A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(59)

A surprise party. It all made sense, now. He probably got the idea at that bull riding thing. It was why no one brought it up. It was why Candace didn’t know anything—she was terrible with secrets—and why Lump wasn’t concerned.

“I’m an idiot,” I said to nobody.

“What was that?” William asked, leading me past jeering and laughing people to a booth.

“Nothing” I shook my head as we passed a table with a mountain of presents on it.

I barely knew most of these people, but yet they must have brought presents. I was actually kind of curious what strangers thought I might want. There were probably a lot of bath items in there.

I got hugs from all my close friends. I had a champagne in my hand before I knew what was happening, and everyone was congratulating me. It was insane!

It was nearing the end of the night. All my close friends were sitting together at a table, having a calm drink away from the mayhem in the bar.

I was slightly drunk, but not as drunk as I thought I might be. William seemed fairly sober, which I thought odd, but then he was probably going to drive, and was also still healing, so I didn’t say anything.

“Do you want to open a few presents?” William asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

Butterflies swarmed again. I had given up on a proposal since I thought the party was what everyone was hiding. But that look in his eye—that expectant, soft, mushy look—had me filling with anticipation again.

I shrugged nonchalantly. He smiled knowingly and a few presents were brought over.

The first was from Ty and Candace. I opened it to reveal a red, lace, see-through teddy.

“Cute Ty,” I said with a grin. He started laughing and hugged Candace in his mirth.

“Your real present is still on the table. That was Ty’s idea,” Candace said with an eye-roll, swatting Ty away.

The next was from Lump and Adam. It was a white, lace bra and panty set.

I just shook my head. “What a bunch of dopes!”

“You’re not even gonna say thank you? What a bitch!” Lump chortled.

William then gave me his gift, which was a ring sized box from his jeweler! I almost crapped my pants!

Taking two deep breaths, I opened it slowly, a smile creeping up my face, excitement filling my limbs. I could see him watching me closely out of the corner of my eye.

As the lid cleared, a beautiful pair of diamond earrings sparkled at me.

It wasn’t a ring. He wasn’t proposing.

My expectation fell, but I boosted my smile to compensate. They were beautiful. They weren’t what I really wanted, but given all my refusals thus far, William probably was afraid of a rejection in front of all his friends.

Letting the last of my disappointment fall away, I smiled big and gave William a hug, thanking him for their beauty, and because they weren’t underwear.

He kissed me tenderly and said, “I think you’ll have plenty of lacy things after tonight.”

“Willie probably wants to help you open yer gifts!” Adam boomed.

I noticed Lump looking at me closely. I had my disappointment locked down tight, though. I was in a sublimely happy mood and everything was perfect. The party, my friends—everything was perfect. I felt truly loved by this group of people.

The rest of the night passed in fun, but I couldn’t get the question out of my head: Is he ever going to propose? Or bring it up? Does he still want to marry me?

We left for San Francisco on a Friday night four months later. William had recovered perfectly, and was a stress ball trying to get his life under control. He gave up his father’s dream of being the C.E.O. of the family company. The company was growing so fast that that job would be more than a full time job. William just didn’t have the time or the inclination.

Luckily, William’s accident had sent shock waves through the family, bringing everyone closer together. Also bringing change in its wake. His brother, of all people, decided to move home and take up the family mantle. He would take over for his father, letting William be on the Board of Directors, helping his sister, who was Chair, watch their brother’s moves. Apparently Tom Jr. could be sneaky when he wanted to, and while it would be great for the prosperity of the company, it usually wasn’t ethical.

A manager was brought in for the bull riding arena. Land was procured and a new arena built off of the ranch. It was large and state of the art. Riders would pay for the privilege to ride William’s bulls, and it would be rented out some weekends for small rodeos. When we left for San Francisco it was newly finished, and there was already a long wait list to ride.

All the old regulars were able to side-step the list, of course. Or they could continue to go to the Davies ranch for the smaller bulls, which was perfect for the little cowboys.

William kept his breeding and ranch going himself. He just couldn’t give those up since he built it from the ground up, paying special attention to our co-owned bull, which was growing up to be giant and mean. Adam was thrilled to get his stud fees, and thanked me constantly for asking him to help me out. Apparently it was a fine bull. I didn’t know, or care because the little bugger still, undoubtedly, hated me. It might be peaceful with the boys all day, but if I showed up, it was stamping and huffing and following me with its beady eyes.

The boys, aside from laughing, taunting me constantly, saying “Look out, Jess! The bulls getting out!”