Cowboy, Stay with Me

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Put a Ring on It!

"Oh my Gosh! It's beautiful!"

"Its gorgeous, Sean."

"It really is stunning. Musta cost a fortune! She's gonna love it."

"Really? You don't think it's...?" Sean didn't expect to feel so insecure about it, but suddenly he was panicking that she would hate the ring he had chosen and she'd cry not in euphoric bridal happiness but in sheer disappointment.

"Sean, honey, trust me, it could be made outta pink plastic and she would still say 'yes', because it's you and she adores you." Amanda assured him. "Now go get her, tiger!"

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Lucy walked into the kitchen a moment later with Travis, both laughing together about something silly.

She looked up and raised her eyebrows when she found everyone standing in the living room, staring at her as if expecting her to perform magic tricks for them suddenly or something.

She laughed a bit nervously. "What?"

Sean came over to her to get a kiss, making all the kids in the room say, "Eeewwww!" Some of the adults, too, for that matter.

"Come on a walk with me? It's a beautiful evening."

"Sure?" She said, cocking her head at him quizzically.

"I wanna come!" Travis cried.

"No, you have to help me with chores, young man." Flora said firmly.

"What? But-!"

Flora and Amanda firmly dragged him away into the kitchen and Lucy laughed again as Sean practically pushed her out of the house.

"What's going on?" She asked, holding his hand now as they walked through the tall grass in the back field.

"Do I need an excuse to go on a walk with my best girl?" He asked her, slanting a dry smile down at her.

She arched her brows. "Your best girl, huh?"

"My only girl." He said with a distinctive eye roll.

They walked the rest of the way to the pond in pleasant silence. Suddenly she spied a blanket held down with little stones and a big picnic basket beside it, a bottle of something chilling in a bucket of ice next to that.

The willow tree that cast its long, slender branches over this picturesque screen had been decorated with many scraps of colorful cloth.

"Oh my gosh!" She breathed, moving towards the picnic in delight. "Did you do this?"

Sean smiled at her obvious pleasure with what he had done. "I thought we could do another picnic."

"Oh yeah? Look at you, being all sweet and stuff."

"Hey, I can be sweet." He said, popping a bottle of what turned out to be sparkling cider.

He poured them each a glass while she rummaged through the basket of goodies he'd packed. While she had an idea that Amanda had probably helped him, she also saw strong elements of him, as well; in the form of sausage sandwiches, which were one of his favorite things, and a hunk of Brie cheese.

Lucy pulled out a Tupperware of pasta salad, a fruit salad, a tin of lemon bars, which were one of her favorite things, as well as a variety pack of smoked meats and cheeses.

"Did you remember to pack the-yes, pickles!" She affirmed in delight, pulling out a jar of Grandma's Flora amazing spicy pickles. It won her the blue ribbon every year at the state fair, much to the other ladies' unending chagrin.

Sean smiled with mild disgust as he watched her munching on a pickle. He'd never been much of a fan of them, himself.

They enjoyed the evening in a companionable fashion, not talking much, just enjoying the bird song and the way that fluttering little bugs would break through the light that streamed down through the branches of the old willow.

Twilight was settling its arms around the land.

The town was named after a canyon even though, in reality, the town was nestled inside a shallow valley. There was a little canyon, with a little creek flowing through it and everything, but it was a quiet, tucked away kind of spot that for the most part got left alone for the sake of the wildlife.

Lucy sighed in contentment. She loved living here. She supposed it was sort of lame, still living at her grandparents' while her other two sisters had long since moved away and started families of their own, but she was the baby, after all, and she had always been more home bound than the rest of her family members.

If she never left the county again, that would be just fine with her.

When she'd eaten her fill, she stretched out onto her back with a contented yawn, smiling up at the branches as they swayed gently overhead. She could fall asleep so easily here.

Sean stood up, going to stand on the little mossy embankment. He found a few pebbles on the ground, skipping them efficiently across the water from his squatting position.

Lucy soon got up, as well, and came over to join him, just as he knew she would.

"So any news on Travy's case?" She asked, absently rubbing her hands over her belly.

"Not yet. These types of red tape situations take forever. For now, we're just the concerned "neighbors" who're looking after him 'til his mom's outta the hospital, technically."

"Ugh, that woman!" Lucy emoted. "She isn't fit to raise him, she can't even take care of herself."

"I know, honey, but let's not talk about her today. Let's not worry about anything for right now, okay? It's too beautiful." He was gazing up at her from his squatting position and he skipped another rock absently across the water.

Lucy watched it skip four times across the calm water, unaware of his surreptitious attention.

She was wearing a little lacy sundress in a dusky pink color that flattered her fair complexion. Her long blonde hair was pinned partially back with the curled ends fluttering around her prettily in the breeze.

She was so beautiful, she was a piece of art. He could look at her all day.

As well as he knew her, he was still discovering things about her, with each new day they spent together.

Like the fact that she had freckles hidden inside her eyebrows, and also on her shoulder blades, or that she was actually more judgmental of people than she let on, or that she was terrified of the show "Courage the Cowardly Dog" or that she knew how to sing the entire American anthem. He didn't even know the whole thing.

The more he learned about her, the more deeply he fell in love with her.

Sean reached into his pocket as he simultaneously took a knee on the grassy little knoll that she stood upon.

"Lucy Davenport-Northgate?" He asked softly.

She turned to look down at him and her eyes grew huge at the sight of him down on one knee, but even more so at what he held in his hand.

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