Temptation Trails - Page 175

I nodded in acknowledgment. “I’ll never regret it, because I got you.”

“And you redeemed yourself with Harper, so you have that.”

A broad smile crept over my face. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“About Harper? She’s okay, right?”

I hated that my son had to bear the burden of trauma. He was handling it well, especially with help from his therapist. But still. As a father, I wanted to protect him—from everything. Even though I knew I couldn’t. I patted his knee. “She’s fine. I have something that I want to ask her, but it impacts you too, so I didn’t want to do it before I talked to you.”

He sat up straighter, his eyes widening with excitement. “Are you gonna marry her?”

“I’d like to ask her.”

His head dropped back against the cushion. “Finally. Geez Dad, it took you long enough.”

“Long enough? Our relationship has moved alarmingly fast.”

“Whatever. You love her and she loves you. And you’re having a baby together. It’s not like you don’t know you’re going to get married. Just do it, already.”

“I take it you don’t have any concerns about this.”

“My only concern is you waiting too long, and she starts to think you’re never going to ask, and then there’s a pointless miscommunication that leads to drama. No one needs that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Where do you get this stuff?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. So how are you going to propose? Do you have a ring? Can I be in the wedding? Do I get to wear a suit?”

“I don’t know. I picked it out but haven’t picked it up yet. Yes, of course you can. And absolutely you’ll wear a suit.”

“Okay, but you should let me help you propose. You’re not going to do it right on your own.”

“Excuse me?”

“What’s your plan?”

I hesitated. “I thought I’d take her out to dinner.”

Groaning, he rolled his eyes. “Boring.”

“What’s boring about that? I was going to take her to the restaurant where we had our first date. That’s romantic.”

“It’s okay. But c’mon, Dad, we’re Havens. We can do better. Uncle Josiah remodeled a house for Audrey. And Uncle Z threw Mari a costume ball. We have big shoes to fill.”

“We?”

“I’m in on this too, Mr. Single Dad. You’re stuck with me. So is Harper, but if she says no, it’s definitely you, not me.”

I laughed again—harder this time. “You’re killin’ me, kid. So what’s your big idea?”

“Okay, hear me out…”

CHAPTER 47

Harper

The cinnamon sugar swirl cupcakes smelled amazing.

Cinnamon had sounded good, so I’d decided Angel Cakes needed a batch of them for the pastry case. It was usually more of a fall flavor, but hey, I was pregnant and in charge. That meant we had cinnamony goodness in the summer.