Nobody Does it Better

by Samantha Chase

  It was a picture of a hotel–bright colors and very retro. “What am I looking at? It reminds me of the hotel we stayed at back in Missouri.”

  Beside her, he nodded. “That’s what I was going for. Instead of The Ashford, I’d like to reach out to Austin to design this–a family-friendly hotel with a retro vibe. Bright bold colors, mid-century modern décor…there would be a pool, playground, an ice cream shop…I’m not sure what else, but I plan on researching a bit more and seeing what else would be desirable.”

  She was reading the small proposal he had written under the picture and it sounded absolutely perfect for Magnolia. “Ryder…I can’t believe you thought of this! It’s amazing!”

  “I haven’t even gotten to the best part,” he said smoothly, scrolling down the screen until he got to a picture of a diner. “This would be your retro diner you talked about. We can either incorporate it into the main building or separate it. I think we’d have to talk to Austin about it and see which version the town would be more likely to sign off on, but…”

  She couldn’t let him finish. Awkwardly, Peyton launched herself into his lap, wrapping herself around him before kissing him soundly. When she raised her head, she knew she was on the verge of tears. “You remembered,” she said with awe.

  “Of course I remembered,” he softly replied. “Duchess, I remember everything you say, and I want to give you everything you want. You have to know that.”

  Reaching up, she cupped his jaw. “I don’t care if you never gave me another thing, Ryder Ashford. I don’t need a restaurant or a diner–although I love them and appreciate them–but I’d love you even if you couldn’t give them to me. Do you understand that? My feelings for you don’t hinge on these grand gestures. It’s you that I love, not the things you can give me.”

  His smile was sweet and a little boyish and endearing. “I know that and you have no idea how much that means to me, but…you’re going to have to get used to me spoiling you.” And with a quick, chaste kiss, he put her back in her seat. “So…we’ll talk to Austin and see which version is more likely to get approved.”

  “Ryder, I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe you came up with this so quickly!”

  “Like I said, I was inspired.”

  “Okay, but…what about The Ashford? I hate that you just have to scrub all those plans.”

  His smile grew. “Funny you should mention that…” He opened up another tab on the screen and motioned for her to look at it.

  “Wait…is that…is that Shawn’s listing?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m lost. What does this house have to do with your resort?”

  This time he was the one to reach for her hand, and with it clasped in his, he explained. “When we first met and I told you about the resort, you had a…strong reaction to it.”

  “I pitched a fit,” she reminded him.

  “Still, behind all your anger toward me was a very real statement. The Ashford–in theory–was a good idea. Just not for Magnolia Sound.”

  Peyton did her best not to gloat because she knew this was hard for him. “Will you build it someplace else?”

  With a small shrug, he said, “Eventually. I’m considering checking out property in the next town over.”

  “Laurel Bay? Really?”

  “I didn’t think there was a place smaller than Magnolia Sound, but…there is quite literally nothing there. It’s a clean slate and possibly the better choice for the resort somewhere down the line.”

  “Oh. Then…what’s with the listing?”

  “That, Duchess, is going to be The Ashford.” He grinned. “Or should I say, the home of the Ashfords–me and you.”

  Now she knew her eyes were ridiculously huge as she stared at him in shock. “But… I mean…that place…and your house that Austin…how…?”

  Fortunately, he took pity on her and explained. “It was a little wishful thinking, but…that property–once it’s renovated–is everything I wanted for the resort. The grounds are incredible, the rooms are going to be gorgeous, and it’s the kind of luxury I enjoy living in. Don’t get me wrong, I love the house on the beach where Austin and Mia are staying, but…I still haven’t been able to live in it and I don’t know if it would ever feel like home. I think with you and I overseeing everything we want done on the house, it could be the perfect home for us. And our family.”

  “Our…family?” she croaked.

  He nodded. “Yeah. Our family. Me, you, our kids, and…a place where our extended family can come and stay. Including our parents. I know it won’t be ready by the time my mother has her surgery, but…I thought about what you said that night and realized how selfless that was. She was awful to you and yet you were still trying to comfort her.” Pausing, he let out a long breath. “You inspire me to be a better person. So I want a home that makes everyone feel welcome. The beach house it great, but it’s not big enough for me to feel comfortable inviting anyone to stay for an extended period of time.”

  “I can understand that, but I’m just completely overwhelmed. This is…it’s a lot to take in.”

  “I know, but I’m excited by all the possibilities.”

  “It’s a lot, Ryder. I mean…this is all just so much! A resort, the diner, the restaurant, the house, the other resort…I mean…how can you do all of it?”

  Standing, he gently pulled her to her feet as his arms banded around her. “Because I won’t be alone. You’re going to be right there by my side–as my partner, my equal, and hopefully…my wife.”

  Her knees went weak, but before she could say anything, he went on.

  “I said it last night and I’m saying it again this morning and yet I still don’t have a ring to make it official, but you have to know that it’s what I want, Peyton. Maybe I should have waited until I did have the ring, but…it wasn’t going to change anything for me. We could get in the car right now and get one, but…”

  He dropped to one knee with her hands in his.

  “Peyton Bishop, I love you. You may not want the world, but I want to give it to you. There has never been anyone that I’ve wanted to share my life with, but from almost the moment we met, I’ve wanted to share everything with you. You don’t have to say yes today. We can wait because…well…you know me. I go after what I want. But I’m also willing to wait for your response. I’ll wait as long as it takes. I just wanted you to know my intentions.” He kissed her fingers and was about to rise when she sank down in front of him.

  “Ryder Ashford, the day you walked into my café in a tuxedo, I lost a little piece of my heart. Now you have all of it. I don’t need a ring and I don’t need the world because…I already have it. You. You are my world and everything you just proposed is scary and exciting and there isn’t anyone else I could do it with except for you. I love you.”

  Tears were clouding her vision, but Peyton didn’t mind. This time when he kissed her, it was slow and sweet and reverent.

  Perfect.

  She had no idea how much time had passed before they stopped and got to their feet, but she was more than a little thankful to be off of the kitchen floor.

  “So what do you say? We can leave right now and go get a ring or we can be responsible adults and go to work? Which do you want?”

  It was a funny question. “There isn’t a jewelry store here in Magnolia, but the drive to Wilmington won’t take too long. We can still be responsible and go to work after lunch, right?”

  “Um…no,” he said with a hint of amusement. “I was thinking we’d fly up to New York and shop at Tiffany’s and find you the perfect ring. Then we’d have a fantastic dinner someplace, stay at the Plaza before coming home tomorrow and then being responsible adults.”

  “Oh…wow! That sounds very tempting.”

  “Come on, Duchess,” he urged, resting his forehead against hers. “Indulge me. Let’s do this.”

  It truly was tempting. Peyton spent most of her life being responsible and unwilling to take risks, but…she was
beginning to see the upside to being a bit more carefree. Ryder studied her face as she pretended to think about it for a moment. “Hmm…I just have one request.”

  “Anything, and it’s yours.”

  “You’re not allowed to fly us there.”

  Ryder’s bark of laughter echoed around them as he hugged her tightly. “My little negotiator, you got it!”

  They packed quickly as Ryder made arrangements with his pilot. Peyton took a few minutes to call the café and made arrangements with her staff and talked to Dana to make sure there wasn’t anything urgent that needed her attention. Once that was done, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

  Ryder’s laptop was still open on the kitchen island, and she walked over and tapped the screen, wanting to look at his plans for the new resort and the diner. But the tab labeled “Peyton’s” caught her eye.

  “Um, Ryder?” she called out.

  “Hmm?”

  “Would you mind showing me the plans for the restaurant? You know…the ones Austin showed me the other night?”

  He casually strode back into the room and smiled warily at her. “Are you sure you want to look at them right now? They really set you off the last time you looked at them.”

  “I’m fine, I promise. I was just a little shocked, that’s all.”

  While he didn’t look completely convinced, he still honored her request and pulled up the plans.

  And then took a giant step back.

  Now that she knew what to expect, she was able to view everything with a clear and calm head. There were a few questions she had to ask and he answered them all without elaborating on them and as she sat back and closed her eyes, she realized she could still envision it all just as she had before. Even with the modifications. With a sad sigh, she looked at him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “If I had just talked to you that night instead of hurling accusations, I would have saved us both a lot of grief.”

  “I disagree.”

  Okay, that was not the response she was expecting. “Excuse me?”

  Nodding, he moved in close. “Peyton, it’s okay for us to argue and disagree. You had every right to be angry with me. We had an agreement and I broke it by not coming to you immediately with the changes that needed to be made.”

  “Maybe…”

  “Plus, I think that bit of a reality check really helped me put things in perspective. You see, I was so laser-focused on The Ashford and why I wanted it here that I didn’t pay attention to all the reasons why it shouldn’t be here.”

  “Shouldn’t?”

  With another nod, he explained. “Peyton, you were right when you accused me of coming in here and wanting to change the town. In my mind I thought it needed to be changed–improved–but I realize now that was just arrogance on my part. This town is perfect.”

  “Well, I don’t know if I’d call it perfect…”

  “It’s perfect because it brought me to you. These projects we’re hopefully going to do will only enhance the town and if this new resort doesn’t work out, then…I don’t know…we’ll sit down with the entire population of Magnolia and ask everyone what it is that they want.”

  Unable to help it, she laughed. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”

  “Not at all. Your great-grandfather created something wonderful here, Peyton. I’m just sorry that I never got to meet him and that I tried to discredit all that he accomplished. It’s time for me to stop thinking only about what I want and start listening to where there’s a need.”

  “You’ve already done that. What you did for Garrett with the veterinary clinic was exactly that.”

  “Yeah, well…Emma had more to do with that than I did, so…”

  “So you’re a slow learner,” she teased. “But the important thing is that you’re learning.” Leaning in, she kissed him. “What time do we have to head to the airport?”

  “We need to leave here in about forty minutes.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Why? What did you have in mind?”

  With a sexy smile of her own, Peyton took him by the hand and led him back to the bedroom. “I’m embracing being a little irresponsible,” she told him. “Let’s see if we can push the limits on getting to the plane on time.”

  His grin was downright lethal. “I really do love the way you think, Duchess. Our lives are never going to be boring, that’s for sure.”

  And she couldn’t agree more.

  Epilogue

  One Month Later…

  “Is this really necessary?”

  “Oh, absolutely.”

  Peyton frowned, not quite sure she believed him. “It seems a bit excessive.”

  “We are all about safety, Duchess. Can’t have you getting hurt on the jobsite.”

  Well, she supposed that was true. “Did it have to be a hot pink hardhat, though? I stick out like a sore thumb.”

  With a swift kiss, Ryder took his place beside her. “That’s the point. I want everyone to know who you are when you stop by to check on the progress of all of this.”

  The “this” he was referring to was her restaurant.

  Hers.

  It was an extremely exciting day, and she knew they were just breaking ground, but it still felt huge to her. The entire Bishop family was there to celebrate with her–including Parker–as well as the whole extended Coleman family.

  And Ryder’s parents.

  They had to close off the street to accommodate all of them, and it was wonderful.

  Ryder insisted on making a big deal out of it with a ribbon cutting and everything before the bulldozers went to work. Afterwards, they were all going back to Peyton’s brother’s place to celebrate.

  And she wasn’t catering it either.

  “Can I please have everyone’s attention?” Ryder called out, interrupting her thoughts. He handed Peyton a megaphone and led her over to a makeshift stage he had put out for her. She held his hand as she stepped up on it and looked out at so many familiar faces. When he smiled up at her, she felt like her heart was beyond full. “You got this, Peyton.”

  She was trembling and her voice was a little shaky when she began to speak, but when she glanced at Ryder and she saw the confidence and pride in his smile, she knew she could do this.

  “I want to thank everyone for coming out today,” she began timidly, but Parker gave her a thumbs up and she knew she could be louder.

  She could finally be who she was truly meant to be.

  “As many of you know, I’ve wanted to own my own restaurant since I was a little girl. Pops understood that and gave me my first opportunity when he left the café to me. I’ve loved that place and it will always be special to me because of the connection to him, but…I don’t feel like it’s truly mine.” Pausing, she shifted the hardhat on her head. “If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be breaking ground on a place all my own, I wouldn’t have believed it. I had no idea the way those plans would change and how that change would be for the better. Thanks to my wonderful fiancé, I can not only build the restaurant of my dreams, but I can do it with the very best man by my side.”

  There was a round of applause as she smiled down at Ryder.

  “So I am very pleased to announce the official groundbreaking of Peyton’s,” she said with a smile. “For years I played around with what I was going to name this place. Back when Ryder and I first met, he had plans for a resort here in town that he was going to name after himself, well…his family name. At the time, I called it egotistical, but the truth is, I understood it because…this place, this restaurant, was always going to be called Peyton’s because it’s finally the place that I always dreamed of–always planned for–and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. Thank you so much for coming out to support me today. I love you all!”

  Then, right on cue, the machines started and dug the first patch of ground up.

  Ryder stepped up onto the stage and spun her around before kissing her. It was far too lo
ud with the bulldozers doing their thing behind them to really say anything to each other, but the kiss he gave her said everything.

  With another round of applause, they stepped off the stage and walked over to their little crowd of supporters. Peyton was immediately embraced by her sister, then her parents, and then her brother. After that, it was a bit of a blur. When the heavy machinery shut down a few minutes later–thanks to Ryder–she was finally able to hear what everyone was saying to her.

  “We’ll see everyone at our place!” Mason called out as he and Scarlett separated from the group. Little by little, people began to leave and Peyton was anxious to follow too.

  “Peyton?”

  Turning, she saw Ryder’s mother walking toward her. She looked great and apparently was feeling a little better as she got closer to her surgery.

  “Hey, Helen!” she said, giving her a hug. “Thank you so much for coming out for this.”

  “After listening to you and Ryder talking about it last week when I called, I knew I had to be here.”

  “Thank you. I know it’s not much–just some dirt getting moved around–but…it’s a lot to me.”

  “As it should be.” Helen gave her a serene smile. “I want you to know that I am beyond grateful to you.”

  “To me? Why?”

  “For starters, I’ve never seen my son so happy. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite as happy as Ryder.”

  Blushing, Peyton nodded.

  “And I’m grateful for all you’re doing for me. You’ve…you’ve welcomed me into your life, your home, your family and…it means the world to me, Peyton, so…thank you.”

  “You’ll always have a place here with us,” Peyton assured her. “I wish the new house was going to be done sooner so you could come and recuperate here, but…”

  “It will be nice to know I can come and see all the wonderful work you’ve done when I’m feeling stronger.” She kissed Peyton on the cheek. “We’ll see you at your brother’s house.”

  Looking around, it was down to just a handful of people, including herself and Ryder. Parker came strolling over and hugged her again. “I am so proud of you!”