“I’m glad.”
“Good,” he said smiling, “because you’re pretty much integral to my plan.”
“I am?” Her fingers curled around his and he lifted their joined hands to kiss her knuckles.
“Oh, you really are. I love you, Kara. See? Told you I’d get back around to the most important part of this.”
“I’m liking it so far.”
He swallowed a knot of emotion so huge it threatened to choke him, but still he found a way to say, “I never thought I could love this much. But I do. You’re everything to me, Kara. And I want the chance to prove it to you.”
“Cooper…”
He spoke fast, half afraid she’d shut him down before he could finish. “No, listen. I won’t let you go without a fight, Kara. If you get on a plane, I’ll follow you. If you move, I’ll go wherever you do. I will spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much I love you. If you’ll just give me that chance.”
Kara’s heart swelled in her chest so that she could hardly draw breath. This was everything and more than she’d ever hoped for. And oh, she wanted to believe. She looked into Cooper’s eyes and read the very emotions she’d so hoped to see. But she had to have more.
She wasn’t prepared to settle for less than everything.
“I love you, too, Cooper,” she said.
“Thank God,” he murmured, shoulders slumping in relief.
“But…”
“There’s a but?”
She smiled at him. “I won’t settle for being your assistant or live-in lover. I want it all, Cooper. I want to be married. I want kids. A family.”
He gave her a grin that nearly knocked her off her feet. “Of course we’ll get married. And we’ll have dozens of kids!”
“Dozens?”
“That part’s negotiable,” he acknowledged, then added, “and you won’t be my assistant anymore. We’ll hire someone else.”
Kara shook her head and leaned in for a long, lingering kiss. “Nobody butters your toast but me, Cooper.”
He sighed and drew her into the circle of his arms. “Now that sounds like a plan.” After a quick hug, though, he pulled back and said, “Come on. I’m taking you back to the house. We’ve got a lot of making up to do.”
“Now that’s a plan,” she said, throwing his own words back at him.
They had to take a cab, since Jeremiah’s truck had indeed been towed. But Cooper promised to ransom it… later.
He carried her up the short flight of steps to the front door, but before he could open it, the heavy wood door swung open in invitation. Tightening his grip on Kara, Cooper cautiously stepped into the foyer and stopped dead.
Warmth spilled through the old house and sunlight seemed to spear in directly through the walls, making the whole place brilliant with a hazy, golden glow as unearthly as it was beautiful.
“What?” Cooper whispered.
“Shh…” Kara urged, smiling. “Listen.”
Cooper held his breath and waited. Then he heard the soft, musical sound that Kara had.
A young couple, laughing with unrestrained joy.
Together at last.
Epilogue
The truck had been bailed out of the storage yard, Kara’s already checked suitcase would be returned as soon as it reached New York and she and Cooper had already made quite an effort at starting their first child.
After dinner at Jeremiah’s, the family sat around the kitchen table and waited for the older man to make the announcement he’d called them all together for.
At last, he stood up, and looked from one grandson to the other. “I can’t tell you boys what it means to this old man to have you all home again.” Then he smiled at Kara and Maggie in turn. “And to have you two in my family, makes me gladder than you’ll ever know.”
Kara reached for Cooper’s hand and her heart skipped when he folded his fingers around it.
“But beyond missing you all,” Jeremiah said, “there was another reason for getting you back here this summer.”
“You’re not going to try the ‘I’m dying’ thing again, are you?” Jake asked.
“Nope.” Jeremiah had the grace to flush and in the overhead kitchen light, his eyes sparkled with something that looked a lot like expectation. “This is the God’s truth. And I decided to wait until all three of you were here together to tell you.”
“C’mon, Jeremiah,” Sam urged, dropping one arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “Spill it before you bust.”
“Right then. Donna Barrett’s back in town.”
“I know,” Cooper said. “I saw her at the drugstore. Hell, I’m the one who told you guys. So if that’s your news, Jeremiah, it’s a little late.”
The old man scowled at him. “There’s more. She didn’t come back to town alone. She’s got Mac’s son with her.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6805-4
STRICTLY LONERGAN’S BUSINESS
Copyright © 2006 by Maureen Child
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
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