

“I can carry that,” she protested.

“Not while I’m around.” He took off for the pasture.

Goliath trotted alongside, fluffy tail waving from side to side.

She had to admit that she didn’t mind letting Graham carry the load if she could see that view all the time. A denim jacket strained against broad, powerful shoulders, narrowing to tapered hips, and long legs. And a devoted animal journeyed with him through life.

His boots stopped clomping at the barn opening. He looked over a shoulder, caught her ogling, and grinned. “You coming?”

Goliath barked, as if to say, “Yeah. Come on. Let’s go.”

They walked out into the sunshine together. If someone had asked her last year if she’d ever feel comfortable with a man around her farm, she’d have vehemently denied it. Amazing the difference God, time, and a certain man, made.

She glanced sideways at him, noting his clean shirt. “Did Jumbo get you again?”

Scoffing, he unlatched the gate and slid it open, gesturing for her to go in first. “Nah. I think I finally have the big guy figured out.”

She slid past him, grinning. “You mean you calculated the correct distance necessary to stay out of his firing range.”

Goliath bounded through and took off running through the field.

Graham closed the gate, and his boots clomped against the wet grass as he caught up with her. “That works.”

His smile could melt her in a puddle right here on the ground. A contented sigh rippled through her chest. If only this day, this moment in time, could last forever.

Snickers’s head popped up from grazing, and she lumbered their way.

Reesie followed, practically skipping behind her mama.

“What’s that on her neck?” Rori squinted, trying to focus in on Reesie, but Snickers kept cutting in front of the little one, blocking Rori’s view.

Graham knelt and held the bucket out, enticing the animals closer.

Rori stroked the cria’s neck, her fingers coming in contact with…a collar?

She unbuckled the black collar and took it off. A tiny box dangled from the middle like a charm. What?

Who could have put a collar on Reesie? Graham?

She glanced at the man who had brought so much sunshine, so much warmth and laughter, into her lonely days.

The man, who was now kneeling, one denim knee soaking in the dewy grass, the grain bucket discarded to the side.

Snickers was going to town.

“Rori.” One of Graham’s giant hands took the buckle from her trembling fingers. The other held her hand. “Have you forgiven me for not letting on about who I was when I met you?” His brown eyes bored right through flesh and into her soul.

She nodded. That seemed so long ago. And how could she possibly stay mad at him?

“I would never deceive you intentionally, but in that short of time, without either of us really knowing the true identity of the other, you proved to me that true love is possible. You mean the world to me, sweetheart. You know that, right?”

“I—” She sniffled, nodded.

“Good. Because I meant it when I said I don’t want you to worry. I’ll do my best to protect you from the outside world, if that’s what you want.”

Her fingertips grazed his cheek. “Over the last few months, I’ve realized that I can’t live that way anymore. I don’t want to live in fear and I refuse to let it rule my life.”

“That’s my girl.” His face glowed with pride as he took her palm and caressed it with his lips. “When I’m with you, I never want the time to end, and when I’m not, I count the hours until we can be together again.”

“I do the same.”

“What do you say we change that?”

Her palms quickly chilled as his hands disappeared to open the tiny box. He held up a ring, silver and sparkly.

Her jaw dropped, and her mouth formed an “oh,” but all ability to speak coherently left her.

“Rori Harmon, I loved you from the moment you walked out that barn door,” he flicked his dark head towards the large structure, “and into my heart. I love you when you’re sweet and sassy, and I love you when you’re shy and timid. I promise you’ll hold my heart forever. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She nodded, throwing her arms around Graham’s neck. He settled her on his thigh, still kneeling on the damp ground, and kissed her, taking his sweet time.

She didn’t mind a bit.

Apparently, Goliath did. He barked, loud and insistent, and then walked over to them, waving his tail, sniffing at the leather collar.

“He’s reminding me that I forgot something important.” Graham took her hand and held it out, sliding the ring on her finger. “I’m looking forward to the day you become my wife, sweetheart.”

“Me, too.” A deep longing rippled through her body, and she trembled.

Together they stood, and he hugged her tight, his hands draped around her lower back, his jaw resting on the top of her head. She could stay in this position all day.

“Want to fill that house with as many kids as we have animals?”

She reared back, laughter filling her heart and body. When she could finally talk, she said, “That’s a mighty big proposition, mister. Think you’re up to it?” She looked up at him, challenging him with her expression.

He narrowed those dark brows, love and devotion shining from his face. “You better set that date pretty soon. You know I’m always up for a challenge.”