From Ashes

He smiled and kissed my forehead as he sat down next to me. “Had to think of something quick. Let me see it on you.”

I held out my hand and rested my head on his shoulder as we both studied it. I couldn’t stop smiling and my heart had been pounding since I’d seen my beautiful ring hanging from the ribbon. “I think it’s perfect,” I whispered.

“That’s what he said too.” The ring fell to the left from the weight of the rock and we both laughed. “I think it’s too big.”

“Nope.” I let the word pop out of my mouth and took my puppy from Ty’s arms. “The whole thing was perfect.”

“I’m glad you’re happy, Cassi.”

“Me too,” I breathed, and kissed the pup’s wet nose. “Hey, Ty, can I ask you something? It’s not really conventional, and you might be offended by it . . .” I trailed off as I realized how awkward it might be for him.

“Offended? Oh hell, you have to ask now!” He turned so I could see the wicked glint in his brown eyes.

“Not like that! This is something serious.”

“All right, all right. I’m serious, but I get to hold Li’l Bit.”

I rolled my eyes and vowed to name the puppy as soon as I handed her back over. “All right, well, I have actually been thinking about this a lot this week. I like your dad a lot, Ty, you know that, but I don’t have a connection with him like I do you and your mom.”

His eyebrows drew down in confusion. “Yeah . . . ?”

“I could always walk down the aisle by myself if this makes you uncomfortable, but I was wondering . . . will you give me away?”

Tyler sat there quietly for a moment. “Never thought I’d be on this side of things, Cassi—”

“Okay, then we don’t have to do that—it’s all right.”

“You gonna let me finish, sweetheart? I always thought one day you’d see things the way I always have, but you found that in Gage. I know I’ve been a real dick, Cass, but I am happy for you guys. You know, you think your question is weird, but Gage asked for my permission to marry you.”

I raised my head up to look at him. “He did?”

“Yep, and I didn’t even have to think about my answer. I’ve been taking care of you for most of our lives, and there’s no one I’d trust with you more than him. I would never let you walk down the aisle alone, and since your dad can’t be here, I’m glad you asked me to be the one to give you to him.”

“Thanks, Ty, you don’t know how much this means to me.” I sighed happily and caught the puppy with a grunt when she jumped from Ty’s arms onto my stomach. “I know things got weird for us, but everything feels like it’s back to how it should be; it feels perfect.”

“You know I’ll always love you most,” he said a little loudly, and before I could question his increase in volume, Gage came back into the room and I understood.

“Well, I don’t know about that.” He smirked and sauntered over to the side of the bed, leaned over, and kissed me softly before grabbing the puppy. It was still so weird to have Tyler not say anything when Gage kissed me in front of him. “You name her yet?”

“Li’l Bit,” Tyler said immediately.

I rolled my eyes. “Sky.”

“Sky?” Gage asked with a smile, and I nodded. “All right, Sky it is. I’m gonna take her out, and the girls are waiting downstairs for you, darlin’. I’m warning you. You thought a few weeks wasn’t possible; just wait until they start plannin’. They’re unstoppable until everything’s done.”

“As soon as possible,” I whispered.

“As soon as possible,” he agreed, and pulled me out of the bed with one hand, keeping Sky in his other arm, and led us downstairs.

Gage hadn’t been lying: there wasn’t any cooked food sitting around, and there wasn’t any food being cooked; they were that serious. Tessa, Amanda, and Nikki were huddled around the kitchen island with a pad of paper. Each had a pen in hand and was jotting things down as they talked chattily.

Emily looked up from where she was sitting near Amanda’s side on the island and squealed, “Puppy!”

The rest of the girls looked up and started demanding to see the ring. Gage pushed me toward them as he took Emily’s hand and led her outside with Sky. After fawning over my ring, they shoved the pad of paper in front of me and all started talking at once. All I caught were the words, how soon, colors, and in the barn.

“Wait, I’m sorry, did you say in the barn? Like have the wedding in the barn?” They had a massive barn, and Amanda had told me about the dances and numerous parties they’d had in that barn. Granted, I’d never been inside it, but a wedding in there? Um . . . What?

“No, darlin’ girl.” Tessa laughed, and I relaxed. “The reception will be in there.”

Oh. Just as weird.

I must not have been very good at hiding my thoughts that early in the morning, because Tessa and Amanda laughed even harder. “Trust us, Cassidy, it’s not gonna be some hick wedding; you’ll be amazed what we can do with that barn. Not too far from the barn is a perfect spot for a wedding though; I’ve always thought that!” Tessa went on and started sketching the trees that formed an arch and the field between it and the barn, explaining where chairs and such would go for the ceremony. “How many people will be coming?” she asked suddenly, and my mouth opened, then shut.