His excitement had to be the aftereffects of adrenaline, but she’d take it. As Cash wrapped thick ropes around Beau’s hands and feet, Anna let herself lean back into Sean’s arms.
“You’re everything to me, Anna George,” he said, his voice roughening as he pulled her close. “Everything, you hear? And I’m not letting anything bad happen to you, ever again.”
If anyone could fulfill such a promise, it was Sean. She turned in his arms and pulled his face down to hers and kissed him.
EPILOGUE
Three Weeks Later
ANNA TIED HAYLEY’S hair ribbon and adjusted Hope’s. “Good. You both look lovely. Now, play with Blackie until I’m ready, and we’ll go out to greet our guests.”
“You look pretty, too, Mommy,” Hope said. And then both girls rushed out into the cabin’s living room. An excited series of barks let Anna know the girls had followed her instructions.
She studied herself in the mirror. Did she look good?
Her hair was still on the short side, but she’d gotten it shaped so it framed her face better. Her figure—she turned sideways and studied herself critically—well, she’d put on a couple of pounds, but she’d needed to. Pretty soon, if things kept up the way they’d been, she’d have to start watching the pasta and pastries.
Her face was the biggest change. For once, she actually looked rested. Felt that way, too.
She sent up a silent prayer of thanks for her girls’ safety and well-being, for her own, for the blessings she’d found in this community.
For Sean.
And she didn’t need to go there, because she’d start daydreaming. She leaned forward to do a quick bit of eye makeup, then straightened her lightweight shirt and denim capris.
“Come on, Mommy. Mr. Sean’s here!”
And that blush gives everything away. She rolled her eyes at her own pink face in the mirror and took a few deep breaths before coming out of the bathroom to face her girls, her dog, her life.
And her man.
His eyes darkened when he saw her. “You look nice.”
She struggled to keep the wide smile off her face. “You clean up nice, yourself.” Sean had shaved off his beard, and he was wearing a collared knit shirt.
Faded, ripped jeans, and of course he was still huge, but he looked considerably less scary than when she’d first seen him just a couple of months ago.
“Are we ready?” he asked, holding out his arm to her and winking at the girls.
“Yeah!” they cried, and they went out to the Sea Pine’s main driveway, where half the town, it seemed, was already lined up and waiting for today’s grand reopening.
As soon as they opened the gate, things got hectic. But they all knew their roles. Tony and Sean showed people around, and Anna took photos to post on their new website and social media pages.
The girls and Blackie took charge of the kids who arrived, many of them new friends from the library or from Ma Dixie’s. There was soon a small army of youngsters running from the beach to the renovated playground to the rustic shack that would be a combination office, concession stand and general store.
As she talked to people and posted pictures, Anna felt light, focused, clear. She hadn’t known how oppressive even the distant threat of Beau had been to her, but now that he was behind bars along with the Mahoney brothers, she finally felt safe.
“Anna!” Sean beckoned her over, and she joined him, Rita and Jimmy at the pair of huge cook pots. “I’m going to bring out the reserve supplies, because we’ve got twice as many people as we expected.”
“Which means you can take over shucking corn, if you don’t mind,” Jimmy said, pointing to three bushel baskets of it.
“Or you can do shrimp.” Rita’s face was flushed as she stirred pieces of sausage into one of the pots, but she looked happy.
Anna worked comfortably with the others, and their low country boil went off without a hitch, people eating giant bowls of food over newspaper-covered tables. Even the twins learned how to peel shrimp and throw the shells into the big heap in the middle of the table.
“We’ve got so many people from out of town,” Anna marveled to Miss Vi during a moment’s break.
“I put out the word to all the libraries in the surrounding counties,” the older woman said. “Let them know you’re planning to have reading corners in most of the cabins, and information about local library events. They were happy to share the information with their patrons.”
“Thank you!” Anna hugged the older woman, who looked startled, but soon hugged her right back.
“I want in on this,” Claire said, coming over, resplendent in a red swimsuit, sarong and high-heeled sandals. She looked like a 1940s film star and was catching a lot of attention.
Obligingly, Anna hugged her, too. “I know you spread the word among your family and friends. Thank you so much.”
“We gotta keep you in the area,” Claire said. Then she turned and beckoned to Rafael. “He says he wants to hire you as an assistant. Isn’t that right?”
Rafael put an arm around Claire. “That’s right, and you would still have time to help Sean manage the Sea Pine Cottages.”
Sean, who hadn’t strayed far from her all day, ambled over. “What’s going on, now?”
“Rafael wants to hire Anna to help with the GED classes,” Claire said. “Isn’t that great?”
“Um...”
Claire leaned over and kissed Rafael’s cheek, then clung to his arm. “I may have told him to do it,” she said.
Sean’s expression went thoughtful. “She’d be good at it,” he said finally, smiling at Anna.
A small worry Anna hadn’t realized she was holding lifted off her shoulders and floated away.
Sean was nothing like Beau and never would be. That part of her life was over. He was protective of her and her daughters, yes. But he’d never stand in her way or prevent her from being who she was.
Cash approached them from behind and tapped Sean on his shoulder. “Good job, man, but I’m outta here.”
“Oh no!” Anna turned toward him, hands on hips. “You can’t leave already!”
She’d grown fond of Cash, and not only because of the role he’d played in rescuing her from the Mahoney brothers. He’d started treating her like a sister, teasing her about her freckles and buying way-too-indulgent gifts for her girls.
“’Fraid so,” he said. “This small-town stuff makes me crazy.”
Sean narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Work through it, man,” he said.
Cash let out a disgusted noise. “Just because you turned into a homebody, that doesn’t mean I have to.”
Liam approached in time to hear Cash’s remark. “Sean was always a homebody,” he said. “It’s just that now he has a good woman beside him.”
“That’s for sure.” Both Cash and Liam looked at Anna fondly, causing heat to rise in her face.
Because no matter what his brothers said, no matter how warm and connected he’d been acting in the past couple of weeks, Sean hadn’t spoken to her yet about a future.
After they saw Cash off, and Liam went over to join a group of people—as far away from Yasmin as possible, Anna noticed—Sean cleared his throat. He was looking at Anna with an odd expression on his face. “Come over here,” he said, nodding toward a picnic table a little away from the crowd. “I want to talk to you a little.”
Something about his face made her nervous. “Um...there’s still some corn left to shuck.”
“We did enough. Rita and Jimmy can do what little’s left if they need to.”
Anna glanced over to see the older couple standing close together, renewing the supply of fresh corn on the cob to roast on the grill.
Perching on the top of the picnic table, Anna opened her mouth to comment, but when Sean knelt on the ground before her, whatever she’d been ab
out to say flew from her mind. “Sean? What...?”
“I love you, Anna. I’ll always love you.”
Anna’s heart stuttered, then came back beating hard and fast. “Come up here and sit by me,” she said, reaching out to him. “You’re too far away.”
He smiled and nodded. “I want to be close to you, too,” he said, and rose gracefully to sit beside her on the picnic table. “And I respect and admire you, and I want to ease your burdens.” He put an arm around her and stroked her hair, her cheek.
She’d never felt such tenderness in her life.
Her eyes filled, but she didn’t want to cry. She looked to the side and saw Hayley and Hope, holding hands, running down a sand dune, their hair shining golden in the sun.
Sean leaned close and took her hand. “I love them, too. If you’d let me, and if they’d accept me, I’d like to try and be a father to them.”
A tear did escape then, rolling down her cheek.
He was fumbling in his pocket, and then he took her hand. “Look at me.”
She did, and the love in his eyes radiated from him like ocean waves, taking her breath away.
“Marry me, Anna,” he said.
She bit her lip and tried not to cry.
He turned her hand over and slid the ring onto it. “Just try it on,” he urged, speaking faster now. “I know it’s quick, and you might need time, just try it and I’ll know if I got the right size, because maybe later, after you’ve—”
She put a finger to his lips. “Sean.”
He lifted his eyes to hers.
“I’ll marry you,” she said.
He pulled her into his arms.
There was a whoop from the crowd she hadn’t known was listening, and suddenly all their friends were around them, congratulating them, hugging them, shedding tears of their own. Hayley and Hope pressed forward through a crowd that willingly parted for them, hands ushering them toward Anna.
“Is Mr. Sean gonna be our daddy?” Hayley asked.
Sean knelt before the twins in full marriage-proposal stance. “I would like to,” he said. “Would you have me for your daddy?”
They looked at each other, and broad smiles broke out across their faces. “Yes!” they shouted together, voices clear and strong.
Sean opened his arms to both of them, and Anna knelt down to get in on the hug of her new family, her heart swelling with gratitude.
Safe Haven. She and her girls had found it, at last.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Country Strong by Linda Lael Miller.
SPECIAL EXCERPT
FROM LINDA LAEL MILLER
Rancher Cord Hollister didn’t expect to ever see Shallie Fletcher again, especially after the way they left things so long ago. But when she returns to Painted Pony Creek, Montana, to find her birth mother, Cord is there to help and maybe even set things right between them.
Read on for a sneak peek at Country Strong,
the first book in the brand-new Painted Pony Creek series
about three best friends whose strength, honor and independence
exemplify the Montana land they love,
from #1 New York Times bestselling author
Linda Lael Miller!
ONCE IN HIS TRUCK, Shallie turned to him and said, “I know I keep saying thank you—but thank you, Cord. I’m so grateful for your help.”
“I owe you this. And more...”
“Why?”
“You’re a reminder, a happy reminder, of the past.” Before she could disagree, he said, “That was poorly phrased. I meant, we go back as friends...and I’ve always been attracted to you.” He hadn’t intended to say that, but there it was. Maybe he hadn’t really recognized it eighteen years ago, with Reba complicating his emotions. And maybe this feeling had crept up on him in the last week. But what he’d said was true. He also realized that what he felt was more than simply attraction.
“I’m not sure I buy that,” she said. “Anyway, the past is past, if you’ll forgive the cliché.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I can forgive the occasional cliché. And can you forgive me for being such an idiot...that night?”
“I get it. You were in love with Reba.”
“That was what? Two decades ago? And what I know now is that I missed an opportunity with you.”
Again, he could hear her intake of breath. “Oh, Cord, if you only knew.”
“If you only knew...”
“Stop the car.”
He pulled his truck to the side of the road as she released her seat belt, slid her arms around his neck and leaned toward him. And that was when they kissed.
We should’ve done this before, he thought. Almost did. That truly had been a missed opportunity, and the memory of it had never really left him. Even if he’d pretended it had...
After that kiss—initiated by her—Shallie felt as if her life had changed. It was like one of those defining moments in the romance novels she sometimes read. As if this was what she’d been waiting for all these years. And the truth? It was, she admitted. Despite a whole, and in many ways gratifying, other life with a man she’d loved, Cord was still the one she longed for. The one she couldn’t forget. And their kiss had brought her everything she wanted from him. Passion and compassion. Excitement and comfort. Memory and renewal. Strong and yet contrasting emotions all at once.
When Cord drove the rest of the way home, she didn’t talk, but neither did he.
What could they have said to each other? It was too soon, she told herself. She felt as if life had led her back to him.
Country Strong
by Linda Lael Miller
Available February 2020 wherever
HQN books and ebooks are sold.
www.Harlequin.com
Copyright © 2020 by Hometown Girl Makes Good, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9781488055645
Forever and a Day
Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the additional works as follows:
Mixed Messages
Copyright © 1990 by Linda Lael Miller
Low Country Hero
Copyright © 2019 by Lee Tobin McClain
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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