Lost in Tennessee (36 page)

Kate stroked the steel frame, petting it like a dog. With a sigh, she drained the oil from the motor.

“There you are,” Butch said, his grin a little too wide. “Are you hiding from me?”

Kate’s heart stopped at the sight of him, with his hip cocked against the doorframe. In jeans that fit tight across his hips and a soft cotton shirt that draped off of his strong shoulders, Butch looked like something out of a magazine. Her rugged, sexy, country boy. And he wanted her.

Kate’s feelings boiled over. Her body, mind, and soul craved him. “Never.”

He walked to where she sat cross-legged on the floor and played with the ends of her hair, the cocky grin still curled on his lips. “Then what are you doing?”

“Messing around.” Kate watched the oil drain from the engine. “Things just got…overwhelming. I needed a place to breathe.”

Butch inhaled deeply. “I know what you mean. A smelly, old barn is my first choice.” He leaned in close to her, inhaling the nape of her neck. “You always smell like strawberries. It makes me so damned hungry.”

“Don’t bite me.” Kate giggled. “You left enough marks on me last night.”

Butch nipped at her throat and wrapped his arms around her when she squirmed. “It’s never enough. I want everyone to know you’re with me.”

Kate giggled again. “They all know we’re together, you big goof. It’s pretty hard to miss the way you slobber on me all the time.”

“I do not slobber. It’s drool, and it’s not my fault you get my juices flowing.” He teased her with a nibble on the ear. “Come on back inside. There are some people I want you to meet.”

Kate rose to her feet but stayed firmly in place facing Butch. “I think we should do it.”

Butch grinned and took her shirt by the hem. “I knew you liked the hay loft.”

“Not sex.” Kate laughed, wrapping her arms around her waist to keep her shirt in place. “Your house. We should stop talking about it and do it. We can bring the equipment over and give the crew some overtime. We should start building your house. I’ll give you a good price.”

Butch tugged at her hem and eventually gave up, cupping her breasts over the thin cloth of her shirt instead. “You’re gonna live here. With me.”

“I’ll stay here. At least until the project is done.”

“Coward.”

Kate’s eyebrows arched high. “I’m no coward.”

“Then you are staying here with me. In-def-in-ate-ly.” Butch nodded, satisfied with himself. “We’ll start building
our
house but not today.” Butch swung Kate into his arms, easily tossing around her light weight.

Kate laughed and kicked her legs. “I can walk, you know. I haven’t been drinking.”

“I have been drinking, and I’m feeling very affectionate right now, and I want you right where I’ve got you. Stop fussing before we’re both on the ground.”

Butch nipped and teased as he carried Katie into the living room. Trudy slid over on the couch to make room for Butch, but he chased a boy off the armchair instead and sat down with Kate on his lap.

“Reverend Marcus, this is Katie. The Reverend has known me since I was in diapers.”

The kindly man with the puff of white hair grinned. Laugh lines surrounded twinkling eyes. “And all that time, I’ve tried to offer him advice, even when it wasn’t welcome.”

Butch grinned down at Kate with a glow that had nothing to do with alcohol, and Kate looked back at him the same way.

“So this is the next Mrs. McCormick? Over my career, I figure I’ve married close to a thousand couples. Me and the missus were together over thirty-five years when she passed away. I have a knack for recognizing the real thing, and I see it here in front of me.”

Butch smirked at the old man. “One correction, Reverend. This is the last Mrs. McCormick.”

Trudy tisked her tongue at him. “You’ve only been on your own a few weeks. You aren’t really thinking about getting married again?”

“I’ve been on my own my whole life.” Butch looked into Kate’s eyes and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’d marry Kate today if I thought she’d have me. But, she’s going to build us a house and live in it with me. I’ll take that for now.”

Reverend Marcus shook his head. “Living in sin, Butch?”

Butch grinned back. “Living in love, Reverend. Living in love.”

Kate pulled Butch’s chin to her. “Why would you think I wouldn’t have you?”

Butch kissed the tip of her nose. “My independent Kate once screamed that she didn’t need a man.”

Kate looked into those warm, soft-blue pools and fell for Butch all over again. “Well, I don’t
need
a man, and I don’t want a man, or just any man.”

Butch’s grin stretched into a lovesick smile. “But you want me, and you’ll have me.”

Kate fought her answering smile. “Maybe I would, if you did a few things first.”

The smile fell from Butch’s lips as he pulled away from Kate. “Like what?”

“Well, I’m traditional. You would have to ask my father first. And then, you would have to ask me properly. I’m only going to get married once. I want a real proposal.”

The smile flashed back across his face as Butch relaxed. “That’s it?”

Kate’s voice went up an octave. “That’s a lot. Especially the part with my father.” Kate gawked up at him. “On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t ask him. Maybe ask Tom. He likes you.”

Butch yelled across the room to Tom, who was working on another go around with the tall Amanda in another short skirt.

Tom escorted the pretty woman into the living room. “You shouted?”

Kate gasped as her heart skipped a beat. “What are you doing?”

“Do I have your blessing to ask Kate to marry me?” Butch asked.

That got the attention of the whole house. John grinned at his son, his hand on Emily’s shoulder as her eyes teared. Jeb grinned like an idiot while he whispered to the blonde he had met the night before. Trudy’s wide eyes blinked repeatedly.

Tom took a swig of his beer and looked very serious. “I have to think of Kate’s best interest, you understand that?”

“No, Tom,” Kate interrupted. “Butch, I didn’t mean now. I meant later, in a few years.”

Butch raised an eyebrow to Tom, ignoring Kate. “Sure,” he said warily.

“So, what are your prospects?”

Butch frowned. “My prospects? What kind of stupid question is that?”

“It’s a good one. How do I know you can provide for her?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “I provide for myself.”

“Hush, Katie,” Tom said. “The men are talking.”

Kate launched herself at Tom, but Butch’s arms snapped down like steel bands. “I have two houses and enough money for us to live on for the rest of our lives. And I have fast enough reflexes to keep her from kicking your ass.”

Tom tipped his bottle to Butch. “That is worth bonus points. Where do you stand on kids?”

“Definitely pro.”

“How many do you want?”

“Oh, five or six would be fine.”

Kate clutched her arms protectively over her flat stomach. “Five or six? Are you nuts?”

“You know she’s a little crazy, right? And she can’t cook. Are you prepared to handle her?”

Kate whipped her head back to Tom. “
Handle her?
I’ll handle you, you sorry excuse for a cousin.” When Kate tried to come off the chair again, Butch shifted his legs, trapping her legs and leaving them uselessly kicking in the air.

“I can handle her,” Butch said. “This woman is pure trouble, and I’m looking forward to each and every minute.”

“I want a wing in the house. If my nephews and nieces are going to be here, I need a place nearby.”

“Done.”

Tom winked at Kate. “Well, as long as you know what you’re getting into. And you understand if you break her heart, lots of pieces of you are going to get broken.”

Butch nodded. “I would expect nothing less.”

Tom laughed. “Fine, go ahead and marry her.”

“No.” Kate squirmed on Butch’s lap, trying to find some purchase to push herself up. Furious, her blood boiled. How humiliating! Butch and Tom haggling over her like she was the runt of the litter. They were mocking her about one of the most important decisions of her life.

“Where are you going?” Butch pulled her back against him. “I haven’t asked you yet.”

“I don’t want you to ask me. You’re a pair of idiots.”

Tom looked to the woman under his arm. “Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s always bitchy when someone is going to propose.”

Kate glared at Tom, but her response was cut short when Butch took her chin in his hand and turned her to face him. “Katie—”

Kate slapped at his hand. “No, this isn’t asking me properly. You aren’t taking me seriously.”

Butch slid out from underneath her and went down on one knee. He took her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I take everything about you very seriously. I’m here, on my knees, in front of all my family and friends, telling you I didn’t know what love was until I met you. I’ve never had anyone love me the way that you do. I’ve never had anyone willing to stand beside me, to stand in front of me the way you do. My life had no color, no texture before you. In the short amount of time we’ve been together, you’ve become such a part of my life I can’t imagine a single day going by without seeing your smile, without tasting your lips. I love you with everything I am. If you love me the same way, please do me the honor of marrying me.”

Poetry, Kate thought. Butch gave her romance and laughter and everything beautiful in the world. And she wanted it, just as he did, every day for the rest of her life. Butch filled the holes she didn’t know she had. With him, she was happy and complete, and she realized in that moment, it was enough. Kate knew her love for Butch was enough for her today, and she knew it would be enough for every day for the rest of her life.

While she stared, Butch pulled a ring from his pocket and slid it onto her finger. Kate’s mouth fell open as she stared at the glittering square diamond nestled between two smaller stones in a simple, elegant setting. She choked up.

“You carry a ring in your pocket?”

Butch smiled and tucked her hair back behind her ear. “My granddaddy gave this to my grandma on their thirtieth wedding anniversary. They were together fifty-two years. I’m betting we can beat their record. What do you say?”

“It’s beautiful. It’s so beautiful.” Kate’s eyes welled up, and she bit her lip. “We shouldn’t, you know. We haven’t known each other very long.”

“I’ve been looking for you my whole life, Kate. I understand why you would doubt me. I’ve had three wives, but you’re my first love. I love you with all of my heart, Kate.”

John, Emily, Jeb, and Tom all nodded their approval. The love and acceptance of the people who were important to Butch, important to Kate, made her brave.

She brought Butch’s and her joined hands to her lips and looked into Butch’s eyes. “I have longevity in my genes. I’m betting we make sixty years easily.”

Butch closed the distance between them, smiling. “That means ‘yes,’ right?”

She fell into his arms, burying her face in his throat while she fought back tears of joy. “That means yes. I want you, Butch. Only you. I need you, but most of all, I love you very much.”

A round of applause welcomed the committed lovers’ first official kiss.

Chapter Nineteen

K
ate slept with her ring on, afraid the fairy tale would disappear if she didn’t. She woke completely happy and wrapped around the man she loved. The sparkle of her ring in the early morning sun mesmerized her. She turned into him, kissed his chest, and worked her way up along his throat to his jaw. She felt so much and wanted to share it all with him. So she woke him, using her body to express the depth of the emotions that drowned her. She ended face down on Butch, both of them purring contentedly. He quickly morphed into a soft snore while Kate lay wide awake.

Kate bounded into the kitchen behind schedule but uncaring. Tom and Jeb sat at the kitchen table enjoying the box of Cheerios Jeb bought when he shopped.

“Fruity Pebbles,” Kate said. “They were my absolute favorite when we were little.”

Tom shook his head. “Give me Count Chocula any day.”

“Never had them,” Jeb said. “Mom always made us breakfast. Monday was scrambled eggs, Tuesday pancakes, Wednesday oatmeal, Thursday hard-boiled eggs, Friday raisin bread.”

Tom drained the milk from the bowl and set it down. “I don’t know if I feel sad for you that you’ve never had Count Chocula—one of the finest breakfast cereals ever created—or jealous that your mama made you a real meal every day of your life.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “You didn’t miss out on anything, Jeb.”

Butch stumbled into the kitchen. Just like every morning, he found Kate, pulled her onto his lap, buried his face in her hair, and breathed her in. “What did Jeb miss out on?”

“Count Chocula and Fruity Pebbles,” Kate said.

Jeb sipped his coffee. “Mom never would let us buy those. She said they were boxed sugar that would rot our teeth.”

“I had Honeycombs a few times when I slept over at Hyde’s house,” Butch said.

Kate leaned back into Butch. “I’m going to go visit him today. We didn’t get over yesterday with everything going on.”

Butch lifted her hand and kissed the ring on her finger. “You ready to become Mrs. Katie McCormick?”

“Wow. That would take some getting used to. Maybe I should keep my name.”

“Hmmm. You could do that, or consider sharing mine with me.”

“Is that important to you?”

“It is. You said you were traditional. Well, I am, too. I want us to be together. One house, one family, one name.”

Kate hadn’t anticipated how she would feel about giving up her name. She’d spent a lot of time and effort making something of Kate Riley. But this was important to him, more than he said. “Maybe. I’ll work on it. I mean, it’s not like it’s changing next week. I’ll have a long time to get used to the idea.” Kate laced her fingers with Butch’s, admiring how nicely they fit together.

“Why would you have a long time?”

“Well, it will be a while before we actually get married. So no need to panic yet.”

“Uh huh. How long is ‘a while’ to you?”

Kate pulled his arms around her waist. “A few years.”