Love Like Ours (Sugar Lake Book 3)
Page 24
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure she was even breathing as he rose to his feet.
“I want to get tested to see if I have the gene mutation, because you make me want to live forever and have our biological babies and do everything together. And if I carry the gene, we’ll take another route. But for you, I want to find out. I want to make all your dreams come true, even the ones you don’t realize you have yet. Will you marry me, Talia? Let me love you for the rest of our lives?”
“Yes,” came out choked and teary as she threw herself into his arms. “Yes, yes, yes!”
“I will love you forever, baby,” he said as he lowered his lips to hers, sealing his promises with a tender kiss. He took her left hand in his and slipped his mother’s ring on her finger. “I’ll get you your own ring if you’d like. We can design it to be whatever you want.”
“You’re all I want. This ring is perfect. You’re perfect.”
“We’re perfect, baby,” he said just as his father called out, “Archie?”
He kissed her smiling lips and said, “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Me too.”
“Archie? Where are you?” Jonah’s voice was coming closer to the bedroom.
“If I have to be Archie today,” Derek said playfully, “maybe you can be Betty or Veronica.” He waggled his brows.
She narrowed her eyes. “A word of caution. The day you call me someone else’s name in bed is the day you see my ass walk out that door and never come back. That’s a hard limit.”
“Archie?” his father called out.
“We’re up to hard limits now?” He stepped toward the door with a wolfish grin. “You really do want to push your boundaries. Good to know.”
She threw the pillow at him as he left the room, unable to calm her full, happy heart or suppress her own naughty grin. She looked down at the ring on her finger, feeling whole and happy and knowing that after the day-care facility was open, there would probably be more people calling them by many different names. There would be interruptions and frustrations, but she also knew that at the end of the day, those people would be loved and taken care of, and she and Derek would fall into each other’s arms, making it all worthwhile.
A NOTE FROM MELISSA
Spending time with the Dalton family is one of my favorite escapes, and watching Talia and Derek find their happily ever after was a joy. I often tackle heavy topics that don’t usually make it into romance novels, and when I met Derek and Jonah, I knew their story had to be told. During my research it became apparent that every family’s experience with Alzheimer’s is different, and while it was at times heartrending, I hope you enjoyed spending time in Derek and Jonah’s world.
I hope you’ll also enjoy Loving Talia, the companion booklet to Love Like Ours, which depicts the images Derek and his father drew in this book along with a few bonus features.
Sign up for my newsletter to keep up-to-date with my new releases and to receive an exclusive short story (www.MelissaFoster.com/News).
If this is your first Melissa Foster book, you might enjoy the rest of my big-family romance collection, Love in Bloom. Characters from each series make appearances in future books so you never miss an engagement, wedding, or birth. A complete list of all series titles is included at the start of this book.
Happy reading!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a book is not a solo endeavor, and I am indebted to my fans, friends, and family, who inspire and support me on a daily basis. It would be impossible to thank all the people I met while researching early-onset Alzheimer’s, but a special word of thanks goes to Professor Dale Cohen, PhD, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and to Cyndi Oglesby Duke, both of whom fielded my endless questions at odd hours.
If you’d like sneak peeks into my writing process and to chat with me daily, please join my fan club on Facebook. We have such fun chatting about our lovable heroes and sassy heroines, and I always try to keep fans abreast of what’s going on in our fictional boyfriends’ worlds. You never know when you’ll end up in one of my books, as several members of my fan club have already discovered (www.Facebook.com/groups/MelissaFosterFans).
Follow my Facebook fan page to keep up with sales and events (www.Facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor).
If this is your first Melissa Foster book, you have many fiercely loyal heroes and sassy, empowered heroines to catch up on in my Love in Bloom big-family romance collection. You can start with several free first-in-series (www.MelissaFoster.com/LIBFree).
Remember to sign up for my newsletter to keep up-to-date with new releases and special promotions and events and to receive an exclusive short story (www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter).
For publication schedules, series checklists, and more, please visit the special reader goodies page that I’ve set up for you at www.MelissaFoster.com/Reader-Goodies.
A special thank-you to editor Maria Gomez and the incredible Montlake team for bringing Talia and Derek’s story to life. As always, heaps of gratitude to my editorial team and, of course, to my very own hunky hero, Les.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2013 Melanie Anderson
Melissa Foster is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of more than sixty-five books, including The Real Thing and Only for You in the Sugar Lake series. Her novels have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown magazine, the Patriot, and others. She has also painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.
She enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and she welcomes an invitation to your event. Visit Melissa on her website, www.MelissaFoster.com, or chat with her on Twitter @melissa_foster and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor.