Page 92 of The Troublemaker

Inside was a beautiful diamond ring.

“Lachlan,” she said. “When...”

“I told you. I went shopping today. I wanted to make sure that I got a ring on your finger as quickly as possible. I want to set a date for the wedding.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to have whatever you want. A church wedding, a wedding by the lake, whatever wedding dress you want. So we’ll find out how much time we need for whatever venue, and how long it’ll take for you to get your dress...”

“I don’t care,” she said.

“What?”

“Let’s just get married. As quickly as possible.”

He frowned. “Do you really not care?”

“I really don’t. I never dreamed about the details of my wedding with Byron, mostly I think because I couldn’t imagine it. With you, the details don’t seem to matter either because the only thing that matters is the groom. I finally have the right one. Definitely for sure, this time you’re the right one.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

He slid the ring onto her finger, and she felt dazed by the glory of it.

“Next week. Let’s get married next week. It’ll give us time to let everybody on the ranch know and to get all the paperwork.”

“That sounds good.”

“We can get married at Sullivan’s Lake, or we can use the barn if you want,” he said.

“I guess it’ll depend on what the weather’s doing.”

“Yeah. But either way, we’ll get married.”

“Yes. That’s all that matters.”

It really was all that mattered. Looking around at everything he’d done... This was real. She didn’t need to be insecure. She didn’t need to be worried about losing their friendship.

Lachlan was the same person. They had just opened up a new dimension to their relationship. That was all. That was all.

“Good. Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a big week ahead.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THEYKICKEDOFFpreparations for the wedding and getting Charity moved into his house as quickly as possible. He decided to leave the wedding planning up to her, while carrying all the heavy stuff was his job. Well, his and his brothers’. They had everything packed up and ready to move, and then a cleaning crew was going to come in and get it ready for them to put it out to rent, which would be another source of income for Charity. Not that she needed it. Not really. Now not only did she have her veterinary practice, she had him to contribute, too.

He was overcome with the responsibility that came with that. Not in a bad way. But she was his. He had to take care of her. He felt that keenly, down to his soul.

“That should be the last of it,” Gus said, coming out of the house holding a large box, which he hefted easily into the back of the truck.

“Some of the stuff will go in storage,” Lachlan said. They had a lot of her dad’s things, and they definitely didn’t want to get rid of it, but they had finite space in his little cabin, and they had a big barn that they used for storing anything excess they had between them at McCloud’s Landing, so they could set up a little section where her things would be safe, and she could still get to them if need be, but they wouldn’t be underfoot.

But of course, a few of the things would come to the house, including the afghan. He wasn’t sure about what he should do with the bug collection. She had been slightly distressed that it was going to be back with her for the foreseeable future.

He chuckled.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Hunter said, slapping him on the back.

“What?”

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