Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 97(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Crockett gasps. “That’s the ring I gave to Meringue all those years ago. She always wanted you to have it for your bride.”
“And now I’ve found her,” Angus says, then turns to me. “Marry me, Dolly. Be my wife, be my confidante, be the mother to my children, and help me make this ranch the best place it can be, inside and out.”
I’m astonished. I didn’t expect this moment to come so quickly. But with a man like Angus, I guess he only has two modes. Quiet and reserved, and pouring all his emotions out in an instant. “Of course I’ll marry you!”
Annie shrieks in joy when she hears my words. We didn’t get to break the news to her first like we planned, but I guess this takes care of having to sit her down and tell her about our relationship.
Angus slides the ring on my finger before whipping me back into his embrace, and laying an ecstatic kiss on me. He’s mine. My man. Who will stand beside me for anything and everything.
He holds me close as he stands up.
My mother is flustered. She seems happy for me, but is still an anxious mess. Is she really so desperate that I’m the only one she can ask for help? I thought this was just one of her attempts to control me.
She’s still my mom, though. If she needs it, I want to help her. “Mom, I....” I ponder some way to assist her. Money’s tight here, but then I remember one thing I have that I don’t really want anyway. One thing that could help her.
“I’m happy you’re getting married, Dolly,” she says, her heart heavy.
“I know you’ve always hated living in small towns. I remember your endless complaints about how there’s nothing to do here. I know you’re probably much happier in the city. But you don’t have much going for you there. You’re still a small-town girl with no education. Maybe you should change that?”
She sulks. “Dolly, I would, but no one is going to give a woman my age the money I’d need for an education.”
I smile. “I got a scholarship for beauty school. I’m pretty sure I can give it to you, Mom. I bet you’d be real good at it. I want you to take the scholarship, go to school, and make your own way in Seattle. With or without Craig,” I couldn’t help adding.
She looks at me, quite surprised. “You’d give that up for me, dear?”
“I got everything I want right here, Mom. I don’t have aspirations for stardom, or big-city living,” I say, looking up at Angus’s warm expression. “I can’t think of a better use than giving you the opportunity to take care of yourself, Mom.”
“Thank you, Dolly. I’m surprised you don’t hate me with how I’ve talked to you.”
“I know it’s rough, and you were desperate. But you’re still my mother. I want you to be happy, just as much as I want to be happy myself.”
And I will be. With Angus by my side, I’ll learn how to be a proper ranch wife. A wife, a mother, the mistress of the house. The talents I do have will be for me and my family, and I have hope they will bring us joy for many decades to come.
There’ll be rough times, yes. But as long as I can stand by my man?
It’ll all be alright.
EPILOGUE 1
DOLLY
I’m sitting in the bathroom, trembling and nervous, waiting for this damn test to stew as long as it needs to.
It’s been a wild two months. Angus and I haven’t been able to keep our hands off one another, getting to know each other in body and mind, maybe enjoying the body part a bit too much. But we are about to become husband and wife.
We planned the wedding to happen pretty quick. We want to be married and make time for a little honeymoon before Angus has to start work on the first new deal he got the ranch in his attempts to rebuild it. Things have been turning around fast since he did his homework and set the books straight, so it looks like the ranch is going to be A-okay.
Plus, a rush to the altar just means we get to move to the next blissful chapter of our life sooner. Not to mention that if this test goes how I expect? The next chapter will be coming down the road in a little under nine months whether we’re ready for it or not.
And as I check on it, it’s what I expected. I already connected the dots, I just want to confirm things before getting Angus’s hopes up.
I hike up my gown and head out to find him. There are dozens of people clamoring about, preparing for the wedding. It’s going to be a huge outdoor gathering at the ranch that we will be making our home. The cake is already standing tall, and there are plenty of last-minute adjustments happening all around. Annie has taken the task of managing the wedding, and soo I’ll be managing hers, as she’s also had a sudden and swift engagement. Ol’ Red Rough’s feelings for her are very real and it’s all coming together for her soon. Today is my day though, and she’s busy as hell.