Page 161 of Reluctantly You

I arch an eyebrow at him and he blushes. “A guy?”

“Yeah, a friend of a friend. Anyway. He fixes things when I break them.”

“Okay, well, might want to give him a call. If not, no worries. I too, have a guy. We can get it patched up before Momma Del comes home with the kids,” I say.

Basil grins at me and then pulls Mitch into a hug just as Gideon comes out of the house. I watch as Gideon pulls Mitch in for another hug and then a long kiss, one that makes me crave my own husband in very carnal ways.

I glance away, and then turn back toward him when I see Gideon stride toward Whit, a determined look in his eye.

“What’s he up to?” I ask Mitch.

“Some kind of proposition for a co-op between their companies.”

“Huh. How…odd.”

We both watch as Gideon holds out his hand and they shake it, Caleb nuzzling into Whit’s neck and nibbling on his earwhile Gideon takes a seat next to them and starts to talk. But I don’t think too much about any of it because Mitch interrupts suddenly.

“He told me he loved me. Loves me,” he amends. “Gideon loves me.”

My mouth opens and then closes. “Really?”

“Yeah, I uh, he said it right when we got here and I didn’t say anything back.”

“Mitch,” I reply with a small laugh. “You don’t need to say it back if you’re not ready.”

“I mean, I do. I want to, but I think I fucked up.”

My eyes meet my brother’s. Such a different man from who he used to be. Open and honest, speaking about his feelings.

God, what a few months can do to a man. It’s amazing.

I can’t imagine who he will be in a few years’ time. Ten?

Jesus.

“If you love him, Mitch, you tell him. Go tell him now if you want.”

He shakes his head and slinks back. “He’s busy.”

“I’m sure he’ll want to hear it.”

He scoffs, running a hand across his jaw. “Yeah, okay. I can do that. Just go up there and say that I love him. That I want to marry him.”

My eyes bug from my head. “Good god, marriage?”

His cheeks flame. “I mean…yeah?”

“Do you mean it?” I ask, my eyes growing wet once more. Fuck, the amount of times I’ve cried this past year is unbelievable.

“Yeah, was thinking maybe Basil could walk me down the aisle…what do you think?”

“I think he’d cry more than you,” I say with an unseemly snort.

“Yeah, probably. He cried the other day over a dead tomato plant.”

“That tracks.”

We’re silent for a moment and then I nudge him. “Go tell that man you love him and want to marry him, and then come back and we can discuss you buying an RV so you can travel with Sem and me and the kids. They adore you, by the way.”