“Look at her. She fits in perfectly.” I stare at Daisy sitting between us on Easton’s truck’s seat; the windows are down, and what’s left of her scarred ears are flapping in the wind.
“After the life she’s had, I’m sure a soft seat under her tail, the treats you’re feeding her nonstop, and your hand constantly on her is like hitting the lottery.”
“True. I thought she might be sad leaving Pet Haven but she’s doing great.”
“It’s only been thirty minutes.” He laughs but runs a hand over her back and rests it atop mine already there. “It’s not that far out of the way, I think we should stop by your dad’s and let her run around a bit.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“What are you two—three doing here?” Sally laughs as she steps out of the house and closes the door behind her before squatting down to give Daisy—who is sitting so patiently—some love. “Who’s this?”
“This is Daisy. We just adopted her and were on the way home. Easton suggested we stop by so I could see Dad and let her run around for a while before heading back to the city.”
“I love her,” Sally says. “She looks like she’s had a hard life. I’m sure she’ll eat up all the attention.”
“She already is.” Easton nudges me. “Scout has already given her a box of milk bones.”
“So what?” I laugh. “She deserves them for surviving everything she’s been through.” I look over her shoulder to the door and then back to Sally. “Can we see him?”
“He’s sleeping right now.” She twists her lips as she puts her hands on her hips. “Have you guys had lunch yet? Let me fix you some lunch, and you can go eat in the field. I’m sure he’ll be up by the time you’re done.”
“Sally, that’s so generous but we couldn’t impose on you.”
“Nonsense. Give me a few minutes, I’ll bring it out.”
Easton tucks a flower behind my ear to add to the dozen others he’s been annoyingly sticking in my hair. “I think Sally knows how to spoil you,” he says.
“I think so.” I giggle as I look at the picnic basket she handed us full of more food than we’ll ever eat. “She’s so used to feeding my dad who eats nothing nowadays that she’s grateful for a big, strapping man to feed.”
“Big, strapping man?” he asks as he leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Yeah, I’m not sure when he’s going to arrive but we can sit here for a while and wait for him. I’m sure Daisy won’t mind.”
And before I can finish the last words, Easton yanks me toward him so I sit between his legs, his arms wrapped around my torso holding me against him.
“We’ll wait for him?” he growls playfully.
“Yep.” I try to wiggle away.
“You’ve got all the man you need right here.”
“Oh please.” I roll my eyes.
“Are you disagreeing?”
I stop struggling. “No. I’ve got all I need right here.”
His arms holding still soften, and he hugs me affectionately. “It’s beautiful here,” he murmurs. “It’s very romance-novel worthy.”
“Romance-novel worthy?” I roll my eyes and shake my head.
“Can’t blame a man for trying.” He laughs. “Seriously though, I can see why you like it so much.”
“It’s one of my most favorite spots in the whole world. I can still see Ford running over there thinking he could be a human scarecrow but failing miserably since he couldn’t stand still for more than a minute. Or my dad teaching me how to hit a baseball right over there.” I point to our left where Daisy is chasing a butterfly that seems to be toying with her. “So many memories here. So much good happened here.”
“I love that you have that.”
“Me too.”
The long grass rustles as the breeze blows across the field like the memories of happiness that continue to ghost through my mind.
And then I remember something.
“Are you ever going to tell me what my Dad said to you on the porch when we left a while back?”
“Nosy. Nosy. Can’t two guys keep a secret?” he teases as he turns me so he can see my face.
“No. Not from me.”
“We’ll see about that,” he murmurs as I swat at him. He catches my hand and in an unexpected move, presses a kiss to the middle of my palm. When he looks back at me, there’s an intensity in his eyes that makes the fun words on my lips die.
“Your dad told me to take care of his little girl. To let her be stubborn but know how to bend her will. To let her be girly but make sure she sticks her toes in the mud every once in a while. To let her run through a field with flowers in her hair with as much passion as she applies to healing her patients. And most important, to let her love with a clear mind and a full heart.”
I’m a sobbing mess. I can’t even hiccup out a sound as Easton leans forward and kisses the tears from my cheeks while every emotion in me is a mess of contradictions.
“I promised him I would, Scout. I want all of those things for you. The flowers in your hair, the mud on your toes, the stubbornness that puts me in my place, the sweet, the sexy, and everything in between. The first time we went to my place, you stuck a bookmark in my heart and then you ran away. And I think it’s the perfect time to move to the next chapter and start a life together. I love you, Scout Dalton. I love the parts of you no one else knew how to love just as you do me. So there’s this question I want to ask.”
My heart is pounding and tears are falling and hands are shaking but I can hear his words. I can see the ring box he opens up with a simple diamond band that is perfectly me.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whisper as I bring my hands to his cheeks and press my lips to his over and over between saying yes.
He wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly before whooping and yelling, “She said yes!”
I’m startled by the sound of cheers from the house. I look at Easton and then over to where Dad and Sally are eagerly staring our way from the patio.
“I wasn’t sure he was going to make it to the wedding, so I wanted him to be here for the second best thing, the proposal. It was important for him to have peace of mind knowing I was going to take care of you when he couldn’t.”
And then I get it.
He planned this.
My dad wasn’t asleep.
The picnic basket was ready and waiting.
I look at him as the tears fall again.
“Thank you.” He has no idea how much this simple gesture means to me. I don’t think he ever will.
But I’m up and running toward the house.
Daisy barking her way behind me.
Through the field of grass.
With a full heart.
And flowers in my hair.
To hug my dad.