She's the One (Boggy Creek Valley 3)

Bishop leaned down and kissed Arabella on the cheek. “Not at all. I’ll give you a call before I head out your way. It’ll probably be around four.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Bishop.”

“Call me tomorrow?” I asked as I gave her one more hug.

“Oh, I will. We have a lot to talk about.”

Bishop slipped his arm around my waist, and I felt my face heat.

Arabella climbed into her car and started it. Hunter headed for his Ford Explorer and called for Jack—who refused to move from the side of Arabella’s car.

With a frown, Hunter said, “Jack, come.”

For the shortest moment, it looked as if Jack might not listen to Hunter, but then he finally got up and trotted over, jumping into the back area of the Explorer that Hunter had made up for him. It was like a giant kennel in the backseat.

We watched as Hunter and Arabella drove down the long drive.

Sighing, I leaned into Bishop. The heat lamps that we had placed all around the area were now off, and I was beginning to get cold.

“Come on, Abs. Let’s get you back up to the house to warm up.”

“What about this mess?” I asked.

“I already hired someone to come and clean it all up. They’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”

“Are you sure, Bishop? I don’t mind—”

He pressed his finger to my lips. “The only thing I want to do right now is get you up to our bedroom and strip you out of those clothes.”

“I should go home and get…” I let my voice trail off when Bishop raised a brow.

“This is your home. You can go to your folks’ place tomorrow and get whatever you need. You still have a closet full of clothes here if you need something for tomorrow.”

Reaching up on my toes, I kissed Bishop. “I don’t deserve you.”

He pulled me into his arms. “Yes, you do. Now, let’s go. I’m freezing.”

I got up early the next morning and headed to my folks’ house. Bishop had stayed back at the tree farm to get ready for the season-opening day, and I wanted to make sure I was back in time.

I spent about thirty minutes packing up the few things I’d brought back with me from Boston. I had either sold or given away nearly everything, thinking I would most likely be starting over from scratch or, God willing, that Bishop would forgive me and I’d be moving back in with him. I couldn’t help but smile knowing the latter had come true.

“Is this it? Three bags?” my father asked as he entered my room.

“This is it.”

“Ready to go home, pumpkin?”

I sighed and smiled. “Those are the sweetest four words I’ve ever heard, Daddy.”

He laughed. “It was actually five, but I’ll let it slip.” He picked up two of my bags while I reached for the third.

After I got back to the tree farm, I changed, put on a little bit of makeup, and headed into the kitchen to have one more cup of coffee. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t complain about why I was so tired.

Bishop stood there, a cup of coffee in his own hand.

“Pinch me.”

He waggled his brows. “I don’t think we have time for that.”

I laughed. “I’ve wanted this moment to happen for so long—I just want to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

Bishop set his coffee mug down—his favorite one that said, I grow magical trees—and was in front of me in three steps. He cupped my face in his hands and leaned in. “Because me making love to you three times last night wasn’t a good enough pinch, I’m going to kiss you.”

“Okay,” I whispered as my heartbeat sped up.

The moment his lips met mine, I felt it. Bishop’s love poured straight into me and my body heated. The man always did know how to kiss me senseless. Except this time, his kiss meant so much more. Our kisses in the last twenty-four hours had been so much more intense than they ever were before. I could only imagine it was because we had both known what we had been missing. And the sheer happiness of being back together.

As he drew away, he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and gently bit down. “There, I pinched you. Now, are you ready to go sell some Christmas trees?”

I knew I wore a goofy smile as I looked up at him and whispered, “Don’t you mean magical trees?”

He grinned. “There is something magical about this place, isn’t there?”

Nodding, I agreed. “Something magical indeed.”

Bishop

The farm was insanely busy, and I hadn’t been able to catch my breath since our opening day two weeks ago. Although we were normally steady until we ran out of trees each year, we hadn’t ever been this busy. I knew it was because Abby had taken over the marketing from me and was knocking it out of the park. Apparently, in Boston she’d been in charge of marketing for a flower shop and had learned a lot from the owner. Now she was using what she’d learned for the farm, and it was paying off.