Roz Denny Fox (29 page)

“What?” Eden shrieked. “Give them my parrot? No way! You should be ashamed. The poor bird just needs more attention.”

“I was kidding. Only kidding.” Dillon captured Eden and kissed her silent, making everyone smile. “Believe it or not, I’ve made peace with that fowl.”

“Wait.” Hayley hung back as Jake dropped her new wool coat around her shoulders and eagerly shepherded toward the door. “I have a gift, too.”

The group eyed Jake, all assuming it was some sort of bride’s gift to her groom. What Hayley pulled from her purse was a bill of sale for the twenty acres on which her mine, and the spring, were located. “I asked your lawyer to handle everything, Wade,” she said shyly. “I wanted to make sure the land belongs irrevocably to the Triple C.”

No one knew quite what to say. “The opals from the mine are all yours, Hayley,” Jake said, cupping her face softly as he turned up her collar. “I’ll help you dig the ore, but everything earned goes into your private bank account.”

Dillon and Wade quickly seconded Jake’s promise.

Rising on tiptoe, Hayley pressed a lingering kiss to her husband’s lips. “Last week when Eden drove me into town to try on the dress, I had the bank move everything from my account into the joint one you established for us, Jake. Cammy and I are Coopers now. It’s share and share alike.”

Her announcement came as a shock. Trusting him with the nest egg that had for so long spelled her independence and Cammy’s future was like announcing to the world that she embraced his love fully and completely.

“Come on, Mrs. Cooper,” Jake whispered. “It’s time for our honeymoon.”

Eden, Dillon, Wade and the remaining guests followed the couple outside into the cool night, pelting them with laughter and birdseed. Charcoal raced around trying to catch the seed in midair.

A smiling Nell Cooper stood framed in the living-room window, her first grandchild cradled in her arms.

“Look, Jake.” Hayley stopped him before he backed the new reliable Land Cruiser he’d bought her out of the drive. “With the lamp shining behind Nell, she and Cammy could be models for my pendant.”

“Mom wasn’t my model, Hayley. Even before Cammy was born, it’s how I pictured the two of you. My wife and my child.” Straining against a seat belt that held him fast, Jake kissed her fully and deeply. A kiss that brimmed with love.

“I love you, Jacob Cooper. I’m about the luckiest woman alive,” Hayley murmured.

“Likewise,” he returned. Jake framed her lovely face with his hands momentarily before drawing away. “But I’m the lucky one. No man could ask for more than a wife like you to make his house a home. You and Cammy complete my life, Mrs. Cooper.”

Hayley snuggled happily against his shoulder. “And you, Mr. Cooper, are the fulfillment of all my dreams.”