The tall lilies were gorgeous all along the edge of the creek, but the thought of the trouble he had gone to in arranging for the flowers to be imported and planted on a property that was already up for sale was amazing.
“Don’t you like them? I thought they were the same variety you talked about.” Evan sounded calm but concerned.
“They’re exactly the same. How do I thank you for something like this?” She threw herself into his arms and hugged him, so damned grateful that she had this man in her life.
The closeness they’d experienced over the last few months had been almost frightening, and each day she’d fallen just a little more in love with Evan. She was in so deeply now that she knew she’d never escape. Not that she wanted to.
There wasn’t a day that went by that Evan didn’t do something to melt her heart, and the rift between the Sinclair siblings was finally healing. What had once been a broken family was now whole.
“I have a few ideas,” he said in a husky, suggestive voice.
Randi laughed happily, squeezing him tighter. Evan had learned to have some levity in his life in the few months they’d been together. Seeing him smile at her still made her heart lighter. “I’m sure you do,” she answered teasingly.
She turned in his arms to just let the sight of the lilies sink into her soul. Evan wrapped his arms around her waist, and Randi rested the back of her head on his shoulder. “It’s beautiful. Joan would have loved this.”
“Are you sure you want to sell?” Evan asked cautiously. “It’s not like you’ll need the money. You are marrying one of the richest men in the world, you know.”
Randi smiled, knowing when Evan said things like that, he was just stating a fact. “I’m sure. Unless you plan on canceling the wedding.”
They were getting married in a month. Evan had wanted the ceremony to be sooner, but he’d also wanted it to be perfect. He was being a pain in the ass about the arrangements, but Randi didn’t care. She found it fascinating that he was willing to help with the planning, and was more thorough than she and her female friends.
“Over my dead body,” Evan vowed. “It seems like we’ve waited forever.”
It had actually not been more than a few months, but it had seemed like a long time to her, too.
She glanced down at the beautiful platinum-and-diamond ring on her finger, sighing as she wondered how long it would take her to get used to having Evan bringing her a new gift every day.
His gift closest to her heart was his vow to find a plot of land to build a small school for kids with special learning needs. She’d broken down in tears as he’d explained that he didn’t want any child to suffer the same way he had.
Their biggest hurdle, the fact that Evan didn’t want biological children, had been resolved. They agreed on adoption if he didn’t feel comfortable having children of his own within a few years. He’d touched her heart when he said that any kid they had didn’t need his DNA for him to love them. Randi didn’t mind if they adopted because she felt the same way, but she was pretty certain that Evan was starting to understand that any offspring he had with dyslexia would be just fine. They’d both help the child learn from an early age, and she had no doubt Evan would be a fantastic father.
“I still don’t know what to say. This is incredible.” Randi felt so at peace as she gazed at the collection of lilies.
Lily flopped down at Evan’s feet, happy to be with him whenever she could. Lily had bonded with him the same way she had with Randi. In return, Evan seemed to adore her, and he still snuck her occasional sneaky pieces of steak. Luckily, not enough to stink up the house.
“Say you love me,” Evan suggested.
“I love you,” she obediently replied. He never got tired of hearing the words, and neither did she. “Are you going to keep putting flowers on Dennis and Joan’s graves?” Evan still went to the cemetery every day. There was no snow to clear at this time of year, but Evan made it a point to keep the gravesite tidy and place fresh flowers there every day.
He shrugged. “Whenever possible. So far that’s been every day.”
Reaching for her hand, Evan entwined their fingers as they walked slowly away from the stream together.
“Beatrice was right, you know,” Randi mentioned casually.
“I know,” Evan grumbled. “I find that kind of frightening, since she gave Micah a crystal when he was here for Hope’s party.”
“You don’t want him to be happy?” Randi asked curiously.
“I can’t see him settling down. He’s into extreme sports, and there aren’t many women who can manage to be with a guy who does the crazy shit he does,” Evan replied. “But yes, I would like to see him happy. Xander is going off the deep end again, and Julian is busy on his latest movie. A lot falls on Micah’s shoulders.”
“I wonder who has the other stone. Does he know?”
“Nope. He didn’t mention it,” Evan answered. “She’d have to be an amazing woman to put up with him.”
Randi laughed, amused by Evan’s assumption that he was any less arrogant or demanding than Micah. He didn’t travel much anymore, sending out some of his higher-level employees to check out possible new deals. He might still have to go away sometimes, but they were learning to compromise. Honestly, Evan didn’t seem the least bit eager to leave Amesport. He seemed quite happy to run his business from his home office and hang out with his family, although he still hadn’t quite learned how not to try to tell them what to do. However, it was pretty funny to hear him refer to his eldest cousin as being less likely than him to settle down.