Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(38)

I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck. I kissed his lips, sweetly at first, but it didn’t take long for the heat to build.

“Where’s your room?” I asked as he gathered his bag from the floor where he’d dropped it when we entered.

“Right next door. We have adjoining rooms,” he said with a sexy grin.

“You better lock your door at night.” I warned, collecting a step closer.

He opened his free arm and wrapped me in it. “You better lock yours.”

Cannon stole another kiss along with another piece of my heart.

After we were both respectively settled in our separate rooms, we returned downstairs together.

Cannon and Battle had been summoned to help their father man the grill, leaving Mrs. Ruby and I to the sides.

I was in the middle of peeling potatoes for the twice baked potato casserole when Cannon’s sister and her fiancé arrived. As with the rest of the family, Cannon had given me the low down.

Once crowned Miss Alabama, Noble Jacobs went on to win Miss America before she finally hung up her crown to peruse a career in politics. That’s when she met Tom Peterson. She’d helped manage his campaign for state senate three years ago and shortly after he’d won, by a landslide no doubt, he’d proposed. They were supposed to get married two years ago, but a close friend of the family passed away unexpectedly, so they decided to postpone it.

Mrs. Ruby moved past the topic pretty quickly before I could ask questions or even offer condolences, but I didn’t miss the tears in her eyes when she told me this, noting that it had been two years since Cannon had been here.

Tom was dressed in dark slacks and a white button down shirt. Noble was outfitted in a pair of white denim capris, a navy blue top and a pair of gold sandals. She was very stylish. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail at the base of her neck and she smiled warmly at me as she set her designer bag down on the other end of the table. “You must be Cora?” She said with a wide smile.

I stood from my seat and extended my hand, but she passed it up and wrapped me in her arms for a hug instead. I was beginning to learn that the Jacobs family was a very affectionate. “You’re real,” she whispered, squeezing me tight before letting go. Her smile was contagious. “This is my fiancé, Tom.” The man extended his hand, giving me a polite smile.

“Nice to meet you both,” I said, nervously.

Tom nodded then turned his attention to a beaming Noble. “Think I’ll go supervise, make sure they don’t burn anything.”

Noble kissed her fiancé on the cheek. “You do that, babe.”

She leaned in once he was out of earshot. “The man can’t cook a lick. The only think he’ll be supervising is the bottle of beer daddy hands him.”

I liked her already.

Noble took a seat in front of me. “So…I want to know all about the girl who managed to steal my brother’s heart.” Heat flushed my cheeks as I took my own seat and retrieved the potato I’d been peeling prior to her arrival.

“Don’t crowd her, Noble,” Mrs. Ruby said as she continued to work on her chocolate pie. “Go outside and say hello to your brother first.”

Noble stood, but she didn’t have to go far. Cannon walked through the back door, heading straight for his sister. She rushed him, wrapping her arms around him. “Cannon.”

Was she crying?

Why would he stay away for so long when he had a family who loved him so dearly? So much, I was almost green with envy.

They held each other for a long embrace before they finally let go. Then she slapped his chest before wiping tears from her eyes. “Don’t you ever stay away that long again, dammit.”

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You meet my girl?”

Noble nodded. “Yep.”

“Well, what cha think?”

“Considering she’s the reason your ass is here…I say you better not ever let her go.”

Cannon’s eyes shot to mine. “Not a chance in hell.”

Dinner was a noisy, but entertaining affair. Although Cannon had not been home in some time, and this had a substantial emotional effect on the rest of the family, they didn’t let that show. While Battle and Cannon ribbed each other, their parents took turns reprimanding them, even though I could see that this behavior was completely acceptable. It meant their family was together, gathered at this table filled with scraps of our leftover meal and enough love to go around. I took it all in. The smile on Nobles’ face as she gazed adoringly upon her two brothers, even throwing in a few jabs of her own when the opportunity presented itself.

Mrs. Ruby stood to gather plates, prompting me to do the same. “I got it honey,” she said, but I ignored her and followed her into the kitchen. “Dinner was delicious, Mrs. Ruby. I can’t thank you enough for welcoming me into your home.”

I turned to find Mrs. Ruby standing next to me, tears shimmering in her blue eyes. “That out there…you did that. You’re the reason he’s here. It’s me that should be thanking you, sweetie.”

She wrapped me in her arms, squeezing me tight enough to garner my own tears. “I love him very much,” I told her, my emotions thick in my throat.

“I can see that. I see his love for you too. You don’t know what it means to us to finally see him smiling again.”