The Best Is Yet to Come (74)

“Good.”

“I wanted to pay them back at some point, and they said the only way I could do that was by giving them grandchildren to spoil.” Cade was back on an even keel with his parents. They were overjoyed when he announced he’d asked Hope to marry him, and she’d agreed. While he and Hope talked wedding plans, his parents were a couple years ahead, planning for the arrival of grandchildren. It never failed to amuse him how anxious his dad was to hold a grandchild. That was what he expected from his mother, though she was equally enthused. His father’s eagerness was what had surprised him.

“I told my daughter I’d pay her a hundred thousand dollars for a grandchild,” the judge told him with a straight face.

Cade’s eyes flared. “You were teasing, right?”

“Yes, unfortunately. I’m tired of waiting, and I wanted my daughter and her husband to know I’m not getting any younger.”

Cade held back a laugh. It seemed his parents were on the same wavelength.

“I’d like to send you a wedding invitation,” Cade said. “Hope and I are planning a January wedding. I’d be honored if you could attend.”

“I’d be more than happy to come if I can,” Judge Walters assured him. “Thank you for stopping by, Soldier. You made my day.”

What the judge didn’t seem to understand was that she’d saved his life. He owed her everything. He fully intended to live up to her expectations in gratitude for the second chance she’d given him.

“How did everything go?” Hope asked, when he joined her. He’d wanted her to come with him, but she’d refused, preferring to wait for him outside. This was something he needed to do on his own, she’d said.

“It went really well,” he said, as he turned her into his arms and kissed her. This was the woman he loved, the very one who’d filled his life with her warmth and love, the one who had given him hope and a future.