by Suzie Grant
~Epilogue~
Four years later
Sunlight poured in sheets even as a misting rain pattered across her face. Ava Stone, wiped the moisture from her forehead and climbed to her feet. She needed to get inside before the rain came down in earnest.
She’d moved from El Paso into a small house outside the small town of Stone Creek, Texas. The name reminded her of one retired assassin and perhaps it was her way to stay close to him. She enjoyed working in her garden and selling her produce to the townsfolk. She lived comfortably. Thanks to Marco’s money. But she’d buried that life and her past, seeking to grow something new here, and she’d succeeded.
Meeting new friends and returning to church, to finally learn who she was as a woman had became her first priority over the last few years. She found she was a good person and a wonderful friend, but she was definitely a lonely woman.
Ava sighed and entered through the back screen door when a knock sounded from the front porch. Curiosity furrowed her brows as she scuttled around the furniture and into the entry way, opening the front door.
Ava glanced back and forth but no one was there. She frowned. I’m hearing things I guess. Just before she shut the door, she glanced down and something caught her eye.
Opening the screen, Ava walked out onto the front porch. A lone bottle of wine wrapped in a yellow ribbon sat on the top step. Her breath caught, her heart thundered, and she glanced around.
She knelt and picked up the beautiful green bottle to cradle against her heart. Could it be?
“I thought I should share my dream with the woman who helped me realize it.” Gabriel materialized from around the corner of the house and her heart shot into her throat.
“Gabriel?”
He tipped his dark hat. “Howdy, Miss Stone.”
Those incredible green eyes devoured her and she stood, quivering under his gaze. “I can’t believe it’s you. Am I dreaming?”
He grinned, dressed in a dark, tailored suite. He fair took her breath away. Propping one black boot on the porch he leaned an elbow on his knee. “No, mi princesa, you’re not dreaming. I was in town and thought I’d stop by.”
“How did you find me?”
“Well, it was a bit difficult once you changed your name but let’s be honest, a beautiful single, woman named Ava is fairly easy to track down, Miss Stone. Especially one as beautiful as you.”
Pleasure heated her cheeks but she raised her chin. “Why did you return, Gabriel? It was difficult enough to get over you the first time you left.”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
Her heart sank and every hope died on a solid breath of disappointment. “Oh? I don’t do that kind of work anymore, Mr. Stone, so I’ll thank you to leave.”
He leapt onto the porch and swept her into his arms. With a single kiss on her stunned lips, he knelt on one knee. “I need a wife, Miss Stone. I’m in desperate need to fill this void left by the sweetest Spanish girl I’ve ever known. Marry me and help me run my vineyard. Besides, we already share the same last name, all you need to do is say yes.”
Her mouth had dropped open in shock at the first word and by the end, she could no longer hold in the emotion. Tears gathered in her eyes as she whispered, “why?”
He stood. “Because I can’t live without you. I can’t stop thinking about you and I damn well want you in my bed, next to me every single night for the rest of my life. Say yes, mi princesa. I need you.”
Ava’s lip quivered. Tears tracked twin paths down her cheeks, and she nodded.
“Say it,” he whispered. “I have to hear you say it.”
She laughed and smiled. Pure joy flowed through her veins as she leapt into his arms, almost conking him on the back of the head with the wine bottle. “Yes! Oh Gabriel, yes! I’ve waited a lifetime for you, why would I waste another damn day?”
He kissed her lips and drank in her tears. “Let’s make sweet wine and sweet love together for the rest of our lives.”