He rolled to a gentle stop in the driveway of his house, looking down at the sleeping face of Cady, her long eyelashes dark against the paleness of her skin, her curls going every which way.
And then, the snoring. She had the most adorable snore on the face of the planet, as far as Gage was concerned, although she was convinced he was teasing her when he told her that she snored. He couldn’t blame her too much for that – teasing Cady was his second favorite thing in the world, behind making love to Cady – but still, he was tempted to record her one night and play it back to her, just so she could hear herself.
Okay, Gage, it’s time. He pulled his cell phone out of its dashboard holder and sent the pre-planned text to the predetermined list, patted his pockets, and then with a feeling of regret at waking Cady mingled with happiness that she was his to wake, he gently ran his fingertips down her face. “Hey, Sugar Plums,” he whispered softly. “Time to wake up.”
She surfaced slowly, stretching and blinking before finally registering what he said and bolting up right. “We’re at your house,” she said, peering eagerly through the dashboard to look at his home, as if the surprise was going to be painted across the side of it.
He hurried around and slid her into his arms, carrying her to the front porch over her laughing protests.
“The surprise is, I have working legs,” she said gaily, running her fingers through his hair as he carried her. “It’s not much of a surprise to me, but it seems like it is to you.”
“Now you tell me,” Gage grumbled, as if she’d been holding out on him all this time. He fumbled with the door knob – he’d intentionally left it unlocked when they’d left for Boise, knowing what they’d be coming back and doing, but even with it unlocked, his hands were slick with sweat.
What if she doesn’t like it? What if she says no? What if? What if? What if…
He finally got the door open and Cream Puffs came bounding over, dancing, barking happily, tongue lolling out of her mouth as if she hadn’t seen them in years and years.
“You goofy girl,” Cady said, sliding out of his arms and down onto the floor. “I just saw you this morning.” But still, she was intentionally holding her face within range of Cream Puffs’ tongue, as if inviting the dog to give her a face bath.
An invitation the dog was all too happy to say yes to.
Gage stood behind her, discreetly looking around. It looked amazing in the house – way better than it had any right to. Of course, putting Sugar and Emma in charge of decorating always meant the results would be better than he could ever hope to do himself. He saw one eyeball peeking around the corner at them, a long brown braid dangling below it and he shook his head silently.
The hair and eyeball disappeared. Gage let out a tiny sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?” Cady asked absentmindedly. “That was a big sigh…what the hell?!” she yelped, staring at the wall behind Gage’s head. There, Sugar and Emma had hung the last family portrait Cady and her parents had done before leaving for their trip. An exact replica of Cady’s smile graced an older woman, but Cady’s golden brown eyes were from her father.
Golden brown eyes that were now staring up at Gage in shock. She scrambled to her feet and then reflexively looked around the house, as if searching for other changes.
And other changes there were. There were her school pictures, twelve photos arranged in an oval around the large senior picture in the middle. There was the end table she’d made together with her father. There were the throw pillows on the couch she’d bought when she’d moved out on her own and wanted to feel oh-so-grown-up now that she had her own place that she could decorate. It should’ve felt crowded, adding Cady’s stuff in with his, but of course, the talents of Emma and Sugar were at play, not to mention that Gage had always been horrible at actually decorating. Finally, his house had that woman’s touch that made it feel like a home.
Their home.
“Cady, will you move in with me?” he asked, digging frantically for the key in his pocket. “I never want your home to be somewhere else. I want you to spend tonight, and every night, here with me.”
He held out the key towards her, which was just when Skittles decided to make his presence known. He let out a loud meow, alternating between rubbing against Cady’s legs and hissing at Cream Puffs, who seemed to be delighted to have a friend to play with.
Not surprisingly, Skittles didn’t seem to return the feeling.
“How…when…” Cady shook her head, as if trying to clear it of cobwebs. “We were together in Boise!” she burst out. “How did you get all of my stuff over here?”
“Magical fairies,” Gage said, at the same time that Sugar and Emma piped up, “Us!” as they burst around the corner, apparently incapable of hanging back any longer. “Although, I like the name ‘magical fairies,’” Sugar said to Emma seriously. “I think we should go with that instead.”
Gage was shooting death rays at the two of them as Cady squealed with delight. “So this is why you guys couldn’t be at the courthouse!” she said, throwing her arms around one and then the other in turn. “I thought it was bullshit that you guys couldn’t bring someone else in to run the bakery for a few hours.”
“We just shut it down completely,” Sugar said, waving her hand dismissively. “Put a sign on the door, stating that we were busy trying to put Richard Schmidt behind bars. The assholes in this town who don’t like it can stuff it. I don’t want to sell them donuts anyway.”
Gage cleared his throat, and then when the girls didn’t seem to hear him, he cleared it again, louder this time. Emma and Sugar both looked guilty – as they damn well should – and backed off. He’d told them not until—
“Will you move in with me?” Gage repeated, holding out the key again.
“Yes!” Cady shouted, throwing herself at him. Cream Puffs yipped and danced; Skittles hissed and pounced, landing on the dog’s side. Cream Puffs took off like a shot, yipping in pain, Skittles holding on for dear life, and they heard a thunk and then a crash as they skittered together into the dining room.
“We’ll go take care of that,” Emma said with a grimace, grabbing Sugar’s hand and dragging her towards the dining room.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Cady murmured, pressing kisses all over his face between every word. “I’m even starting to love surprises.”
“Oh good,” he said, allowing himself one kiss on her lips before dropping to one knee in front of her. “Because I have something else to ask you.” He dug in his other pocket, pulling out the intricate engagement ring, the swirls and interlocking hearts reminding him of Cady’s hair. In the center sat a giant emerald.
“Cady, will you marry me?” he asked, holding up the ring between thumb and forefinger.
Please God, please God, please God—
“Yes!” she said in a strangled voice as he slid the ring onto her finger. He was thrilled to see that it fit perfectly. He’d asked Emma and Sugar to take her shopping at a cheap costume jewelry shop in the Boise Mall. They were supposed to find some new fun jewelry to wear, and get her to try on rings while she was there. Report back on the proper size to him.
After all of their help in making it happen, he could almost forgive them for interrupting his proposal.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, staring at her finger and then up at him. Her huge brown eyes were filled with tears, but they were happy tears. With any luck at all, those would be the only kind of tears she’d ever shed on his account again.
As they kissed, Gage was dimly aware of the stream of people coming into the house, oohing and aahing over all of the hard work that Sugar and Emma had done, there to celebrate Cady’s time on the witness stand and her moving in with him and their engagement. It’d been a risk to ask people to show up to a party that was to take place just minutes after he proposed to Cady – what if she’d said no?! – but it had felt right. He knew she’d want to see all of her friends and customers from the smoothie shop – people who could celebrate her big day with her, even if her parents couldn’t.
Finally, the catcalling and wolf whistles got too loud for even Gage to ignore and he regretfully broke off the kiss, suddenly regretting inviting half of Sawyer into their living room. If they’d been by themselves, he could’ve taken Cady upstairs and shown her just how happy he was that she said yes, but as it was, he was pretty sure people would notice if they disappeared.
“Congratulations, son,” Mom said, appearing at his side and pulling him into a big hug. “You found a keeper. And you,” she said, turning to Cady to give her a huge hug too, “welcome to the family. Now I have two daughters I can dote on.”
Their first meeting seven months ago, when his mother had pulled Cady into a hug, she’d had a look of ‘What the hell is going on here?’ on her face, and had hardly known what to do. Now, she enthusiastically hugged her future mother-in-law back. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I would love to have a mom again.”
Then his dad, not much for emotion, pulled Cady into a bear hug of his own. “Welcome,” he said gruffly, his tough Marine Corps façade cracking just a little. “Glad to have you.”
Gage grinned a little to himself. In his father’s world, that was practically a speech.
Grandpa hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, and then it was Grandma, her steel-gray hair pulled back in its tight bun like always. She looked intimidating as hell, but Gage knew that was her resting bitch face at work. She wasn’t nearly as scary as she appeared to be, especially when she liked someone.
It just took her a while to like someone, was all.
“Welcome to the family,” his grandmother said formally, but eschewed Cady’s proffered hand for a hug instead. “You’ve got a really special man here,” she said softly into Cady’s curls. “Take care of him for me.”
Gage, who wasn’t much for being emotional, felt a bit choked up at the sentiment. His grandmother was finally giving her blessing on their relationship.
He didn’t know how much he’d wanted that until it had happened. His grandmother had taught him how to cook; had had the belief in him that he could succeed when they sold the bakery to him; had helped him pay for culinary arts school. He’d wanted that side of her – the loving, sweet, caring side – to be the side she showed Cady, too.
Before anyone could pull them apart again to wish them well or ask for a tour of the house, Gage snagged Cady’s hand and pulled her against his chest. “Are you sure about this?” he whispered, staring down into her golden brown eyes. “I know I sprung a lot onto you.”
“I love you, Gage, like I’ve never loved another soul, and never will. You are it for me. I would go with you to the moon and back if you wanted.”
“I think we can keep it right here in little ol’ Sawyer, but I’ll keep that in mind,” he whispered against her lips, and then kissed her to the cheers and laughter of his friends and family.
Their friends and family. Because they’d all come to love Cady just as much as he did. Which just went to show that the townspeople of Sawyer had very good taste indeed.