Acquiring Trouble (36 page)

“I
t was worth it. If you hadn’t
kissed me all those years ago
and painted the water tower,
I’d
never have remembered you. Instead
I’ve
never forgotten you. You have
held a place in my heart all the
se years.” Miles paused and then shot her a killer grin, “Of cou
rse I was madder than hell at you
, but you still managed to get a hold of me and n
ever let me
go. Instead
,
I fell in love with you and now you have my whole heart, not just
one
piece. I want to spend the rest of my life with you showing you how much you mean to me.”

Morgan
felt tears spring to her eyes.
She had never thought
she would
hear those words from him and now here she was with his heart in her hands. However, she realized what an idiot she had been all those years ago. Morgan had thought she loved Miles, but she didn’t. She didn’t know the meaning of those words until now. Until Miles showed her what love was really like.

“Close your eyes, sweetheart,” Miles whispered gently. Oh my
G
od! Was he? No, he couldn’t be! But it felt like he was. If she opened her eyes and he was on one knee she thought she’d faint. Instead she felt Miles turn her around. What? Was she going to pin t
he tail on the engagement ring?

“I
’ve
got a surprise for you
,
”
he said
. She could tell he was proud of it and she could also te
ll he was still standing. Damn
. Morgan had to admit she was slightly embarrassed for jumping the gun on the whole marriage thing. She had been thinking about it constantly, but they hadn’t even
discussed
it. That’s why she was so
nervous
. She was going to tell him and his family that
she had decided to stay in Keeneston permanently. “Oka
y, open your eyes, sweetheart.”

Morgan opened her eyes and saw Miles standing next to her.  Double damn. Then she saw the field. The cows.
Bill frolicking in the flowers
.
T
he water tower that read ‘Morgan, Will You Marry Me?’
T
he car parked... Morgan snapped her eyes back to the water tower and read it again. She was pretty sure she was imagining things until Miles dropped to one knee and pulled out a black velvet box.

“
Ohhh
, you’re going to be in so much trouble with the
s
heriff,” Morgan laughed through the tears st
arting to roll down her cheeks.

“It’ll be worth it if you say you’ll marry me.” Tears fell faster as Morgan realized how nervous Miles really was. The box was shaking slightly as he wait
ed
for her answer.

“Yes! I’ll marry you!” Morgan squealed as Miles’
s
unsteady hands slipped the
oval diamond surrounded by two purple amethysts
onto her finger
. “I love you!” She leapt
into his arms and
planned to spend the rest of her
life loving this man with her whole heart
.

Mor
gan couldn’t stop star
ing. It was so beautiful! And how it spark
l
ed when the light hit it.
Morgan finally relinquished her hand to Miles w
hen they had gotten in the car to head to
the
family dinner. He kept running his thumb over it
,
making
su
re it was really on her finger.

“I just can’t believe this! I think
I’m
still in shock.” Morgan laughed as they pulled up
to
t
he Davies farm. “Are we late?” s
he asked
,
as she looked around at all the cars alrea
dy parked by the old farmhouse.

Morgan looked up at the house and found faces plastered to all the windows looking out at them. “Did you tell your parents you were going to propose?”

“Sweetheart, I asked you by painting the water tower
—e
veryone in the county knows!” Miles laughed as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before getting out o
f the car and opening her door.

The front door to the house was thrown open and members of the Davies family poured out. Marcy pushed her way past them and hurried down the stairs
to envelope
Morgan in a hug. Paige, Kate
lyn
,
and Annie had to pry Marcy
away to be able to welcome her to the family.

Miles was similarly surrounded by his father and brothers slapping him on the back and shaking hands
. Bill danced around on his hind legs barkin
g at the excitement in the air.

“Well,” Marcy clapped her hands, “everyone get ins
ide. We have a wed
ding to plan!”
Marcy
put Bill to shame as she
used her dishtowe
l to herd the family inside.

“I can’t believe you painted over my state champion
ship!” Cade teased his brother.

“Attention, I have an engagement gift to present!” Marshall called out as he
entered
the room. “To
Morgan and Miles. I wish you many years of happiness,” Marshall handed his brother a large can of white paint with a red bow on it. “I’d hate to arrest you for vandalism,” Marshall said with a big grin leading Morgan to think he would actually
enjoy it a little.

“Well, as long as he’s out in time for the bachelor party I get to plan!” Peirce rubbed his hands together and smirked. There was no doubt in Morgan’s mind that she was going to hate her brother-in-la
w for whatever he was planning.

“I was thinking of something low key,”
Miles
said, trying
to reign in his little brother.

“Nope. You already agreed at Marshall’s lame
-
ass party that
I’d
be in charge of yours when you got married. It’ll be perfect! I’ve been planning it for the last month. Don’t look at me like th
at,” Pierce said to Miles when he had simply
raised
an eyebrow in disbelief.
“
Anyone could tell you two w
ere going to get married.
”

“So, which strip club will
we
be
attending
?” Cade asked
sarcastically
but
truthfully
.

“Come on. Give me some credit will you? As soon as you all pick a wedding date, I’ll pick a da
te for the party down at Dale Ho
llow Lake. We’ll rent some cabins and some jet skis and cook
out at night. I was going to invite all your Army buddies, so make sure to give me a list.”

“Who are you?” Miles asked in disbelief.

“The brother that’s going to throw you a kick
-
ass bachelor party, that’s who.”

“
So, h
ave you
all set a date?” Katelyn asked.

“The sooner the better,” Miles told them as he pulled Morgan close to his side.

“Well! We’d better get to work
then
. Ladies
,
t
o the dining room!” Marcy commanded. It was very clear to Morga
n where Miles had inherited it.

“But, Ma! What about dinner?” Pierce called out.

“I daresay you boys know where the kitchen is.” Marcy stopped and then turned to the living room full of hungry men. Cole was holding his baby
son and Miles was already bounc
ing Sophie on his knee, “Oh, and make sure to make enough for us. We’ll be ready for dinner by the time you have it ready. Wedding planning is hard work!”

Morgan
stepped out of her shoes and unpinned her hair
. They had planned the night away. Their wedding was to be in six weeks.
The mid-June weather would be beautiful.
Father James would marry them in the church
and
the reception
would
be held at the Davies farm.
Pam had been called in and the wom
e
n had sat around the large table doing more planning tha
n
Morgan ever thought possible.

Miles came up behind her wrapping his strong arms around her as he watched her in the mirror over the dresser. “
I hated tonight
,
”
Miles
pouted.

“Why?”

“Because those evil women kept me away from you when all I wanted to do was run my hands over your body and kiss every inch
,
” Miles m
urmured as he kissed her neck.

“Miles?” Morgan asked hesitantly.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Do you really want me
to be
your wife?” She felt silly asking, but she just couldn’t believe her dream was coming true.

“I can’t wait to make you my wife, my love. If I could
,
I’d marry you tomorrow
,
” Miles said as he slipped her shirt off her shoulder and kissed her newly exposed skin.

“If that’s what you want, why don’t we do that?”

His
head shot up and
caught her eye in the mirror. “Because I’m scared of what my mother would do!”

“A big tough man like you is afraid of his mother?”
Morgan teased.

“Hell yes. She seems
all sweet
on the outside, but she raised five boys. Do I need to say more?”

“Good point,” Morgan laughed as Miles went back to slowly undressing her. “I bet you’ll be a big pushover, won’t you?”

Miles tossed her bra aside with one hand as his other slipped under the waistband of her panties. Morgan gasped as his fingers found her sweet spot. His other hand
came
around to caress her bare breast as his mouth worked his way down her ne
ck. “I can’t wait to find out.”

*
    
*
    
*

Morgan couldn’t stop grinning as she parked her car on Main Street. Miles had left for work late this morning, an event that left her feeling
inordinately
proud. After a night
like that, she needed pancakes.

Morgan crossed the street and smiled as the sounds and smells of the Blossom Café re
ached her.
The patrons turned and offered their congratulations as she opened
the screen door
.

“I’m making a bet. In nine months the water tower will be painted either blue or pink reading, ‘It’s a Boy
’
or
‘
It
’s a Girl’. Don’t you two know how to do anything privately?” Mr. Wolfe joked
as he took a bite of his grits.

“Who are you kidding? Nothing is private as far as you’re concerned!” Miss Daisy shot back
at him to the amusement of the c
afé.

“I guess that means you’re
stickin
’ around
?
” Miss Violet asked from the kitchen
window. “What are you going to d
o now? Besides eating some of my famous pancakes
,
” M
iss Violet chuckled as she mixed
the batter.

“
I’m going to open my own consulting company
.” Morgan took a seat
alone at her table
although
friends surrounded her.

“Don’t you think she’ll be a wonderful boss?” Pam
asked as she walked through the door. “‘Morgan Davies Consulting’
sounds perfect! I’m so proud of you,” Pam smiled as she took the empty seat at the table.

“Thanks Pam. That means so much to me.
” Morgan felt her heart grow with the support
from her sister.

“The boys are so excited about being ring bearers. I must admit, I’m pretty excited about being the
m
atron of
h
onor too, “ Pam giggled as she and Morgan started talking about the wedding and her new business.

Morgan was thriving with the love and support of her sister and her fiancé. Miles had already told her that Family Farms would be her first client. She was going to work on finding a way to strengthen the company against potential takeovers. Although David was sitting in a jail cell, he had still known a good business deal when he saw it. Others would soon come knocking
. S
he and Miles were going to work together to find a way to k
eep the family farms just that.