Gabby grabbed Nathan’s hand as the tears streamed down her face. Lindsay got up from her chair and when to kneel in front of Gabby and Nathan. She placed her hand on their joined hands “We love you all so much. We want you to know that.”
Gabby couldn’t speak so she nodded. Nick then moved to kneel next to Lindsay. “Are you okay Mama?”
“Yes, baby. I am just overwhelmed.”
“This seems to be the day for that.” Nick said looking at Dalton and David.
Nathan stood up from his chair and went to shake David and Dalton’s hand. “Thank you. We are blessed to be a part of the Matthews’ family.”
“We are blessed by you too.” Sarah replied for David and Dalton as she rose from the couch to hug Nathan and Gabby. “There is no one who has ever come to this ranch that you two haven’t touched in some way. I am a perfect example of that.”
“Now..” David interrupted the tears and good wishes. “Everyone has the rest of the day off and then meet back here at five all dressed up in your fancy clothes. We are going out to celebrate.”
The meeting apparently was adjourned only no one left. Nick snagged Sarah and dragged her to the kitchen.
“Easy there cowboy. Remember me, has a problem with balance.”
“Sorry, I forgot.”
“It’s okay. What’s up?”
“Lindsay suggested you might have some attorney that you could contact so they could look over this paperwork.”
“Sure. I have some names in my computer. Do you want me to contact them?”
“Yes, please set up an initial meeting with whoever you think would be best.”
“I will. I am so happy for you Nick.”
“Thanks, I am still processing all of this.”
“Me too. And your parents will be too.”
“And…” Sarah whispered “a wedding on top of all this.”
“Shh!”
“Relax, she isn’t suspecting anything.”
“If she does, I am hunting you down!” Nick growled with mock anger
“You wish, cowboy. Dalton will string you up from the tallest tree.”
Nick pulled her into his arms for a hug. “I am glad you came home Sarah.”
“Me too.”
“Hey that is my girl, go get your own!” Dalton growled as he entered the kitchen
Nick and Sarah laughed and broke apart. “I am.” Nick said as he passed Dalton. “Thanks for everything Dalton.”
“You are welcome, Nick.”
Sarah walked over to Dalton and hugged him. “You guys did a good thing today. Nick, Gabby, Nathan…I think you overwhelmed them.”
“Probably, but it was long overdue.” Dalton said leading her back to the family in the den
The family hung around and talked for most of the rest of the day until they all moved to get dressed for their celebration. Everyone but Lindsay knew that this wasn’t going to be their only celebration dinner this week.
Lindsay was working in her office the Friday after all the changes had happened when someone knocked on her door. “Come in” she stated without looking up from her work
“Hi Lindsay. We came to surprise you.” Two little voices said in mostly unison
“Scott, Katie, what are you doing here?” she said getting up from her chair to catch them as they ran to her for a hug
“We came to visit you and ride horses.” Scott said
Nick, David and their parents were walking into the office following the children. “I am so glad to see you. No one told me you were coming.” She said giving Nick a look
“Well, it wouldn’t have been a surprise for you if I had told you.” Nick said grinning at her slyly
The kids went back to Nick and Lindsay moved to greet their parents. “I am glad to see you.”
“It was fun to surprise you like we surprised Nick on his birthday.” Deena, Scott’s mom commented laughing “I think this makes you two even now doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” Lindsay replied
“No” Nick replied
“Why not?” Lindsay asked Nick
“Because I said so.” Nick replied smugly knowing she would argue with him
“We will discuss this later. Alone.”
“Come on Nick, we want to ride.” Scott said pulling at Nick’s hand
“Ok, let’s go.” Nick replied letting himself be pulled towards the door
“Lindsay, come on.” Katie pulled at Lindsay’s hand “Nick said you would show us your horse.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Lindsay let herself be pulled towards the door.
Scott and Katie pulled Nick and Lindsay all the way to the barn. David was talking to their parents as he also led them to the barn.
“When did you set all this up?” Lindsay whispered to Nick
“I will tell you later. I promise.” Nick said as he kissed her cheek. “Will you saddle Brandy?”
Lindsay and Nick walked the kids through the barn so they could look at all the horses stabled there. Nick’s horse Spade was leaning over the door nudging Scott’s hat as David and the parents caught up to them. “Scott is Spade trying to eat your hat?” asked David
“Yes, he keeps knocking it off.” Scott said as he picked it up off the floor again.
“Maybe he is hungry and your hat looked good to him.” David winked at him
“He can’t eat hats, he has to eat horse food.” Scott said
Nick got a bucket of food and let Scott and Katie feed Spade. Lindsay had walked down to Brandy’s stall and got her saddled for their ride. Katie got sidetracked from feeding Spade and went running to Lindsay. “Is this your horse?”
“Yes, her name is Brandy.” Lindsay said as Katie got closer
“She is so pretty.” Katie said in awe
“Yes, she is. She is really nice too. Want to pet her?”
Katie nodded so Lindsay tugged on the bridle a little until Brandy lowered her head to Katie’s level. “Brandy say hi to Katie” Brandy nudged Katie a little bit hard and Katie nearly fell over
Lindsay rushed to catch Katie “I’m sorry, are you okay?” she said worriedly
Katie was laughing “She likes me.”
Lindsay let go of her worry. “Of course she does, she likes all Nick’s girlfriends”
“Are you Nick’s girlfriend too?”
“Yes, is that okay with you?”
“Sure, I like you too.”
“Thank you.” Lindsay said taking Katie’s hand and leading the horse back to Nick.
“Cool horse, Lindsay”
“Thanks, Scott.”
“Are you guys ready to ride?” Nick asked
“Yes!” Scott replied “Is Katie going first again?”
“Well, not exactly.” Nick answered “Lindsay and I are going to walk beside you as you each ride our horses. First time, Katie can ride Brandy and Scott can ride Spade and then we will switch.”
“Yes!” Scott pumped his fist in the air
“You guys go with Lindsay to the corral, I’ll be right there.”
“Come on.” Lindsay said leading the way to the corral to wait on Nick.
Lindsay told the kids to stay with David and their parents while she went on into the corral. She opened the gate and closed it behind her. She mounted up and rode around the arena to exercise Brandy. Nick brought Spade in and did the same thing. Nathan walked up to join the crowd at the gate and was introduced to the Dowd’s and the Jones’.
When Nick and Lindsay were done exercising their horses, they wandered back to the gate. Nick asked David and his father to bring the kids in while he and Lindsay held the horses.
Nathan brought Katie to Lindsay and held the horse while Lindsay lifted her onto the horse. David brought Scott to Spade and lifted him up. “Okay, Scott and Katie. Hold on to the pommel and we will lead the horses. David and my dad are going to walk on the other side of you also. Ready?”
They both nodded and Ni
ck told Lindsay to head out and they would follow. They group walked around and around in the corral and then switched kids on the horses. Spade was so big, Katie’s legs didn’t hang down very far so Nick was extra cautious with her.
After their rides, Nick helped them walk the horses to the hitching rail outside the barn. They would go for a group ride after everyone who wanted a ride got saddled up. Only the fathers wanted to go, so Nick and Nathan went to get two more horses. David saddled his and joined the riding party.
Katie rode with Lindsay who led the group to the creek and Scott wanted to run the whole way there but since he rode with Nick it didn’t happen. They stayed a few minutes at the creek and then headed back to the ranch.
As the group tramped into the house, Gabby came to greet them and directed Nick where to take their luggage.
“How did you all get here?” Lindsay asked Deena.
“Your plane. Nick and Dalton arranged it.”
“It is wonderful to see you all. I was so surprised when they came running into my office.”
“Well, Nick wanted to celebrate the kid’s good checkups so he arranged for us to come for the weekend. We are all going out for a fancy dress up dinner tonight.”
“We are?” asked Lindsay looking at Nick
“Yes, it is a surprise for you to see them and go out to dinner at the Chambers Hotel.”
“Wow, I am surprised.” grabbing Nick’s arm to drag him to the office “We will be right back.”
Lindsay and Nick entered her office and Lindsay shut the door. “Thank you for my surprise. That was sweet of you and so nice of you to think of them.” She said as she kissed him. “It is a good thing Sarah and I went shopping yesterday. She happened to be in on your plan so she directed me to the fancy dresses, didn’t she?”
“Guilty, I am afraid. You don’t mind do you?”
“No.” she said opening the door to go back to their guests. Only no one was in the living room anymore. David was just exiting after receiving a phone call. “Go change we are leaving soon.”
Nick kissed Lindsay and told her he would be right back after he changed.
Lindsay went to her room and showered. She was still in her robe when someone knocked on her door. “Come in Nick.” She called out
“How did you know it was me?” he asked entering
“Because I am always about this point in my dressing when you arrive back here.”
“I plan it that way so I can watch you get dressed.”
“I figured you did.” Lindsay said walking around him admiring his suit. “You look very handsome! I like this suit.”
“Thanks, now let’s see what is under that robe today.” He said reaching for the ties. Lindsay let the robe fall to the floor after Nick untied it. “I like this part of your outfit, now go put on the rest so I can admire it too.”
Lindsay laughed and moved to the dressing room. “By-the-way, Lindsay, I love your taste in lingerie.” Nick commented as he followed her.
“Go sit down out there, you are making me nervous.” Lindsay said shooing him out.
Nick left but wondered “Why are you nervous?”
“I want you to like my new dress.”
“I’m very sure I will. I like your taste in clothes.”
Lindsay stepped into the dress and pulled it up. She grabbed her shoes and stepped out of the room.
“Yes, I do like that dress.” The dress was a navy blue short dress with spaghetti straps that crisscrossed in the back and had a low-cut square neckline. There was a pattern of roses carefully embroidered in the material. The roses only showed up in the right lighting. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
“Thank you. Are we ready to go?”
Nick nodded and opened her door. Everyone else was in the living room waiting on them. Scott and Katie ran to grab Nick’s hands as he walked in. “You guys look awesome.” Nick said to them. “Are you ready to go?”
The limousines were waiting outside as they all left the house. They divided up and got into the cars and started the journey to the hotel. The drivers had been instructed to pull into the underground parking so they could take the private elevator to the top floor. The private dining room upstairs would be their destination.
Nick made sure that he and Lindsay were the last ones to reach the room. The hotel staff had decorated the room according to his instructions. Everyone walked in and found a place to sit down. Lindsay noticed that Greg and CeCe Davis were there also along with Nick’s brothers Travis and Colin. “Hi Greg and CeCe. It is good to see you again.”
Nick took Lindsay by the hand and led her over to stand next to two bouquets of red roses. Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a box as he knelt down in front of Lindsay. He opened the box and held it for her to see “Lindsay Matthews, I love you so much. You have made me so happy the last few months and I want that to continue for the rest of my life. Would you honor me by becoming my wife?”
Lindsay was crying as she spoke to him. “I would be honored to be your wife. I love you so much, Nick Cates.” Nick placed the ring on her hand and stood up to kiss her as the crowd erupted in applause. Nick picked her up and kissed her again. He had arranged for a photographer to be there and thankfully Lindsay hadn’t seen him until he started taking pictures after Nick had started the proposal.
“I love you, Lindsay!” Nick whispered to her as he sat her down again. “I love you Nick!” she whispered back as they stepped apart to accept the well wishes of their family and friends.
“You all were in on this weren’t you?” Lindsay said to everyone in general.
“Yes” replied Dalton “we all had our part to play.”
Gabby stepped up to hug her son and then her new daughter. “You are so special to me. I love that you love my son.”
“I love you Mama.” Lindsay replied crying again
Nathan was right behind Gabby with a hug for his son and new daughter. After everyone had hugged and greeted them again, Nick drew Lindsay over to the suite across the hall.
“Nick, where did you get this ring?” she asked looking at the ring really well for the first time
“That ring set is my great-grandmother’s wedding ring set. Mama gave it to me to give to my bride. She said you could change the setting and use the diamond in the new ring.”
“No way. It is beautiful just like it is.”
“That is what I told her you would say.” He said as he kissed her gently “I have one more thing for you.”
“Oh man, I am flying already. What is it?”
“Turn around and lift your hair.” He said reaching into his pocket again. Lindsay did as instructed and Nick fastened a necklace around her. He moved her to the mirror in the entryway so she could see it. The necklace was a heart shaped locket with a diamond. “It is beautiful.” She said turning to hug and kiss him. “Thank you. I love you and I can’t stop shaking.”
“I can now that I have proposed.”
“I thought you wanted to wait a while to get engaged. That is what you said last weekend.”
“That was just to throw you off track. I have been hatching this plan for weeks. I just needed to put it into play which I did on Monday.”
“Monday? You did all this in less than a week?”
“I had lots of help. It pays to know a few high powered friends.”
“Now we have to think about a wedding.” Lindsay commented shaking again
“Tomorrow is soon enough for that. We have to get back to our guests.”
“I wondered why Greg and CeCe were here for a celebration for Scott and Katie.”
“That is why I proposed almost as soon as we walked in. I didn’t want you to have time to question them too closely. Besides, I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Nick, I am so happy and I don’t want to wait long to be your wife.”
“That would be great with me.” Nick said bending down to
kiss her again.
The dining room was full of great friends and conversation as they returned. Gabby came to greet Lindsay. “Did he tell you about the ring?”
“Yes, it is beautiful and I am not changing it in anyway. Thank you for your part in this celebration. I love him very much.”
“I know sweetie.” Gabby said kissing her new daughter again.
Lindsay and Nick sat down at the table with everyone else and began to eat. Lindsay was still shaking so hard she didn’t eat much.
“You are not eating, babe” Nick stated
“I can’t. I am still shaking too much. I am also too excited to eat.”
Sarah was sitting next to Lindsay. “You look radiant Lindsay. Is it sinking in yet?”
“No, when will it?”
“It took me a week at least. But my courtship was a bit shorter than yours.”
“Two weeks barely?” Lindsay reminded her
“Yes. Just a little over. Dalton was a bit impatient.”
“Yes, Nick and I took things a little slower.”
“But I am suspicious that your wedding will come faster than mine.”
“Yes, if possible. I want it simple and at the ranch as soon as it can be arranged. Will you help me?”
“Of course. Anything you need, I’ll help you.”
“Thank you. I am so out of my comfort zone.”
“Not me. I love it. We will plan you the perfect wedding.”
Dalton leaned around Sarah to talk to Lindsay, “She has already been planning for weeks. She has caterers, flowers, cake, dresses all laid out so you can pick your options.”
“Oh thank heavens you are so organized, I would be floundering.”
“We will start looking at things next week, for tonight enjoy your celebration.” Sarah said squeezing Lindsay’s hand.
Nick and Lindsay walked outside to the pool area after their guests went to their rooms for the night. The couple was not ready to be separated yet. Nick removed his coat and tie then sat down on one of the lounge chairs and assisted Lindsay to sit down between his legs.
“Are you happy, Lindsay?” Nick asked uncertainly
“Very much so. I have wanted to be your wife for a long time. I want to be a good wife to you.”
“You will be a great wife. You are supportive of me, you love me and you want to be with me.”
“You don’t want a really big wedding do you Nick?”
“No, just family and a few friends.”
“Are you going to ask Dalton to be your best man?”