Page 64 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

Sunny turned to see Sophie standing in the doorway with Patsy Cline cradled in her arm and an exasperated look on her face.

“You didn’t propose before I got here, did you?”

Sunny’s gaze snapped to Reid. He didn’t look at all surprised. In fact, he wore an extremely smug smile. “With an impressionable teenager in the house, I think it’s our only choice.”

“Of course it is.” Sophie walked into the room, letting the door slam behind her. “Y’all don’t want me thinking I can have sex without marriage, do you?” She set Patsy down and the rabbit started running laps in and out of the cell while Sophie gave Sunny a pleading look. “Say yes, Sunny. Please.”

Sunny felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her chest. She fully intended to jump right back into Reid’s arms and cover his face with kisses punctuated with yeses. But before she did . . .

“I have one condition.”

Reid gave her a loving look. “Anything, baby.”

She smiled wickedly. “You finish painting my sign.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sunny felt like she’d swallowed the sun and it radiated out from her in glowing rays of happiness.

Tomorrow, she was marrying a man who loved all of her. Her happy side and her sad side. Her sweet side and her angry side. Her calm side and her wild side. In the last month, Reid had witnessed it all.

Once Sunny had cracked open her emotions, they decided to put on quite a show. She had laughed more, cried more, and thrown more angry fits than she had in her life. She held nothing back from Reid and he hadn’t gone anywhere.

At that very moment, he stood in front of “First Kiss” with a slight smile on his face as if he was reliving their first kiss through the abstract expressionism painting. A painting that hung with all the other angry art, along with her happier landscapes that he, Corbin, and Jesse had helped her bring back from Houston. While the gallery wasn’t open yet, tonight was a preview for all her friends and family. It was slightly terrifying having pieces of herself on display, but it was also cathartic.

As she looked around, she realized this was who she was. Not just chaotic angry art, but also sedate country landscapes. A wild child and a sweet country gal.

“I can’t believe you kept all these hidden, Sunny.”

She turned to see Corbin standing there holding two glasses of Mimi’s elderberry wine. Because what else would she have chosen to drink at her wedding rehearsal dinner?

She took a glass from him and took a sip, enjoying the tart, heady flavor. “I kept them hidden from myself, Cory. But everything is out now.”

He studied her. “You sure? You’re not keeping any more secrets from me?”

“Absolutely not. I’m through hiding my emotions and keeping secrets . . . well, only Secret Sister secrets. But you’ll have to live with that.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Yes, so Belle has told me.”

“Speaking of secrets, when are you planning to tell Fiona Stokes about Ima Rhimes’s letter?” Sunny had given him the letter weeks before and they’d both decided to wait to tell Mrs. Stokes, or anyone for that matter, until the investigator Corbin hired could get them more information.

Corbin’s expression saddened. “I don’t know that I am. The investigator discovered that Ima passed away in Oklahoma City at the age of thirty-seven. She had a daughter. Unfortunately, the daughter went into foster care after her death and those files are closed. It seems hurtful to bring up Mrs. Stokes’s father’s infidelity if I can’t locate her sister.”

Sunny didn’t agree. “But wouldn’t you have wanted to know that Jesse existed? Even if we never found him? I would have. And I know you, Cory. You’re as stubborn as the day is long and you never would have given up looking for him. Just like Jesse never gave up looking for us.” They both glanced over at Jesse who was talking with Rome and Casey Remington with his usual goofy grin. “Siblings are worth fighting for.” Sunny smiled at Corbin. “You’ve taught me that.”

Corbin pulled her in for a tight hug. “Okay. I’ll give Mrs. Stokes the letter after the wedding. Maybe I’ll give her one of those DNA ancestry test kits with it and we’ll see if we can locate her sister that way.”

“You’re a good man, Corbin Whitlock.” Sunny gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And speaking of good men, I’m going to go find my fiancé.”

But before she could reach Reid, she ran into her sisters. They were standing in front of Sunny’s most recent painting, a chaotic mixture of blue splashes with a white luminous ball hanging above seven vibrant pink splatters. “Full Moon Sisters” was one of her favorite paintings. Which was why it wasn’t for sale. After the grand opening of the gallery, she would hang it and “First Kiss” in the trailer until she and Reid built a house on the five-hundred acres of land Corbin had given them for their wedding gift.

It looked like Reid would get his ranch after all.

And Sunny would get her dream of living on the Holiday Ranch.

As Mimi always liked to say,Things work out if you let them.

“Sunny!” Noelle hooked an arm through hers. “I’m glad you showed up. We have an emergency.”

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