Page 78 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

“Three is close to two. I just lost count.” Mason licked his fingers. “They’re really good.”

Garrett laced his fingers with mine, and it dawned on me that I hadn’t seen him shove his hands in his pockets once since that night at my shop.

“You used to have your hands in your pockets when you were around me. Now you don’t.”

“I don’t now because I’m usually holding your hand. I did then because I wanted to hold your hand.”

I kissed him before buckling my seat belt. “Mom called. She wants us to come for dinner.”

“Tonight?”

“Tomorrow. Are you free? If you don’t want to go, I understand. I’ll try to schedule it for a different day, or maybe just go by myself.”

He squeezed my hand. “Tomorrow night is fine. I’ll let Dad and Clint know.”

We turned out of the ranch and drove toward the goat farm, but he continued past Joji’s gate. A half mile past her place, he turned left and punched a code into a small box.

A large gate swung open, and Garrett shot me a side glance as he pulled through onto what looked like a new gravel road. “It’ll be paved, but we can get up there in the truck now.”

“The hilltop?”

“After talking to Dad and getting feedback on cost and possibilities, I decided that up there was the perfect place to build.”

He didn’t add ‘our home’ to the end of his sentence, but I heard it just the same.

As soon as he stopped rolling, I jumped out. “I love it. It reminds me of the rooftop.”

He slipped his arms around me. “It does. But it’ll take a while to build a house, so I’m trying to be patient. It’s not easy though.”

“You not patient? Whatever.” I rested my head against his chest. “This will be worth the wait.”

The shop wasextra busy for a Tuesday morning. Lilith, Joji, and Ava had come in for an early sweet snack. Cami and Delaney sat at the table visiting with them even though Delaney’s store was supposed to open in twenty minutes.

When I had a free minute, I stopped at their table. “Can I get y’all anything else?”

“We’re good. Just enjoying the yummy doughnuts and conversation.” Joji smiled.

“Holler if you do. I’m going to make a fresh pot of coffee.”

It was a luxury to have someone manning the counter, and Layla did a great job interacting with customers.

The door opened, and I turned to offer a welcome. “Welcome to Sweets—Nico, hi!”

He waved, but his gaze was fixed on Layla. And Layla—who was never shy—flushed pink and looked down at the counter.

“Good morning.” He leaned down to catch her eye. “How are you today?”

“Really good. Thank you.” Her smile brightened as her gaze met his. “What can I get you?”

Clearly there was a story there, and once I had a chance to talk to Layla alone, I’d gather information. I was surprised they even knew each other.

When the door opened again, I gave up watching Nico and Layla and turned toward the door. “Garrett, this is a nice surprise.”

“I had a craving... for this.” He cupped my cheek and kissed me like he’d done a month ago in the middle of the night.

Grinning, I shot a glance at the table I knew was watching. “Wow.”

His fingers threaded with mine. “I know you’ve heard jokes about being thebestgirl, but of all the women in the world, you are most definitely thebestone for me.” Still holding my hand, he dropped to one knee, and the hum of conversation halted as everyone watched in hushed silence. “Tessa Best, will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Henry? I could search the world over, and I’d never find anyone morerightfor me. I want to spend my life with you, to laugh with you, and even cry with you. Will you marry me?”

---