Chapter Thirty-Nine

 

Faith

 

Two Months Later

 

Wyoming was home. As much as I loved being in New York and loved growing up in Belle Haven, Virginia, nothing could compare to living amongst the majestic snow-capped mountains of Wyoming. Ian and Grace’s hotel had the best view of the mountains. I only hoped that when Dominic and I found a house that it’d have the same scenery. It was late September and the cold had already started to set in. Dominic had left to run a few errands with Reed while I took to sitting on the balcony, wrapped in my favorite Christmas blanket – even though it was still a couple months away – with my feet propped up on the balcony rail. To me, it felt great. I was glad to be away from the heat of the east coast.

The door to the hotel room opened, and I looked back to see Dominic walk in with the biggest smile on his face. It took him a while to get used to wearing jeans and flannel, but he was sexy as hell in it. My next goal was to get him to wear a cowboy hat.

“Hey,” I said, “did you have a good time with Reed?”

He kissed me and sat down in the chair beside me. “I did. My mother was at Layla’s so I stopped by there as well.”

“What?” I shrieked, smacking him on the arm. “You went there without me?” I loved visiting Layla and seeing her belly grow little by little. She was halfway through her pregnancy and she’d just found out she was having a girl. We’d already started decorating the baby’s nursery.

His brows lifted. “Seriously, Faith? You see Layla almost every day.” When all I did was shrug, he laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come on, there’s somewhere I want to take you. You can bring the blanket.”

We left the hotel room and there were a few snickers from some of the other hotel guests as I walked through the lobby, clutching my blanket with a pair of fuzzy boots on my feet. Once out in the parking lot, there wasn’t Dominic’s blue and black Bugatti Chiron with blue wheels waiting for us. He’d traded that in for an old green Chevy truck with peeling paint. I loved it. But don’t let that fool you, he had it updated with all of the toys and souped up engine— boys will be boys.

Dominic opened my door and I hopped in. “Where are we going?” I asked.

He winked. “You’ll find out soon.”

He got in and we started on our way, in the direction of Layla and Bryce’s ranch. “Are you taking me to see Layla? I was just kidding when I smacked your arm.”

His lips pulled back slyly. “No, we’re not going to see them.” He bypassed the road to their ranch, but with all the Chandlers combined, they owned over two hundred acres of land. Dominic turned on his right blinker and started to slow down.

“What are you doing?” I peered around at where we were at and there wasn’t even a road to turn down. It was just a field of grass. Dominic chuckled and turned into the field. It was a bumpy ride so I braced myself against the dash. “Hopefully, you know what you’re doing,” I said, laughing.

Once we got through the tall grass, there was an opening where the grass had been cut short. Just behind it in the distance was a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons, and right in the middle of the grass there was a blanket with a basket on top. Dominic pulled right up to it and got out of the truck while I sat there confused. He walked over to my side and opened the door. “You coming?”

He reached in and grabbed my hand. I slowly slid out and looked around. “Isn’t this Layla and Bryce’s land?” I asked.

Dominic pulled me over to the blanket and we sat down. “It was,” he said, opening the basket. He reached in and handed me a stack of papers. “But it’s ours now.”

Eyes wide, I read over the contract and it was all right there, in black and white. Dominic and I now owned thirty-five acres of the Chandlers land. Tears filled my eyes. “Oh, my God. This is amazing. Layla’s going to be our neighbor.”

Dominic snorted. “We paid for it too. Those Chandlers didn’t make it easy on me.”

I flung my arms around his neck. “Thank you. This place is absolutely beautiful.” Taking a deep breath, I let him go and took in the scenery. “Is getting this ready what you were doing this morning?”

He nodded. “Reed helped me clear off the land.” Then his eyes twinkled. “But that’s not all. I have a couple more surprises for you.” Reaching into the basket, he pulled out a container of chocolate mousse with a card on top.

I snatched it out of his hands. “Is this what I think it is?”

Dominic burst out laughing. “Francis sent it to Reed’s house for me.” We hadn’t seen Francis since we left New York, but I’d kept in touch with him. Dominic nodded toward the envelope. “Open it, Faith.”

Turning the envelope over, I slid my hand under the flap and pulled out the card.

My dearest Faith,

You and Layla got what you wished for. I’m making my move to Wyoming. I hope you’re ready to start up that restaurant of yours.

Love,

Francis

Slapping a hand over my mouth, I couldn’t believe it. My dreams were finally coming true. “This is seriously about to happen, isn’t it?”

Dominic took the card and set it aside. “It is, and I’m going to be right there to help you.”

“I will never forget this day as long as I live,” I cried. “There’s nothing that could make it better.”

Dominic reached into the basket again. “Sure about that?” He pulled out a set of rolled papers and flattened them out in front of me.

“Are those blueprints?” I asked excitedly.

“Yep. I had some drawn up. We can change whatever you want.”

My hands shook with excitement. All I wanted was a moderately sized home that’d be perfect for a family. I didn’t want anything extravagant and judging by the blueprints Dominic had done exactly what I wanted.

I pointed to a section of the house where there were extra rooms. “What would we use those for?”

Dominic studied the prints and smiled. “I don’t know,” he said, grinning wider, “play rooms for the kids, maybe? I didn’t know how many you wanted to have.”

That made me laugh. “A dozen.” When his eyes widened in horror, I laughed even harder and he tackled me to the ground.

“Very funny,” he replied, tickling me. I tried to get out of his hold, but he held me down with his body. “If we’re going to have a dozen, we might want to get started now.”

Wrapping my legs around his waist, I clutched him tight. “Right here?”

He shrugged. “Why not? There’s one more surprise I have for you first though.” I loosened my hold, and he pulled me up to my knees. “Close your eyes.” I did as he said and waited. “All right, you can open them now.” When I did, he was in front of me, holding out a beautiful diamond ring. I gasped and slapped a hand over my mouth, completely at a loss for words. “I was ready to ask you this a couple months ago, but I didn’t think it was the right time. I wanted it to be perfect.” Tears fell down my cheeks. He wiped them away and smiled. “I love you, Faith. I’ve been doing everything I can the past two months to show you that I’m worthy of being your husband.” He slid the ring onto my finger. “We’ve started a new life here and I’m ready to take the next step. What I want to know is if you’re ready to take it with me. I want you to be my wife, Faith. I’ll wait for as long as I have to.”

“I was wrong,” I said, crying and laughing at the same time. “This day just got infinitely better.”

Dominic smiled. “Does that mean you say yes?”

“Yes,” I shouted, jumping into his arms. He lost his balance and we fell to the blanket in a tangled mess. I kissed him so hard my lips started to go numb. “I love you so much. You literally made this the best day of my life.”

He kissed me again. “I plan on giving you plenty more. Our time is just beginning.”

And I looked forward to it all.

 

THE END

 

(Look for more Armed & Dangerous/Circle of Justice Crossover Novels coming soon! Keep reading for a sneak peek at Dangerous Betrayals – Reed’s story.)