One More Taste (40 page)

Emily waved her arms. “Both of you, stop. Can you even hear yourselves? Talking about your son like he's your greatest sin, your greatest regret. I can't…” She pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. Everyone in the room waited in collective silence for her to regroup and finish her thought.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Knox's mom. “Thank you for Knox. For raising him to be such a good man.” She turned her attention to Ty. “And thank you for bringing him back to Briscoe Ranch. And for asking me to provide lunch for your meeting that first day. You two created a miracle together and I'll forever be indebted to you.”

She turned and faced Knox. Their eyes met. “I love you. And I'm so grateful that our lives unfolded exactly as they did so we could be here together right now.”

All the pain and anger melted away as he looked into her eyes. She was right. He wouldn't change a thing. “I think it's time you and I bought some property together,” he said.

The edges of her lips kicked up into a dreamy smile. “We'll be partners, in every sense of the word.”

The thought left him giddy. “Emily Ford, are you proposing to me?”

Her eyebrows flickered up and her smile turned impish. “If only I had a ring to offer you right now.”

“What's happening?” Linda said. “What property?”

Knox put his arm around Emily and faced his mother and Ty, steeped in the power of the truth—the power of his love for Emily. It flowed from his heart and all around him. He felt his dad watching him from on High and harnessed that power, too. Nothing could stop him, nothing could hurt him. He was above it all, with her.

“You'll see,” Knox told his mom and Ty. “Soon enough. You'll all see. Now, if you two will excuse us, we've got some money to move.”

 

Epilogue

One month later …

With a blanket wrapped around them to stave off the chilly late-November air, Knox and Emily sat in the bed of his newly repaired Chevy and watched the stars come up over Briscoe Ranch Resort from their favorite lookout point on the fire road right at the edge of the resort where Knox always parked his truck. Somewhere, a group of carolers sang
Joy to the World
to the merriment of the resort guests. Knox didn't think he'd ever been happier than he was in that moment, surveying the hill country kingdom he shared with the woman he loved.

In so many ways, tonight was a night of celebration. Not only because the Chevy was finally back in working order but also because today marked the finalization of their purchase of Briscoe Ranch. In the end, with the help of Knox's crackerjack team of structural engineers and geologists, it hadn't been too tough to convince Lux Universal that Briscoe Ranch wasn't worth the sandy, ever-shifting ground it sat on. Certainly, it wouldn't be a safe bet for senior housing.

But even though Lux withdrew their offer, Knox and Emily decided to buy out Briscoe Equity Group's shares of the resort anyway. There was no sense in risking another near-catastrophe, not when Knox planned to spend the rest of his life at Briscoe Ranch by Emily's side.

He turned to kiss her and found her grinning from ear to ear. “What's that smile about?”

She snuggled in closer to him. “I've never owned anything before, nothing of value. I love that this is ours now.” Her hand roved lower on his chest, then dipped to his jeans. “But as happy as I am watching the stars with you, I think I'm ready to get to the necking part of the whole sitting at a lookout point experience.”

He gave her a kiss on her nose. “Are you sure you are? Because my neck is definitely not down there. Besides, Movie Night's going to start soon. Carina and Decker are bringing Sam. I told them we'd be there.”

She teased the corner of his lips with hers as her hands roved over his body. “We might be a little late.”

“You want to christen the truck? All right, then. That would be one way to celebrate it getting fixed up after two plunges into Lake Bandit.”

Emily bolted upright, her eyes wide and a sly smile on her lips. “Forget necking. I've got a better idea to christen it.”

“Well, so did I. I thought we'd do a lot more than just neck.”

“No, no, no. I have a plan.” She threw off the blanket and stood.

He loved it when she got this way, so caught up with passion for a new idea that she barely remembered that the rest of the world existed. Usually, though, she only got that way about cooking, and now that she was on the verge of opening up her restaurant, Subterranean, those light bulb moments were hitting her faster than ever. “Do tell. The suspense is killing me.”

“I think we should try to roll your truck onto the resort property.”

Knox groaned and rolled his neck. “That's your big idea? We've tried that. A lot. It doesn't work.”

“We haven't tried it since everything came out about Ty being your dad. We've haven't tried it since we bought the resort. There's something in the air tonight. I feel like this is our shot. I think your dad's ready to stop haunting your truck.”

Knox eased up to standing, then patted the roof of the cab. “That would be a shame. I'm pretty fond of having a haunted truck.”

“Well, then, maybe it's time your fatherly ghost knows it's time to stop holding you back.”

He lassoed her into a hug. “I like the way you think.”

“I know.” She tapped her temple. “I like the way I think, too.”

Full of love, he took a good long look at the woman he was going to marry. “Emily, I have a question for you.”

“What?”

He pecked a kiss on her lips. “Do you want to drive or push?”

She let out a triumphant whoop of laughter. “I'll drive.”

“You know how to start it by popping the clutch?”

She leapt over the side of the bed and onto the ground. “Done it a million times.”

All Knox could do was laugh; she was so single-minded in her enthusiasm. He jumped out of the truck and watched Emily get settled in the driver's seat. “See if you can get it right to the edge of the hill before it dies. Sometimes it's generous to me like that.”

She flashed him a thumbs-up and started the engine.

Knox moseyed behind the truck as she eased it to the property line and stopped. It took a second for Knox to register the chug of the engine. It hadn't died.

Emily looked at Knox through the side mirror, a questioning look on her face. “Knox, are you seeing this?”

Hope bloomed in his chest. “Let it go forward a few more inches.”

She let up on the brake and the truck rolled forward—and remained on.

Holy Mother of God. “Keep going. The engine doesn't seem like it wants to die.” He watched in awe as she slowly rolled the truck all the way over the property line, where she hit the brakes again.

The next time Emily looked at him through the mirror, her smile could have lit up the night. “What the hell's going on, Knox?”

“I have no idea.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Don't just stand there,” she called. “Get in! Come drive this truck of yours around your newly purchased luxury resort. I'll slide over.”

Feeling like he was in a dream, Knox walked the length of the truck, listening to that
chug chug chug
.

He stopped at the driver's door, but before opening it, he bent down and used the side mirror as an ear. “Thank you.”

When Knox climbed behind the wheel of the truck, his heart busting with pure joy. He didn't realize he was crying until he felt the wetness on his cheek. A glance at Emily told him she was getting weepy, too.

“Do you think this means your dad's gone?” she asked quietly.

His dad. For all his faults, Clint Briscoe had been Knox's dad for thirty-two years, and he'd done the very best he could. Knox knew he'd never stop calling him Dad, just as sure as he was that his dad was watching over him from on High.

Knox's relationship with Ty was still awkward at times, but they were working on figuring out their place in the other's life, and in the month since the truth had come out, they'd managed to settle into a mostly comfortable peace. Really, it was impossible to stay angry with the man who'd lost his business and was in the process of what would probably be a costly divorce. Not to mention that Ty had lost a daughter, as well.

In truth, the whole family was grieving Haylie's absence. At least she was safe. She'd called Emily a couple of times to check in, though she would never say where she was. At least the calls had managed to set the family's minds at ease and had given Emily the opportunity to tell her that Knox had made short work of firing Wendell. The last Knox had heard, Wendell had gone to live with his mother in El Paso. Hopefully, that was far away from wherever Haylie was putting down new roots.

Knox rolled his eyes heavenward. “I don't think my dad's gone, but I do think it means he's resting now. He's at peace.”

Emily reached across the seat and took his hand. “You set him free.”

“I'm the one who's been set free, Emily. By you.” Unsatisfied with merely holding her hand, he reached over and pulled her right alongside his hip and stretched his arm around her. “That's better.”

Her gaze roved over the resort. “This is ours now. I still can't believe it. We're the keepers of the Briscoe legacy. And I'm not even a Briscoe yet.”

“Sounds like we'd better get that ring on your finger this December instead of waiting.”

“December? Does that mean you're a believer in the resort's holiday wedding magic now, too?”

“Consider me a new convert about how much magic's in the air around here.”

She settled back in his arm and cupped his cheek, then gave him a slow, sweet kiss. “Who would've thought Knox Briscoe, businessman, self-made millionaire entrepreneur, would believe in ghosts and magic?”

“On the other hand, not everyone is lucky enough to drive a haunted truck, so I consider myself lucky to have been enlightened in that way. Ready to go meet our family for movie night?”

Emily sighed. “Ready as I'll ever be, but how about we take the long way around, give this old truck a tour of the place? Plus, I'm not quite ready to share you yet tonight.”

With his arm still around Emily, Knox eased up on the brake and pressed the gas. The truck rolled forward, just as it was supposed to. He took his time going down the hill, feeling the breeze in his hair and soaking in every moment. He took a left at the bottom of the hill and drove them along the water, which had turned golden in the setting sun. Somewhere near the middle of the lake, movement caught his eye. He looked in time to watch a familiar silver carp splash back into the water.

Rising behind the hills, the moon shone down on the crystal clear night. And all around them, the sights and sounds and smells of Briscoe Ranch's holiday season were in full effect. Laughing and cuddling, they kept driving, taking a slow, back road tour of their home, sweet home. Life just didn't get any more magical than that.

 

Read on for an excerpt from
Melissa Cutler
's next book

ONE WILD NIGHT

Coming soon from St. Martin's Paperbacks

 

Chapter One

If only Skye Martinez could run a fever on command. Or, after a few bites of the eggplant parmesan that Mrs. Biaggi of Vito's Eatery just delivered to the table, maybe she could fake food poisoning.
Anything
to get her out of this disaster of a blind date, the latest in a string of them. That was the trouble with living in a small Texas town. All the good men were taken—along with most of the bad ones too.

“And here's your meatball, Sweetums,” Mrs. Biaggi said.

Sweetums
, in this case, was Vince Biaggi, Skye's date—and Mrs. Biaggi's son.

Yeah.

Skye was gonna kill Granny June for this one.

“It looks great, as always, Mother,” Vince said, digging in. With a mouth full of meatball, he poked his fork in Skye's direction. “Now you see why I wanted us to eat here. There's no sense paying for dinner when we can eat for free.”

Naturally.

Mrs. Biaggi gave Skye a nudge and a wink. “Vince brings all his first dates here. It gives his Pops and me a chance to check out the merchandise.”

And now she was merchandise. Good to know.

She took a despairing glance at her phone, which she's positioned strategically at the opening of her purse. Twenty minutes until her sister Gloria was scheduled to call, in case Skye needed to fake an emergency and escape. When she raised her gaze, it was find Vince and his mother beaming at her.

“Go on and try the eggplant parmesan,” Mrs. Biaggi said. “It's been Vince's favorite since he was just a little squirt.”

Skye made slow work of slicing the eggplant cutlet as her mind scrolled through possible ways to make Granny June pay. Maybe she'd reprogram the horn on Granny's riding scooter to play chicken noises. Or set her up on a blind date disaster of her own. God knew there were plenty of toothless or senile senior men at Skye's church. Or maybe Skye could get her mom to whip up one of her old world curses to turn Granny's hair bright blue.

Then again, probably Granny June would approve of that one.

Granny June Briscoe was the matriarch of the family-owned Briscoe Ranch Resort where Skye's family had worked for almost four decades, and where Skye worked in housekeeping. Usually, Granny June had a knack for matchmaking—which was the only reason Skye had agreed go on a date with the son of one of Granny's Bingo buddies. Well, that, and the fact that Skye had made a decision to abandon her rebellious nature and settle down like the good Catholic woman she was raised to be.

She had a bite of food halfway to her lips when, miracle of miracles, her phone chimed with an incoming text. It was all she could do to hide her relief.