Page 76 of Beck and Call

"I'll give you what you deserve," I hedged.

* * *

"What happens now?" Evie asked.

"Now, we renegotiate the terms of our agreement."

She rolled her eyes. "You can't negotiate the terms of a relationship like a business deal. I feel like I'm going to be trying to teach you that for the rest of my life."

I held out my grandmother's ring. "How about for the rest of mine? I'm older than you, so you will have a long life after I'm gone, but it would make me the happiest man alive if I got to spend all of my life with you."

"You make it sound like you are old now. You could be one of those freaks of nature that lives past a hundred."

I kissed her and smiled. "Fine, I'll live forever if that makes you happy, just say you'll marry me."

Evie looked down at her feet, and my stomach sank. "I don't want a wedding."

I lowered my hand holding the ring, but she rushed forward and wrapped both her hands around it. "This isn't coming out right. I want to marry you, but I don't want a wedding. I have a family now, kind of, but I only have two people to invite."

The tightness in my chest released. "Do you want to elope? I have no problems with running away with you. In fact, I might prefer it."

"How about we get your parents and my … uh … Colter. We better grab Jana too. Is that a big enough of a guest list?" she asked.

I kissed her, deep. "I've got an idea, trust me?"

"Always," she whispered.

I hurried to my office to call my mother. "Mom, we're getting married," I said the moment she picked up the phone.

"Of course you are, son, that's what the party was for."

"I mean now. We want to get married now. We don't want a wedding though."

She gasped. "You cannot get married without your father and I! Don't you dare elope!"

"Wouldn't even think of it. I want you to get dad and get the plane ready. Can you call ahead and make the necessary arrangements to get the house in Tahoe ready?"

"I'll call your dad's friend Judge Patrick and have him get the documents and meet-ups at the house. Beckett, you better have Colter with you when you meet us at the plane."

"That won't be a problem. He's already here. I'll go and speak to him now."

She sighed. "You may be overestimating me, but I'll do my best. Hopefully the pilot can file a flight plan and get the plane ready on such short notice. I'll text you when I've got a confirmation. I also have the dress she liked at the shop the other day, but you will still need to pack a change of clothes and your tux." She didn't say goodbye, just hung up the phone.

I walked down the hallway to Colter's office and interrupted a heated discussion he was having with Jana. "Everyone needs to go home and pack. We're catching a plane to Tahoe."

Jana shrugged. "I'm game. Tahoe is always a great idea. I want a room as far away from grandpa as I can get though. I hear seniors tend to get confused and wander. I don't want to be the victim of a dirty old man."

"I've got half a mind to take you over my knee if you insist on acting like a brat," Colter snapped back at her.

"Bring formal attire. I'm marrying Evie, tonight."

Colter slapped me on the back. "About time. I thought I was going to have to get a shot gun and make this happen the old-fashioned way."

"I think the old-fashioned way would have been to knock her up after the wedding," Jana muttered.

"Muzzle her and get straight to the airport," I said and left him to continue his fight with Jana.

* * *

---