Page 82 of My Not So Wicked Stepbrother (My Not So Wicked 1)

Dad walked in tall and proud in his jeans and a plaid button-up, just the way Mom would have wanted him to. His smile was back and the light in his brown eyes hit me. Dad had returned. He stopped and stared at me. “Honey, you look as beautiful as your mother did the night she wore that dress.” A sheen of mist covered his eyes. He held out his hand to me. “I have the privilege of escorting you to the dance.”

“Now? It doesn’t start for an hour.”

He gave me a wink. “You aren’t in charge of everything tonight.”

I placed my hand in his strong capable one. The one I had needed all my life and had missed so dearly this past year. “What’s going on, Dad?”

He pulled me to him and wrapped me up. “Emma Bear, I love you. I want you to remember that you will always be my little girl.”

“Are you dying?”

He chuckled in my ear. “Not that I know of.”

I leaned away from him. “Why is everyone acting so weird?”

He took my hand. “Come see for yourself.”

Without a word, Dad led me out of the house. My home. No more mohair couches, thank you very much. The comfy leather ones had returned, along with all our family pictures and the pink door and the ridiculous wreaths with poufy bows Mom loved. Once we made it to the porch, a string of paper lanterns lit a path filled with pink rose petals all the way to the barn. In the light of dusk, it was a beautiful sight.

“What’s all this?”

Dad said not a word, but patted my hand and led me down the beautiful path. The closer we got to the barn, I could hear Grady’s band playing an old country song, “You and I.” It was a beautiful duet about two people in love who looked forward to building their dreams together. It reminded me of the man I wanted to build my future with. The man who was standing at the end of the lighted path in front of the open barn door in a dark suit and tie wearing a big grin. Dang, did he look good, even if I told him this was no longer a black-tie affair, I’m glad he still went with it. My pulse was racing. The way his eyes looked me up and down made me catch my breath.

Dad kissed my cheek before handing me over to the love of my life and walking into the well-lit barn.

Sawyer took my hand with such love. “I wanted the first dance tonight.”

“I didn’t know there was any doubt that all the dances belonged to you.”

His free hand cupped my face. I leaned into it. “You are so beautiful.”

“You know I’m totally Spanxed up here, right?”

He shook his head at me. “Come dance with me.”

He led me into the barn where most of our family and friends waited. Jenna, Brad, Aspen, Kellan—and even my new best friend Shelby was there holding her hands to her mouth and crying as if this were the happiest day of her life. Frankie, Ray, and all the employees who had previously quit were employed once again by the Ranch and smiling at us. You don’t know how happy I was to see the table full of Frankie’s cupcakes. Dad stood near Warren and Bridget in front of the punch table. I had to admit I was surprised to see them there. I had wanted to invite them but left it up to Sawyer to extend the invitation. As much as I had grown to love the two, Sawyer was working on his relationship with them. I was happy to see he had extended the olive branch. My sisters ended up near Shelby, and immediately I could tell the girls were thinking this was someone they could be friends with.

Everyone was looking at Sawyer and me with bated breath as we made it to the middle of the wooden dance floor. It made me feel a tad self-conscious. Grady’s band quieted to a low hum and all the lights except for those that lit the dance floor magically turned off. That was Sawyer’s cue to drop to one knee. We were in our own world, just him and me. He didn’t have to say a word. The makeup my sisters had caked on me was toast. I hoped they used waterproof mascara.

Sawyer took my hand. “Em, I know technically we haven’t been dating all that long, but for the last year this is all I’ve wanted to do. I’ve known from our first phone call that you were the one for me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar ring, but there was something unfamiliar about it. He held the beautiful diamond ring deftly between his fingers. “Your dad gave me both of your mother’s rings.”

---