Beard Necessities (Winston Brothers, #7)(99)

But then she surprised me by saying, “Well, that’s distressing.”

I studied her, holding my silence.

Her gaze lost focus, turning inward. “I should talk to my security. I only have them for shows and events, but they shouldn’t be letting folks in my dressing room no matter who they are.” She seemed to think about this for a few seconds, and then her attention came back to me. “Unless it’s you, of course.”

“Of course,” I agreed. Because, of course.

Her eyes wandered over me in my new suit. “I have another question.”

“Yes.”

Now she laughed. “I haven’t asked it yet.”

“Whatever it is, I’m probably going to say yes.”

Her gaze warmed, heated, and she leaned in closer, a hand smoothing down the front of my tie, her voice dropping to ask, “So, you’re my gift?”

The velvet box in my pocket pressed insistently against my leg as I stared at her, but I decided now wasn’t the right time. She was about to go on stage, perform for thousands of people. She didn’t need her attention divided.

Setting aside the guitar, I also leaned in close and slid my palm up her thigh. “I’d like to be a gift for you.”

“You are a gift to me.” Eyes hazy with happiness, she climbed on my lap and twisted her arms around my neck. “Never doubt that.”

Embracing me, she rested her head on my shoulder and placed a kiss on my neck. And I held her, savoring the sweetness of the moment.

We’d climbed mountains to get here, crossed stormy seas. I was under no delusions our future sailing would be smooth. But hopefully, given the last few weeks and all we’d fought for, resolved, and shared, whatever path we traveled, we’d be together from now on.





Chapter Twenty-Three





Billy





“And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, Return of the King





We spent the next several weeks in Rome, Scarlet finishing her latest album, me working remotely sometimes, but more and more just cooking her dinner, rubbing her feet after a long day, and making love to her all night.

Rome was awesome.

But I didn’t propose. I’d made a plan to several times—in the gardens of the Villa Borghese, under the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, at the restaurant down the block from our apartment that had quickly become our favorite—and yet, when it came right down to it, no moment seemed like the right one.

Instead of flying straight to Nashville via a commercial airline, which had been the original plan, Sienna bribed us into stopping by Green Valley first by sending her private plane. Jethro also sent along another new suit for me, signing the card with, Your Fairy Suit Father, which had Scarlet cracking up.

We touched down midafternoon. Ashley met us at the airport with Bethany and Ben, both of whom were remarkably excited to see us. There’s no greeting quite like a little kid greeting, kisses and hugs and exclamations of undying love as well as non sequitur show-and-tell sharing.

“What’s that you got there, Ben?” Scarlet gestured to a ball of something that looked like felt in his hand as we walked to Ashley’s car.

“This is a dryer ball. It bangs the clothes around in the dryer so they dry faster and Ms. Winters from the library is a witch.”

“Well.” Scarlet looked at me and we nodded at each other, taking his statement in stride. “Okay then.”

It didn’t take us long to drive to the homestead, just forty minutes or so, but when I arrived, I experienced an odd pang in my chest and a strange moment of grief. For the first time in my life, it didn’t feel like coming home.

I’d been present the whole time Jethro had cleaned it up, restored it, picked colors and painted the exterior, picked stains and trim and new soffits and refinished the porch. But seeing it now, the collection of all his years of hard work, changes, and personal touches, I realized it wasn’t our home. It was Jethro’s and Sienna’s and their boys’ now.

And I was a visitor.

“You okay?” Scarlet asked from my shoulder, slipping her hand into mine.

I nodded, putting my arm around her shoulders instead, and removed the transient grief from my voice as I responded, “I will be.”

Inside was a flurry of activity, and I soon lost track of Scarlet as she was pulled into the kitchen to make soap with Jenn and Shelly. Meanwhile, Jethro, Roscoe, Drew, and I walked across the field to the woodshed.

“Believe it or not, we’re running low on wood,” Jethro cackled, like this was the funniest thing in the world. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“How was Rome?” Roscoe asked, rolling up his shirtsleeves.

My gaze flickered to his forearms and then back to his eyes, stopping myself just before I said, You are not cutting firewood. You’re still recovering, so you can roll those shirtsleeves back down.

Fact was, Roscoe was grown. He didn’t need me hovering anymore, double checking his decisions, fixing problems, worrying. I might always see the little boy in him, but now he needed me to treat him like a man.

So I said, “Rome was great.”

“How long will y’all be staying?” Jethro took a swig from his beer. “Sienna couldn’t get a straight answer out of Claire.”