Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(42)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She shook her head but still smiled. “I was wondering when you were going to have this talk.”

“I need to have Grandma’s ring changed. I know Van wore it for only a day, but I want Miranda to have something brand new. I know you have always wanted me to use that ring, so I was wondering if we could have some things added to it.”

“I supposed that it can be done. You sure this is what you want? You won’t just be committing to Miranda you know.”

“I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life. I know it is fast and maybe if the circumstances were different I would wait years, but I can’t lose them, Mom. It would kill me to be that far away from them.”

If I would have known that Van was going to bust into my romantic night, I could have asked sooner. There was still a chance that Miranda would think this was all way too soon and quite frankly say ‘no’.

I had to at least try.

“Well, you know that we love her already. Bella is the cutest little girl. I’d love for her to call me Mimi, like you used to call your grandma.” She looked at me like her heart was full of love. My mother had never liked Van, so for her to be happy about Miranda and Izzy, she must have been excited.

“I have an idea of how I want to do it. Do you think we could call Mr. Harper at the jewelry store. I need to get this taken care of as soon as possible. Is he even open on weekends?”

While my mother got out the old phone book, I headed back to the house to grab my grandmother’s ring. It was just plain white gold band with a solitaire diamond set high in the center. It was a half carat in size, but had a kind of antique look to it. I knew what I wanted done to it, but I didn’t know how long it would take.

Someone in heaven must have been looking out for my sorry ass, because the jewelry store was open. I hated sneaking around behind Miranda’s back, but I felt like us getting engaged would be the only way to make this more permanent, aside of marriage of course.

I’d been so caught up in our relationship to actually look at the big picture. There was one thing that I knew for certain. One thing that I would give anything to have. I needed Izzy to be my daughter. She needed to have my last name. Tucker had given up his claim to her and I would be damned if anyone took that little girl away from me now. Aside from living so far away, I had done everything to be a part of her life since the day she was born. I had no intentions of ever letting her down. If something happened to me and Miranda, I would still want to be her daddy.

I knew that nobody would understand the way I felt about her, even from the beginning I heard their comments. They looked at me like I had some fetish for small children. Sick Bastards!

I loved that little girl more than anything in the whole world. I had to believe that I was meant to be there when she was born. Everything that happened from that day on had led me right back to her. I may not have supplied the sperm, but it didn’t matter to me. She was my everything.

The jeweler was waiting for us to arrive and when we did, he sat me down and listened to my idea. He said that what I wanted would be easy to do and would take about two weeks. I handed him my bank card and watched as he removed two thousand bucks from my account. I honestly didn’t care how much it cost. I needed it to be perfect.

With the ring being taken care of, all I needed to do was keep my cool until the jewelry store called to tell me it was ready to be picked up. I had time to plan.

Izzy spotted my dad as we pulled back into the farm. My mother really got a kick out of how smart she was. In the past month she had gone out and got herself a car seat for her own car and had my father get some of my old shit out of the barn attic.

“Hey Dad. You got a minute?”

My father put the rake he was using down and walked over toward me. Izzy ran toward him and pointed toward the chicken house. “Chicks.”

“Wait a second and I will take you to see the chicken again.”

“I need your advice.” My father was a quiet man. He stayed out of people’s business and he liked it that way.

“What’s bothering you Son?”

“Would you be disappointed in me if I asked Miranda to marry me?”

He shook his head and removed his hat. Colt did the same thing when he didn’t know what to say. “I can tell you really love the girl and this little one here too. I reckon after everything you been through that your just coming to a point in your life where you are ready to settle down. You already know that your mom and I approve. Hell, I plan on starting that addition in the next couple of weeks. I appreciate you asking me though.”

“Do you think I am rushing things?”

“Do you think you are?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sometimes I guess. I mean, I love them so much and I know that they are it for me. I know it is fast, but I want Izzy to have a daddy. We need to be a family.”

“You already are a family in my book. You take care of each other and you love that little one. I am pretty certain that you are already a daddy in her little eyes.”

I looked at Izzy. She was playing with my dad’s old sweaty hat. She looked so much like Miranda and sometimes I just wanted to hug her and never let go. “Her mother and brother don’t want us together. They will do whatever they can to break us up once they find out we are together. I have to secure their life here.”

“As long as Miranda and you are on the same page, you do whatever has to be done. I don’t want any drama here like with your cousin. You know I don’t like that stuff.” He let Izzy down and started walking away from us. “We will meet back at the house. This little one wants to see the chickens.”

“Don’t be too long. She needs her diaper changed.” I walked back to the house and just sat on the couch. My stomach was in knots and started wondering how much more bullshit Van was filling Miranda’s head with. I went to grab my phone and send her a message, but when I did I realized that Miranda had my phone.

After I got Izzy a fresh diaper we played outside for a little while until she started falling all over the place, crying for no reason. We went inside and laid on the couch together. Within ten minutes she was fast asleep on my chest. I played with her hair and watched her sleeping. There was no way that I could ever be without them.

It would just kill me.

Chapter 23

Miranda

Dress shopping with three people that had major issues with my boyfriend was not my idea of a fun time. From the moment that Van picked me up, she began to give me the third degree about Ty. Apparently, she had been up all night so upset that I let myself get involved with such a ‘man whore’.