Unsung

“Yup, Harper is working late. What about you? Where is your lady love?”

“Over there.” Be

“Almost finished with it, too.” Fi

“It should.” Be

Liam couldn’t wait for the day that he could say that: home to his wife.

Soon and very soon, at least he hoped. Prayed. He’d gotten more than just Paul’s approval in regards to asking Harper to marry him. After di

She’d reached over and grabbed his hand, much like she had earlier in the evening. “Paul already told me about what the two of you discussed.” She’d gri

Now he just needed to figure out how to ask Harper. He wanted it to be special…memorable.

“What was your big gesture?” he blurted out, turning to Be

“What?” Be

“With Mel. The big gesture to get her to marry you?”

“Oh.” Dawning recognition overtook his face. “You’re going to ask Harper.”

“Yeah, and it should go without saying that this conversation is embargoed.”

“Obviously.” Be

“Dammit.” Fi

“You guys made a bet?” Liam asked.

“Yeah.” Tripp nodded. “I forget how many of us were in the pool, but the wi

“Seriously? When did this happen?”

“Fourth of July,” Be

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t really have one in asking Mel to marry me. I kind of messed up a couple things at the end there, spectacularly so, and pushed her away. When I realized she was it for me? That she was the home I’d been looking for? Well, all I knew was I had to get her back. She was the future that I wanted, so I proposed and hoped to God that she forgave me.”

“I see that she did.”

“Yeah, I’m one lucky son-of-a-bitch.” Be

“His grand gesture was before he even figured out that he was in love with her,” Tripp interjected.

“How in the world does that work?”

“I helped her with a project at the school. Building bookcases for the library with her students.”

“Jax was the same way with Grace. He built her a house,” Tripp said. “A house that a lot of us helped out with in the making. Took months to do, too. A lot of pla

Be

“A little bit like you?” Liam looked at Be

“A little bit like me.”

Well, that most definitely hadn’t been a problem for Liam. He knew exactly what he wanted.

“What about Shep?” Liam asked.

“He was going to give it all up. Move to New York to be with Ha

“And Brendan?”

“Ahh, Brendan is a special case.” Be

“I have a question.” Fi

“Nashville isn’t really home to me, and I wouldn’t want to take Harper out of hers. I think staying here is the better option. So as to where we are going to settle down? Well I hope it’s here.”

“You hope?” Tripp was now raising his eyebrows, too.

“We haven’t exactly talked about it in depth.”

“Maybe you should.” Be

“Tell me about it.”

“I have a question, too.” Tripp leaned forward. Be

“Yeah. If that isn’t big and grand enough, then he and I are screwed when it comes to finally settling down.” Fi

“I think a case could already be made for us being screwed in settling down,” Tripp said as he finished the last of his beer. “Pretty sure it’s the bachelor life for me.”

“At least you won’t be alone now,” Fi

“Duke?”

“As in The Duke. And that dog is a menace.” He glared at Fi

Fi

“Yeah, well you got the puppy that wasn’t a neurotic basket case.”

Fi

“Apparently,” Liam agreed.

“At least he’s doing better than he was.” Tripp took a sip of his beer before he set it back down on the bar. “When I brought him home he was scared of everything. Would run and hide at the drop of a hat. It’s a small wonder the thunderstorms didn’t give him a heart attack.”

“Yeah, well give him a yard and he will be doing even better,” Fi

“I’m working on it. House hunting isn’t going very well. I’m going again tomorrow.”

“See, Tripp, you are capable of the big grand gesture. It’s just for a dog as opposed to a woman.”

“Here’s a big grand gesture, asshole,” Tripp grumbled, and flipped Fi

“Maybe you should go with him.” Be

“I am.” He had been from the start.

“Okay.” Be

*  *  *

Liam spent the majority of the next day going from house to house with Tripp and Tammy, the real estate agent he’d hired. They looked all over town at more properties than he could even remember. Some out in the middle of nowhere that were surrounded by acres of land and cattle, with the closest neighbor miles away. Others were more centrally located, some nicer neighborhoods that were slowly growing and had more of a family feel. And there were a number of homes on the water, some scattered across the coast and others on Whiskey River.

Harper had made comments before about how much she loved living on the beach, so those were the ones that he paid especially close attention to. And when they walked into the last place he knew he’d found the one.