The mob roared with delight, causing Jill to sigh with relief. This was no longer a day about joining Derrick and herself in matrimony, but instead, a day of forgiveness, a day of joy and celebration, a day where everybody and anybody was welcomed to the Baylor farm with open arms.
“Will you marry me?” Connor asked Sandy.
Tears swept down Sandy’s cheeks and over her chin, making it impossible for her to find her voice.
“Yes!” Lexi shouted as she ran into Connor’s arms, making him drop the ring and causing at least a dozen people to fall to the ground to look for the diamond.
“I LOVE you!” Lexi shouted into Connor’s ear. “We will marry you.” Lexi looked up at Sandy. “We love him, right, Mom?”
“We do,” Sandy said, her voice squeaking with happiness.
“Did you hear that?” Jake asked excitedly from the back of the crowd. “Lexi said LOVE, not WUV!”
For the next few minutes half of the crowd hugged Lexi and made a big to-do over her newfound ability to pronounce the letter L, while the other half continued to scour the lawn for the lost ring.
“Here it is! I found it!” Phil Baylor said, handing the ring to his son.
As Connor slid the ring onto Sandy’s finger, one long ponderous sigh of content erupted from the Baylor farm.
“Oh, no!” Derrick cried out.
Everybody’s eyes were on the groom as he cut through the crowd and ran after Hank. He almost caught up to the dog, too.
Close but no cigar.
Hank had a sweet tooth and he was on a mission. In one perfect leap, he landed on the table holding the cake that Jill had spent weeks planning and preparing and all day yesterday baking. Derrick had been subjected to dozens of taste tests, and he had watched her closely as she made crystallized edible flowers for the top tier that he knew would be savored on their one-year anniversary, along with the memories of their special day.
Hank was fast and he was hungry, though, and he had a quarter of the bottom layer eaten by the time Derrick caught up to him. Instead of removing the dog, Derrick grabbed the top layer and held it over his head for protection, his eyes beaming with pride that he’d saved the best part.
That one small action might not have meant anything to anyone else, but it meant the world to Jill. His knee had been acting up all week, but Derrick had just run across the yard as if he was a gazelle, as if his life depended on saving the top layer of their wedding cake because he knew it had been made with love for just the two of them.
She loved Derrick Baylor. She loved him more than mere words could ever express.
And if there was one thing she knew in that moment, it was that sometimes actions really did speak louder than words.
~~~
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Taming Mad Max
Finding Kate Huntley
A Knight in Central Park
Return of the Rose
Books by T.R. Ragan
Abducted
Dead Weight
Untitled Book 3 will be released Early 2013
Contents
About the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
Table of Contents
About the Author
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue