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  And now he was here.

  He glanced at the front door, thinking maybe he should just back out of the driveway, text Ivory that he wasn’t feeling well—because he wasn’t—and put off this conversation until another day.

  Or never.

  After all, she’d been extremely good at doing that. Pushing him away. Avoiding difficult conversations.

  “It’s okay,” he told himself. The conversation wasn’t even going to be hard. But he wanted…something. The fantasy romance, maybe, where he swept Ivory off her feet with a proposal, they got married, and then sailed away into the sunset to start their new lives together.

  And that so wasn’t going to happen.

  Before he could get out of the truck, her front door opened, and she came bounding down the steps. She wore a pair of white shorts with a bright blue top—and a big smile.

  Tripp’s heart rate doubled, and he opened his door.

  Ivory laughed as she jogged the last few steps to him. “I got the job at the dry cleaner.” She threw herself into his arms, and everything inside of Tripp aligned.

  “That’s so great,” he said, chuckling as he held onto her. “So this lunch is a celebration.” That was so much easier for him to think about than an engagement meal.

  “Yeah,” she said, stepping back. “I start tomorrow morning.” She wiped her hands down her shorts and looked at him, the moment between them soft and beautiful. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “I was thinking Sevano’s,” he said, the words tripping in his tight throat.

  Her eyes widened. “Wow. Are they even open for lunch?”

  “They are today,” he said evasively. Maybe he’d made a couple of phone calls to see if they’d open just for him. He’d heard rumors of the posh, upscale restaurant doing that—for the right price.

  A warning sounded in the back of his mind, but he ignored it. Ivory didn’t typically like a lot of attention lavished on her, but Tripp didn’t want everything about this engagement to be fake.

  Probably would be easier if it was, though, he thought.

  “Should we go?” he asked.

  “Sure. Let me just grab my purse.”

  She didn’t need it, but Tripp waited for her to walk back into the house and get it. Once she was in the passenger seat, and he was behind the wheel again, Tripp started to relax. “So what will you do at the dry cleaner?” he asked.

  “I’ll be the front desk clerk,” she said. “I have to deal with all of the customers. Learn their filing system. Work with the money.”

  Tripp had never worked in retail, so he wasn’t sure what all of that entailed. “You’ll be great at that. You love the details.”

  She gave a short laugh. “I really do.” She seemed so happy today, and Tripp wanted that for her every day.

  He drove down Main Street, with its old buildings, big, beautiful park, and rows of shops. He did love this small town in the Texas Panhandle, though he’d been dubious about coming here. “As long as there’s great Internet,” he’d told Rhett. And his brother had delivered.

  He’d been in town for a couple of years now, but Ivory had been here for five. “Have you ever been to Sevano’s?” he asked.

  “Nope,” she said. “It’s a little out of my price range.” The sarcastic quality of her voice wasn’t lost on Tripp. He didn’t say anything, because what was there to say?

  He pulled into the restaurant, and there wasn’t another car in sight. But they’d be open. He’d asked John to be there at noon, and his friend had agreed.

  “They don’t look open,” Ivory said, peering through the windshield.

  Tripp pulled into the front parking spot. “They’re open.” Why was he so nervous? They’d already talked about getting married.

  “Are you okay?” Ivory asked, and Tripp released the death grip he had on the steering wheel.

  “Yes,” he said at the same time she said, “Are you going to tell me no? Because if you are, you can save your money. I don’t need a fancy meal.” She folded her arms and looked away. “I don’t need to be let down easy.”

  “It’s not that,” he said. He reached into the compartment on the door and grabbed the black ring box. “And I do need a fancy meal. So let’s go.” He got out of the truck before he sprung the ring on her right then. He did not want to propose to her in his truck. How unromantic.

  Ivory joined him at the front of the truck, and he laced his fingers through hers. “I really don’t think they’re—” She cut off as John opened the door and stepped outside, a bright smile on his face.

  “Tripp,” he said, and Tripp grinned at his friend. He released Ivory’s hand to shake John’s, and said, “This is Ivory Osburn, my girlfriend.”

  He honestly had no idea if the label fit, but he very well couldn’t say she was just a friend. The bulky box in his pocket testified of that.

  “Welcome,” John said, gesturing for them to enter the restaurant. Ivory went first, and John touched Tripp’s arm. “You owe me big time, cowboy.”

  “Whatever you need,” he said. “Signage, animation, whatever. I mean it.” He clapped his hand on John’s shoulder. “Thank you. Really. Thanks.” He followed Ivory into the restaurant—somewhere he’d actually never been. His brothers were simple, like him, and Jeremiah’s cooking was sufficient for them.

  “Wow,” he said, gazing around at the rich woodwork, the clear glass finishes, the candlelight. John had done everything right, just as he said he would.

  “Right this way,” John said, leading them past several tables to an intimate booth that practically wrapped around itself.

  Ivory cast a doubtful look at Tripp, but she sat down and accepted the menu from John. As soon as he’d walked away, though, she set it down and said, “Tripp, this place isn’t open. What’s going on?”

  Swallowing hard, Tripp removed the ring box from his pocket and snapped it open. Ivory sucked in a breath, which made him pause. But he plowed forward, his heart tapping out staccato beats in his chest.

  “Ivory,” he said. “I’ve thought a lot about it. I’ve prayed about it. And I think the right thing to do is to marry you. Help you however I can.” He cleared his throat, because this was a stupid speech. “Will you marry me?”

  She looked from him to the diamond in the box. “Where did you get this?”

  “I bought it,” he said.

  “When?”

  “This morning.” He nudged it closer to her, and lowered his voice when he said, “I know you wanted this to be as real as possible from the outside. Now you have the engagement story.”

  His chest caved in a little bit with the words, but her face shone with such light that it was worth it.

  She shook her head, her eyes glassy. “Tripp, you’re too good for me.”

  “I am not,” he said. “Stop saying that.” His words had a little bit too much bite, but he really did want her to stop saying that. He took a deep breath to find his center, a place of calm and peace. “I think we can agree on a seven-week engagement. We’ll get married as soon as Oliver gets home.” He lifted his eyebrows at her, but she still hadn’t looked away from the ring. “Right?”

  Ivory did focus on him them, and something hot and crackly moved through the air, striking him right in the back of his throat. And he knew in that moment that this relationship wasn’t one-sided. He wasn’t the only one with feelings at this table.

  This woman liked him.

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  Relief like Tripp had never known filled him, and he plucked the ring from the box and slid it on the appropriate finger. “Great,” he said with a smile, leaning forward to kiss her.

  He’d kissed her before, but with the diamond and that lightning still cracking through him, this kiss with his fiancée was different.

  Tripp really hoped he and Ivory could make whatever was fake between them into something real. If not in the next seven weeks, then after that. He did not want this relationship to be trivial—and for
the first time in a long time, he thought he had a chance of it becoming big, and beautiful, and absolutely real.

  “Family meeting,” Tripp said later that night, the same nerves prancing through him that had been aggravating him in the morning.

  Liam already sat on the couch, but Wyatt lingered at the kitchen table, his dinner dishes still in front of him as he texted someone. Jeremiah worked in the kitchen, as usual, and Tripp actually felt guilty for all his brother did around the homestead and the ranch.

  But he left the rest of the dishes and came over to the couch. Tripp exchanged a look with Liam, who nodded slightly, as Wyatt joined them. He looked around at everyone and said, “I feel like I’m missing something.”

  “That’s why we have the family meeting,” Liam said. “So no one misses anything.”

  Tripp felt like he’d be missing his head in a minute, and he glanced at Jeremiah and away again quickly. It’s fine, he told himself, really tired of the self-reassurances.

  “I’m going to need help with the horses tomorrow,” Jeremiah said. “We need to move them out of the pasture they’re in.”

  “No problem,” Tripp said. “I still don’t have notes back from Pixelate.”

  “I have a conference call in the morning,” Liam said. “But I can help after that.”

  “I’m free in the morning,” Wyatt said. “I’m headed out to Brynn’s in the afternoon. She’s got a couple of new horses, and she’s asked me to come see if I’d be interested in working for her permanently.”

  Surprise flowed through Tripp as he looked at Wyatt. “Really? That’s great. I mean, if you want to do that.” His brother had recently retired from the professional rodeo circuit, and he had tons of experience with the livestock required for the events. And Brynn Greene ran Bowman’s Breeds out at Three Rivers Ranch. She and her husband, Ethan, were both former rodeo stars, like Wyatt.

  “I do want to do it,” Wyatt said with a smile. “I mean, the last six months without anything to do has been nice, but—”

  “You do stuff,” Jeremiah said. “Tons of stuff around the ranch.”

  “More than me,” Liam said.

  “You have a job,” Tripp said, realizing the conversation had devolved from where he’d wanted it to go.

  “I know,” Liam said. “I sometimes feel bad, though. You’ve made the ranch so awesome.”

  Tripp echoed his brother’s sentiments, but Jeremiah just shook his head. “We all do things around here,” he said. “Some are just more visible than others.” He folded his arms, and a flash of affection for his brother moved through Tripp.

  He cleared his throat and said, “Okay, I have some news. I asked Ivory Osburn to marry me, and she said yes.”

  No one moved. No one spoke. Tripp enjoyed the quiet, the calm, because he knew it was only a precursor to a complete explosion.

  “Wow,” Liam said, surprise in the three letters.

  Wyatt just blinked and said, “Is she that woman who broke up with you a few months ago?”

  And Jeremiah just got up from the couch, glared, and stomped down the hall to his bedroom, the slamming door a very final punctuation mark that expressed exactly how he felt about Tripp’s news.

  Tripp sighed and sat down on the coffee table. “Well, there was no yelling like when Rhett announced he was getting married.”

  Liam chuckled, but it wasn’t an entirely happy sound. “No, Rhett didn’t announce he was getting married. He announced he was married. Big difference.”

  “True.” Tripp looked back and forth between Liam and Wyatt. “The wedding isn’t until mid-July. She wants to have it here at the ranch.”

  “Wow,” Liam said again. “You might want to really talk to Jeremiah about that.” He groaned as he got up. “Because the ranch is his baby, and…yeah.”

  “I just thought he might be more receptive this time.”

  Liam smiled at Tripp and extended his hand to him to help him stand. “Yeah, no you didn’t.”

  Wyatt burst out laughing, and that got Tripp and Liam going too. Tripp was glad the mood had lightened, but as he glanced down the hall where Jeremiah had gone, he knew he’d definitely need to have a better conversation with his brother. Soon.

  Chapter Eight

  Ivory walked down the street early the next morning, her running shoes laced on her feet. She couldn’t sleep because of the anticipation of starting her new job, so she figured she might as well get up and get moving.

  She wasn’t known for loving exercise, but if she was going to get married in seven weeks, she could definitely lose a few pounds. Several groups of women were out walking already, because early morning in Texas really was the best time for such things.

  A pang of sadness hit her. She wished she had a walking group in the morning, especially when she caught sight of Kate’s dark ponytail swishing from side to side as she power walked with another woman.

  She felt left out of a group she didn’t even know she’d wanted to belong to. And in reality, if Oliver were here, she would never leave him to go walking, even at five o’clock in the morning.

  “Ivory,” Kate said as she and her friend turned to come back down the street where Ivory was. A smile spread across Kate’s whole face. “Hey, do you want to join us?”

  “There is no way I can walk as fast as you,” Ivory said. “I’m not even close to in shape.”

  “We’re winding down,” the other woman said, and Ivory blanked on her name. She should know her, but she didn’t.

  “This is Jennika,” Kate said, indicating the tall brunette. She could probably take one step for every two of Ivory’s. “Her son goes to the same story time as Jenny.”

  “That’s great,” Ivory said, and her words sounded too chipper, even to her own ears. If she was home on Tuesdays and Fridays for the story time hour Kate took her son to, she must be married, probably with a nice, new house on the north side of town.

  “I’m Ivory Osburn,” she said, trying out the last name of Walker in her mind.

  Ivory Walker.

  The name had a nice ring to it.

  The three of them continued down the street, and Ivory didn’t quite know what to say to keep the conversation going.

  “How many kids do you have?” she asked Jennika, reaching up to brush her hair out of her face.

  Kate sucked in a breath. “Ivory Osburn.” She grabbed Ivory’s hand and yanked it toward her.

  Her left hand.

  “What in the world is this?” She practically shouted the question, and a couple across the street looked their way.

  Ivory smiled at the diamond ring, which boasted a large, round diamond in the middle of the setting, with concentric circles of gems surrounding it. Around and around they went, and Ivory had stared at the ring last night for a long, long time.

  She couldn’t believe it was hers, number one.

  “Oh, um, I got engaged yesterday?” Why she’d phrased it as a question, she didn’t know.

  Kate lifted her eyes to Ivory’s. “To who?”

  “Tripp Walker.”

  “Dear Lord in Heaven,” Kate said, pressing her palm to her heartbeat, her eyes wide and glittering. “You got a Walker brother.”

  “They’re elusive,” Jennika agreed. “I can’t help looking at them, and I’m married.”

  “Right?” Kate said with a giggle. She looked back down at the ring. “This is incredible. You have to let me do the flowers.” She met Ivory’s eyes with hope in hers now.

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Ivory said, sliding her hand out of her friend’s. “I can’t afford much. I just want a bouquet.”

  “Aren’t those Walkers billionaires?” Jennika asked. “I bet he’d buy you every flower in the state if you wanted him to.”

  Yes, Tripp probably would. But Ivory wasn’t going to ask him for more than she already had. She couldn’t tell either of them the true reason behind the engagement. So she just smiled and shook her head. “I’m sure he could, but I don’t want a big, fancy wedding. Been
there. Done that. Ended badly.” She shrugged like her divorce and single parenthood didn’t matter that much. In reality, her insides felt shredded from the past three years, and that raggedness inside her had contributed greatly to her ability to push Tripp away at the drop of a hat.

  A cowboy hat.

  “I can do the bouquet,” Kate said. “Please?”

  “Just the bouquet,” Ivory said. “I can’t afford more than…fifty dollars.” And even then, she shouldn’t use it for perishable flowers she’d only hold for twenty minutes. If that. Guilt moved through her. That fifty dollars could go right into Tripp’s pocket, getting her closer to being out of his debt.

  “I don’t even need to be paid,” Kate said, picking up speed again as they reached the corner and turned back the way they’d come. “Tell me what kind of flowers you want. When are you getting married?”

  “Right after Oliver comes home from his father’s,” she said. “About seven weeks. Mid-July.” She and Tripp hadn’t even really set a date yet. They hadn’t set up another time to see one another, and Ivory’s memories of when she and Daniel had been engaged came forward in her mind.

  At that point in their relationship, they didn’t need to set up a time to see each other. It was implied that they’d spend their afternoons and evenings together after work. Maybe they’d arrange a spot to meet for dinner, or he’d text and say he was coming over to her place. But it wasn’t like he asked.

  And she felt like Tripp would probably still ask.

  “You definitely need bluebonnets,” Kate said. “And roses. The red and purple are so pretty together.”

  Ivory smiled at her friend, her calves burning and her breathing coming so quickly that she couldn’t respond.

  Foolishness filled her. How could she ask her friend to spend her time and money on a bouquet for a fake wedding?

  She offered, Ivory thought, but the guilt still twined through her.

  “I can put in some white roses too,” Kate said. “Red, white, and blue.” She looked absolutely delighted at the opportunity, and Ivory didn’t have the heart—or the guts—to tell her the truth.