“Do you have any idea how hard it was to find the perfect diamond for you?”
Tori frowned. “Am I that picky?”
“I don’t know if you are, but I certainly am. It had to be perfect. So perfect, I was willing to fly to San Francisco and back to buy it from a jeweler there. This ring is from an environmentally conscious and well-regulated Canadian diamond mine. Certified conflict-free. The band is made of recycled platinum. Hell, the ring box is even made from Rimu wood, whatever that is.”
Tori grinned. Wade could have marched right into Tiffany’s, bought any ring he wanted, and she would’ve said yes. But he didn’t. He traveled all the way to the West Coast and back to get the ring he knew she would want. That was more precious than the large, flawless stone in the center.
“Rimu is a sustainable wood from New Zealand. And I love it. There isn’t a more beautiful and perfect ring in all the world. Absolutely perfect.”
“Like you,” he said.
Rising on tiptoe, she kissed him again. “Now, let’s go inside and get you out of those wet pants.”
Wade’s brow shot up at her suggestion. He glanced down at the wet knees of his trousers, then back at the Airstream behind him. “Okay, but after that, you need to get back to work designing that house.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he said, “I’m afraid if I make love to you the way I want to, we’re going to roll this sucker down the hill and into a ditch. I need a house. Without wheels. ASAP.”
“I’ll do my best,” Tori said. Taking his hand in hers, she led him over to the Airstream. “Until then,” she said, laughing, “if this trailer’s a rockin’…”
Epilogue
Two months later
“Remind me again why we’re hiding eggs? In the dark?” Tori looked across the silver, moon-illuminated yard at Wade and Brody. They were both chucking the plastic Easter eggs under bushes and behind tree trunks.
Brody straightened and shrugged. “It’s tradition. Like watching the Grinch at Christmas. Don’t question our methods.”
“But there aren’t any children to find them.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he explained. “For as long as I have lived on this farm, Wade and I have hidden Easter eggs for the younger kids. I swear to you, if Julianne and Heath wake up and there are no eggs to find, bunny heads will roll.”
“You know, when Wade first told me about this, I thought he meant the Edens hosted a community egg hunt here on the farm. I didn’t realize I’d be out in the middle of the night hiding candy for your twenty-seven-year-old brother.”
“It’s good practice,” Wade replied with a wink. “If Mama has her way, there will be grandkids hunting here in no time.”
“Yeah, well,” she muttered, “I don’t know why all the pressure is on me when there are four other kids in this family. We need to get Brody a girl.”
“Ha, ha,” Brody said flatly. “You’re funny. Why don’t you get me a unicorn and a time machine while you’re at it? Then I can go back to the nineties and gouge my father with the unicorn horn before he could ruin my chances of ever dating.”
Tori shook her head and put an egg under the steps of the front porch. Over the past few months she’d gotten to know Wade’s family better, including the grumpy and serious Brody. She found that he wasn’t really that grumpy or that serious. He had a marshmallow center under that hard-candy shell. It made her want to help other people see though his defenses, as well.
“How do you expect to meet women if you never go out in public?” Wade teased. “Have one ordered on the internet and delivered to your office?”
Brody chucked an egg at Wade. The plastic shell separated on impact with his chest, sending candy scattering across the grass. “I imagine the shipping would be outrageous on that, so no. I have a woman in my life, thank you very much.”
Wade retaliated with his own egg. Brody ducked and his egg missed, hitting the tree behind him and flying open. “Agnes doesn’t count. She’s your fiftysomething secretary. And she’s married with grandchildren.”
“Don’t I know it,” Brody complained. “She started making noises a few weeks ago about her anniversary coming up in the fall. She says she wants to take some time off for it.”