From Ashes(51)
Author: Molly McAdams

“Ma?”

“Nu-uh! I told you no funny business.”

“As soon as possible, Ma.”

“What’d you say?” She walked over to us and grabbed the back of his shirt and began pulling, only stopping when our little ball of fluff jumped onto Gage’s back and yelped playfully at her. “A puppy? Oh, son, I knew I raised you right.”

I laughed and grabbed the puppy so Gage could get off the bed, letting his mom feel like she was able to pull him.

“You’re gonna be mine, Cassidy,” he said with the widest smile I’d ever seen on his face.

I bit my lip and nodded. “As soon as possible, baby.”

“As soon as possible,” he agreed, and laughed out loud when his mom smacked his head twice for being in bed with an unmarried girl, at the same time that she screamed downstairs to Amanda that we had a wedding to plan, and then told Gage how happy she was that he hadn’t wasted any more time.

When they got to the door, he grabbed the frame and turned to wink at me before he let her pull him out, and I about melted. The puppy wiggled out of my arms, and, after a few seconds of looking a little unsurely at the ground, she took a step off the bed and half fell, half jumped to the ground. Her paws slid in place as she tried to take off running toward the door before she got traction. By the time she got to the door, Tyler was there and scooped her up.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he called, and nuzzled the pup. “Hey, Li’l Bit.”

“Gaming systems, huh, Ty?”

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.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. From Stacey, I knew all about the issues of having too many people to invite, but I had hardly anyone. I had the Bradleys, who were Gage’s family; Jackie and Dana, whom I’d met because they were dating Gage’s best friends . . . The only people who were solely mine to invite were Jesse and Isabella—hell, even they were technically linked to his family now—and Lori and Stacey.

“Okay, well how many people in the wedding party?”

I glanced at Amanda, then back to Tessa. “I don’t know.”

Thankfully Gage came back in then and Tessa asked him the same question. “Uh . . . Ty, Ethan, and Adam.”

Tessa looked back at me and leaned forward to ask quietly, “Do you have three girls you’d want in the wedding?” She finally understood my sudden awkwardness.

“Amanda, Jackie, and Dana.” I looked back to Amanda. “Will you be my maid of honor?”

“Oh my God, really?!” she screeched, and threw her arms around my neck. “Thanks, Cass! Okay, what about colors?”

“Green,” I said at the same time Gage said, “Gold.”

I turned to him with a confused look and he pointed to my eyes. My stomach warmed and I kissed his lips quickly. “Green on the guys, gold on the girls.”

Gage smiled widely and cupped my cheeks to deepen our next kiss. “Gotta get some work done, darlin’, have fun. Ma—”

“I know, I know!” Tessa said somewhat distractedly. “As soon as possible!”

As soon as Gage slipped out the door, the wedding planning took off.

GAGE

I WALKED INTO my old room, where Cassidy was now staying until she moved into the house with me, and my heart stopped before kicking into overdrive. Cassidy was curled up on top of the comforter with her phone in one hand, that hand resting on a notebook with a list of names, all of which had checks and numbers next to them. I looked at the floor and picked the pen up; put it, her phone, and the notebook on the nightstand; and turned to look at her again. Her hand was still out like it had been when she was holding her phone, and the other was curled around a sleeping Sky. Deciding to let them be, I kissed Cassidy’s forehead and turned to leave.

“Gage?” Her voice was husky from her nap, and damn if the sound didn’t shoot straight through me.

“Hey, sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay.” She patted the bed behind her and I carefully climbed in so I wouldn’t wake Sky. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Y’all get a lot done today?”

“Oh my word, like you wouldn’t believe. You weren’t lying; your mom has connections any wedding planner would kill for.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised y’all have anything left.”

“We really don’t. Just the dresses, shirts, ties . . . that’s about it. I decided it’s going to be semiformal. I don’t want you in a tux.”

Thank God. “Sounds good to me.”

“Can you tell me something? Why do you want to marry me so soon?”

My body went rigid. “Cass, I thought we already went ov—”

“No, I remember what you said, but is it because we can’t do anything with your mom not letting us live together? Because if that’s it, Gage, I’ll find a way to be with you. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to marry me so we can be together in that way.”

“God no. The only person who can keep me from you is you. If you aren’t ready for this, Cassidy, all you have to do is say the word; but if you are . . . darlin’, I’m so ready to marry you. The way I see it, I’ve already found everything I want in you, and I know that’s never going to change. So why wait? I’m ready for it all: marrying you, living in our house, having a family. As long as it’s with you, I’m ready.”

“ ’Kay, good.” She smiled and pulled my head down to hers to kiss me. “Might have to hold off on the family though. I just got used to the idea of having kids; that’s gonna take me a while. Oh, but just so you know, everyone except Isabella and Jesse thinks this is a shotgun wedding.”