“Perfect. I haven’t officially given Harley a ring and or done the whole drop down on one knee thing yet, so maybe I can do that, as well as break the news to her we’re getting married in the barn while actually being in the barn.”
“I love that idea. I’ll give you the gate code. Give us a day’s notice to make sure the barn is cleaned up.”
Laughing, I raised my brows at her. “Lori, that barn is so damn clean you could eat off the floors.”
She chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far.” She paused for a moment. “What’s the second thing you wanted to discuss?”
“You.”
“Me?” she asked, pointing to herself.
“Yes. I think you should run for mayor.”
She scoffed. “Please, you can’t be serious, Tripp.”
“I’m dead serious. You love this town, you want the same things I want for it and you’re respected in the community. You’d be perfect.”
Lori fiddled with her hands in her lap as she let my words sink in. “I have the kids…”
“Josh would help out, I know he would. He’s a damn good father.”
Chewing on her lip, she looked down.
“Think about it, but I was sort of hoping I could pass the torch to you this afternoon at the press conference.”
Her eyes shot up to look at me. “Wow. Okay. Let me talk to Josh about it. Can I get back with you in a few hours?”
Glancing at my watch, I smiled. “If it’s a yes, just show up. If it’s a no, I totally understand.”
Lori stood and I followed her lead. She took in a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay, well, you’ve given me a lot to think about in a short amount of time.”
I walked her out of my office to the lobby.
“As far as the other thing we discussed. Would tomorrow be too soon to head out there?” I asked.
“Nope. I’ll make sure everything is ready for you. I’ll text you the gate code.”
We shook hands. “I hope to see you later.”
The corners of her mouth rose, and I had a feeling I would for sure be seeing her this afternoon.
“Tripp, where in the world are we going?” Harley asked, her legs bouncing up and down in the passenger seat of my truck.
“You are terrible with surprises, do you know that?” I said with a chuckle.
“I can’t help it! Are we going to the land?”
“No.”
“Um, are we going to San Antonio?”
“No, why would we be going there?”
She giggled. “I don’t know. It feels like we have been driving forever!”
I had been driving around town for the last thirty minutes. Mrs. Johnson was now standing outside on her porch staring at me as I drove by. I was waiting for Sheriff Miller to show up behind me any second. The last time I drove by, I reached my hand out the window and waved to Mrs. Johnson. She held up a pie like she wanted me to stop for some.
“Are we almost there? This blindfold is making me claustrophobic.”
“How? It’s only covering your eyes.”
After one more drive around the square, I headed to Lori’s place. It was fifteen minutes outside of town.
“We’re almost there. Another ten minutes or so.”
Harley went on and on about her meeting with the architect earlier this morning. I listened as she told me how she wanted a rustic feel to the new vet’s office, but with modern technology. We had decided my office would be in a separate building, but not far from the vet clinic. Even with sound proofing, Harley thought barking dogs might be disruptive to my office. After talking to Jonathon about it, he also agreed with Harley.
I pulled up and rolled the window down and punched in the gate code.
“What’s that noise?” Harley asked when the gate started to swing open.
“Nothing,” I said, driving over the cattle guard.
“Cattle guard. We’re still in the country.”
“Harley Carbajal, stop trying to figure it out.”
“Fine! I’ll stop.”
When I finally reached the barn, I put my truck in park and turned it off. “Wait here. I’ll come around to get you.”
She nodded and folded her hands in her lap to wait.
As I walked around the front of my truck, I took in a deep breath and felt for the ring box in my jeans pocked. I’d bought this ring over ten years ago and kept it in my safe. I’d only pulled it out once the entire time—when I had gotten the letter from Harley that I never read.
I took my cowboy hat off and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to get my damn heartbeat and breathing under control.
“This is it,” I whispered, opening the truck door and reaching for the love of my life. After I helped her down, she took in a deep breath.
“Horses,” she whispered.
“Yep.”
“Are we going riding?” she asked, excitement in her voice.