Shifting in his seat, he tried not to panic, telling himself he could try again the next night. One day wasn’t a big deal. Sure, he’d rehearsed what he was going to say all day, but they could make reservations again. He just wanted to get engaged before filming for the second season resumed so there was no chance the producers could capitalize on it and televise the proposal for the whole world. The restaurant he’d told Tomi about was the perfect place to ask her to marry him. It was remote enough to keep them out of the limelight while still being romantic.
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he imagined what Susan would say once she found out they were engaged. Ian did not want to marry Tomi in front of an audience of thousands and thousands of viewers. Heck, if he had it his way, he and Tomi would get married by Christmas when their family would be around. They could even take a week-long honeymoon somewhere tropical.
And all before the Hollywood people got wind of any of it.
Tomi was telling him about her attempt to make sugar cookies with Lindsey and Shane. He only half-listened to her story as he lowered his left hand to his leg and surreptitiously felt the edges of the small box that would hopefully make this the best birthday ever.
“What about you?” Tomi asked. “Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah. It was grueling, but also very rewarding.” He rolled his shoulders back, hoping to loosen up a little. The work had been hard, but at least no one had been following him around with a camera. He still wasn’t used to that aspect of his new job. During the past few months, his home, office, and even his SUV had been invaded by cameras. If he didn’t love Tomi so much he would’ve quit after the first hour. Working with her everyday was the sole reason he was doing the reality show. She loved being in front of a camera, and her fans loved her just as much.
“Ian, I’m sure Montana Gold will be okay,” Tomi said in a soft voice. “Jace didn’t sound too worried.”
Snapping out of his thoughts, he glanced over at her and wished he could stare at her all night long. She was the most beautiful woman, both inside and out, and he couldn’t believe how lucky he was that she was his. “You’re probably right.” He offered her a smile. “I promise I’ll be better company once I see the foal.”
Pushing aside his concerns, for now, he and Tomi talked about the upcoming Christmas holiday and all the events they wanted to attend without a camera in tow. Snow Valley went all out when it came to Christmas, and the producers of the show had wanted to capture some of the holiday spirit for the viewers of Loving the Rugged Vet. Ian hated the title of the show, but it was better than some of the other suggestions like The Sexy Cowboy Vet. He wished they wouldn’t focus on him so much. Tomi was the real star.
The last episode they’d filmed would air the night before Christmas Eve. It featured Tomi and him participating in some of Snow Valley’s holiday festivities, including a ride on the town’s Polar Express. The train ride had been magical, especially with Lindsey and Shane on board with them. Ian had wished his nieces and nephews could’ve come with them, but they were still in school and lived more than a day’s drive away.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be,” Ian said as they arrived at the ranch. “You can go visit with Ivy or Caytie for a few minutes, so you don’t get your dress dirty.”
“I think I’ll just come with you.” She unclicked her seatbelt. “I’m worried about Montana Gold too.”
Nodding his head, Ian killed the engine and got out of the car. As he rounded the front of the vehicle, he looked toward the McAllister’s house. Aside from the Christmas lights adorning the outside of the house, the windows were dark. Caytie was probably over at Ivy’s house. Jace liked her spending as much time with the new baby as possible. The man was crazy about his daughter and wanted his wife to get baby hungry so they could give Georgia a baby brother or sister.
Ian didn’t know if he’d call himself baby hungry. He just knew that whenever he got to hold Ivy and Kellen’s son, something powerful stirred inside of him to start his own family. He had a special bond with the little boy since he’d delivered him, but it was more than that. Ian wanted children with Tomi.
The two of them had talked about having kids, but Tomi wanted to wait a few years whereas Ian wanted to start right away. She’d told him she wasn’t sure she wanted her pregnancy and delivery documented on television. Knowing the producers, they’d probably want to stage a delivery in the barn and have Ian deliver their baby. Ian hoped they weren’t still doing the show by then. They’d change the title to something even stupider like The Rugged Vet Becomes a Daddy.
“Watch your step,” Ian said as he helped Tomi down from the SUV. A small patch of snow covered the ground where he’d parked. “I managed to find what little snow we’ve gotten so far.”
Tomi took his hand, laughing at his disgruntled tone. She liked to joke around with him that she was the reason for this year’s lack of snow. “The forecast calls for a big snowstorm next week, so don’t stress too much.”
“You’re going to allow that?” he teased, helping her over another patch of snow. “I thought you hate the cold.”
“I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would.” She snuggled in close to him. “Besides, I’ve got a super-hot boyfriend to keep me warm.”
“You do, do you?” he asked, stopping long enough to steal a lengthy kiss from her.
“So hot,” she said when he lifted his head a few moments later.
Ian would’ve gone in for another kiss, but Jace and Kellen opened the barn door. “I called it,” Kellen said. “You owe me five bucks.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” Jace said. “I’m the one who said they’d be making out, not you.”
“We’re that predictable?” Ian asked, taking Tomi’s hand again and leading her to the barn.
“Fraid so.” Jace patted him on the back. “I promise we won’t be long. Montana Gold seems to be doing fine now.”
“That’s lucky,” Tomi said in an overly cheerful voice.
“Isn’t it?” Kellen said with a slight smirk.
Ian felt like he’d missed something, but was too relieved to hear the foal was doing better. The likelihood of having to stay all night wasn’t very high.
Arriving at the stall, he watched a very robust colt prance around his mother. Montana Gold had just finished nursing and didn’t appear to have anything wrong with him. Still, Ian examined the colt just to make sure.
“Everything looks good,” he said, removing the latex gloves. “Temps normal and his appetite isn’t diminished.”
“Good to hear,” Jace said, pulling the gate closed. “Sorry again about the detour.”
“No problem,” Ian said, glancing at his watch. “We’ve got plenty of time to make our reservations.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jace said when they exited the barn. “Caytie has something she forgot to give you, Tomi. She wants you all to stop by the house before you head out.”
Ian was about to suggest that Tomi go on ahead of him so he could go over the proposal in his mind again, but she tugged on his hand, pulling him behind her. “I think I know what it is, but I’ll need your help to carry it out.”
“You sure she’s awake?” Ian asked as they approached the darkened house.
“Yeah,” Jace said, wiping his boots on the welcome mat in front of the door. “Georgia’s sleeping, so we like keeping all the lights off.”
Ian thought that was kind of weird, but he wasn’t a parent either. He wiped his boots on the carpet and held the door open for Tomi to go in ahead of him. Jace held the door for Ian, indicating with a nod of his chin for him to go next. As Ian crossed the threshold, it occurred to him that Kellen had disappeared.
Knowing something was off, he turned to ask Jace about it. He never got the chance as light flooded the room and a chorus of voices shouted, “Surprise!”
Blinking against the light, Ian scanned the room, certain this was being filmed for the show. He didn’t see any cameras or special
lighting and was shocked to see his parents standing next to Tomi. While he was glad to see his mom and dad, and he thought it was sweet Tomi had planned a surprise party for him, he also knew that taking off with her was totally out.
“Happy birthday,” Tomi said, rushing across the room to give him a hug. “Are you surprised?”
“Yep, I’m definitely surprised.” Ian pulled her in for a hug. “I had no idea you were planning a party for me.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Jace and Caytie’s help.” Tomi gave him a squeeze before stepping out of his embrace to look up at him. “Piper and Gabe helped too. They picked up your parents from the airport a few hours ago.”
“Wow, this is just…wow.”
Concern flickered in her blue eyes. “Ian, I know you wanted to spend your birthday with just me.” She rubbed her lips together. “I hope spending it with a few friends and family will be okay.”
Ian was handling this all wrong. He couldn’t tell her why he was so off-balance. It would ruin his surprise. But his actions were ruining her surprise. “Of course it’s okay.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “I can’t believe you pulled this off without me knowing.” He drew her in for another hug. “Thank you, babe.”
The crowd started singing happy birthday as Jace and Kellen wheeled out a huge birthday cake. Ian laughed when he saw his face plastered on the cake with the words Sexiest Cowboy Alive written in blue frosting below it.
After blowing out the thirty-three candles, Ian hugged his parents. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you until after Christmas,” he said.
“I know. I almost spilled the beans when we were talking the other night.” His mother giggled and put one arm around Tomi’s waist. “This sweetheart of yours made arrangements for us a few weeks ago.”
“Son,” his dad said, slapping him on the back. “If I were you I’d put a ring on her finger.” He winked at Tomi. “She’s a keeper.”
Ian almost told his dad those had been his plans. He was tempted to get down on one knee and just ask her right now. Lindsey wiggled in between the adults to give Ian a hug. “I lost another tooth,” she said, smiling at him with her tongue stuck through the newest gap.
“Congratulations.” Ian gave her a high-five before she darted off toward the buffet table filled with a lot of goodies.
Tomi’s mother hugged him next. Her dad was right behind his wife. When Ian met Mr. Jensen’s eyes, he realized that his future father-in-law was the only one he’d confided in. Ian had called him a few nights ago to ask for permission to marry his daughter. The man had promised not to say anything to his wife since she wasn’t very good at keeping secrets.
“Happy birthday,” Mr. Jensen said, giving Ian a handshake. Then he leaned in close to his ear as he patted him on the back in a one-armed hug. “Sorry about your previous plans, but I couldn’t tell you about the party for obvious reasons.”
“Thank you,” Ian said. He stuck his hand in his pocket, feeling the edge of the ring box. “I’m considering going through with my plans anyway,” he whispered so only Tomi’s dad heard him.
Mr. Jensen’s eyes sparkled with humor. “Son, if you do that then they’d have to rename you the Smartest Cowboy Alive.”
Tomi interrupted them so he could meet Lucy and Cole Taggart’s new baby daughter. The couple had adopted the little girl a few months earlier. In fact, the baby was born on the same day Ian had delivered Ivy’s baby.
He was bombarded by more of his friends with birthday wishes, but his hand kept returning to the pocket with the ring in it. Should he propose right now? Tomi would certainly be surprised. His mother and future mother-in-law would love it too. Yes, he’d wanted it to be private, but not from close friends and family.
It was when Tomi apologized for not having his birthday gift that he decided to do it. “Your present hasn’t arrived yet,” she said, giving his hands a squeeze. “But I promise it will be worth the wait.”
“You don’t need to get me a present.” Ian took her hand in his. “Besides, I already bought one for myself.”
“Did you buy a new truck?” she asked with a laugh. “I knew you were going to give in and do it.”
“Nope. This is much better than a truck.” His heart palpitated wildly as he lowered to one knee. Tomi’s eyes widened with shock as he pulled the ring box from his pocket and opened the lid.
“Ian, what’re doing?” she asked as tears filled her eyes, making them glitter like the diamonds in her ring.
As if someone had pulled the plug on a loud radio, the room suddenly went silent, except for the loud gasp from Tomi’s mother and her prayer of thanks to the Lord.
“Tomi, I think I fell in love with you somewhere between you singing to a horse and you calling me to rescue you from a couple of skunks.” He removed the ring and held it up for her to see. “Working with you nearly every day for the past few months has only increased my love for you. Please make this the best birthday ever by saying you’ll marry me?”
“Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
The audience started clapping as Ian slipped the diamond ring on her finger. Tomi nearly knocked him over when she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly. “How did I get so lucky?” she murmured against his lips.
“I’m the lucky one,” Ian said, pulling back just enough to look in her eyes. “All this time I’ve been looking for a girl I can spend the rest of my life with, but what I found is a girl I can’t live without.”
Epilogue
Three Weeks Later
Tomi’s eyes popped open as she tried to sit up in bed. A pair of muscular arms banded around her, not letting her move. “Where do you think you’re going?” Ian asked, nuzzling the side of her neck with his beard.
“To see if Santa came.” She snuggled back into his arms. “But I think I changed my mind.”
“I say we sleep in just a little longer,” he said, placing a sizzling kiss just below her ear. “Technically, we’re still on our honeymoon.”
“Technically, our honeymoon doesn’t start until we go to Maui,” she said, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck. “But I’m good with sleeping in a little longer.”
He kissed her again and groaned when someone started pounding on the bedroom door. “Wake up, Uncle Ian!” a little voice shouted. “Santa came!”
“When does our plane leave again?” Ian asked with another groan.
“Tomorrow morning.” Tomi gave him a quick kiss before wiggling out from under him. “Come on, sweetie,” she said, tugging on his hand to pull him up from the bed. “Let’s go see what Santa brought us.”
Ian sat up, looking sexy and disheveled with his hair sticking up every which way. Tomi was tempted to delay their appearance a little longer when another knock sounded on the door. “Aunt Tomi, can you please wake Uncle Ian up?”
“Benjamin Davies,” Candice, Ian’s sister-in-law, scolded from the other side of the door. “I told you not to bother your aunt and uncle.”
“I’m not bothering them. Santa came, and he brought Uncle Ian a present.”
“Uncle Ian will open it when they get up,” Candice whispered.
One of Ian’s eyebrows went up. “Santa brought me a present?” he whispered, sounding a lot like his nephew.
“I don’t know. Have you been a good enough boy to get a present from Santa?” Tomi asked, delivering the line with a sexy, southern accent.
Ian reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her into his chest. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
She giggled when he nuzzled her neck with his beard again and started to tickle her.
“I hear them!” Ben said.
“So do I,” Candice said with mild alarm. “I think you need to go see if your cousins are awake.”
“Stop,” Tomi said with another giggle. “Or you’re not getting your present.”
“Yeah, that threat’s not gonna work on me, Mrs. Davies,” Ian said, getting up from the bed. �
�I know you’ve been dying to give me my present for days now.” He grabbed the Christmas T-shirt his mother had given him last night and yanked it over his head.
“I know! I’m so excited.” Tomi straightened her matching T-shirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “I hope you like it.”
Ian took her hand and led her out into the hallway. Candice was halfway down the hall when she stopped and whirled around to face them. “I’m so sorry if Ben…disturbed you.” Pink stained her cheeks. “I told him not to…um…wake you up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ian said with a laugh. “My wife was already trying to drag me out of bed to see what Santa brought.”
“Okay.” She smiled and finger-combed her short, dark hair. “Sorry, we had to all sleep here. There wasn’t any place to stay last minute.”
“It’s not your fault we decided to get married two days before Christmas,” Tomi said as they met up at the end of the hall. “Thank you for coming on short notice.” She hugged her new sister-in-law. “I know it wasn’t easy getting here with all the Christmas presents.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Candice said, giving Ian a soft smile. “I’m happy you two found each other.”
A loud chorus of little voices called out for them to hurry up. Tomi took Ian’s hand and pulled him along. The decision to marry before Christmas had been spurred on by a tweet from a well-meaning teenage girl congratulating them on their engagement. Zach’s little sister didn’t understand or remember that tagging Tomi and Ian with the message meant that thousands of their followers would also get the tweet.
They’d hoped it would die down. But when Susan messaged them to find out if it was true, they knew they had to act fast or season two of Loving the Rugged Vet was going to be Marrying the Rugged Vet. Neither of them wanted to drag out their wedding plans dictated by the shows filming schedule. Ian, especially, didn’t want their wedding televised. Pastor John had married them the day before Christmas Eve.
Ian’s brothers had hastily made the trip, towing along their families and all their Christmas gifts. However, there was no room left in the inn or any other nearby hotel. All of Snow Valley’s accommodations had been booked for months due to the town’s annual holiday celebrations that turned the town into a winter wonderland.
Caught Kissing the Cowboy: A Return to Snow Valley Romance Page 20
