“Very cool,” David said. “Was she surprised?”

“About the trip, yes, but not about the getting-married part. We’ve been talking about doing it here, but I thought it would be more fun to get away. We’ll have a party in the spring to celebrate.”

Alex gawked at his brother, seeming stunned by his news.

“What?” Paul asked him. “You aren’t mad, are you?”

“I’d kinda like to be there when you get married.”

“Then why don’t you and Jenny come with us?”

Alex seemed to think that over for about two seconds. “Don’t mind if we do.”

“I don’t mind at all. We’d love to have you.”

“All this talk of weddings is going to make Slim jealous,” David said.

Slim’s first impulse was usually to cringe when people used the words wedding and Slim in the same sentence, but after the nights he’d spent wrapped up in Erin’s arms, the thought of it didn’t seem as repulsive as it once would have.

“It’s okay,” Slim said, affecting a grave expression. “I think I can handle it.”

His dad had told him a long time ago that someday he’d meet a woman who would make settling down seem like the most natural thing in the world. Slim had spent most of his life in skeptical disbelief that it would happen to him as women passed through his life without sticking.

Until now.

Was Erin the woman his dad had told him he’d find? He couldn’t say for sure yet, but he felt more “settled” in her presence than he had with any other woman he’d known before her. That much was for certain. At times, he had to remind himself he’d known her only a couple of months and not years. He was so comfortable with her, it was easy to forget their relationship was still new in many ways.

Up until a few days ago, it had been a nice friendship with the possibility of more. Now it was so much more, and he still had no idea where it was leading. The good news was nothing had to be decided immediately, but a week from now when it was time for him to head south again, he hoped they’d be ready to make a decision or two about the path forward.

He wanted her in his life. It was that simple. And he wanted her badly enough to play by her rules for the time being.

Just as David sank the eight ball in the corner pocket, Jenny called them upstairs for dinner.

“We never stood a chance against him,” Slim said to Alex. “We got hustled.”

“I want to be on his team next time,” Alex said.

“Now don’t fight over me, boys,” David said, grinning. “It’s Christmas.”

They trooped upstairs, still sparring about the pool game.