by Nika Dixon
By the time he’d finished his speech, a fat tear was making its way merrily down her cheek. She ignored it out of fear that if she moved, she’d discover this was all a dream.
“What if I don’t ever want to leave?” she asked. “What if I never want to go anywhere? What if I never want to see another city ever again? What if I never want to see a skyscraper or a penthouse? Or a taxi. Or a subway. Or buildings that block the sky. Or crowds of people that never go away. Or elevators. Did I mention I hate elevators? What if I never want to see another elevator?”
With each question, Marshall’s smile widened until he was laughing.
“What?” She giggled.
“That’s a lot of nevers,” he said.
“Yes, it is.”
“Well.” He pursed his lips. “I suppose I can make that work.”
“You can?”
He nodded. “Anything else?”
She tipped her head toward Devil. “There’s a horse…”
“When isn’t there a horse?”
Not to be left out, Drift let out a bark and butted his head up against her leg. “And a dog,” she corrected, patting him on the head.
“What the hell. He practically lives here, anyway.”
“Where do you stand on cats?”
“Annoying creatures. But manageable.”
“Well. That’s it, then.”
“That’s all? No ducks? Chickens? Goldfish?”
“No. Well, not yet, anyway.”
“So, we’re agreed?”
She laughed and nodded. “Yes. We’re agreed.”
“Seriously, the longest proposal ever!” Sam shouted.
“I swear, Marsh, if you screw this up I’ll marry her myself!” Danny called out.
Marshall grinned, slipping the ring onto her finger. “I suppose we should break his heart now. Let him down easy.”
Emma gazed down at the sparkling diamond on her hand, multiple tears now joining the first. “How do you suppose we should do that?”
Marshall stood up and reached for her hand, tugging her toward him. He dropped his head and kissed every ounce of breath from her body. She sagged against him to a burst of whooping, clapping, and cheers. It was much louder than just two people. She turned with a laugh, shocked to see Hank and Kent on horseback next to Danny’s pickup truck. After a rousing chorus of congratulations, they turned and rode back down the road.
Sam whistled for Drift. The dog shot away at a full-speed run, pausing to snap at Tink, sending the hissing cat running for the field. With Drift on board, Sam backed his truck into a turn, and left.
Danny waved and followed, leaving Emma and Marshall alone on the road with Devil.
“So,” Emma said. “Now what?”
“Well, I suppose we should take that horse home.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not the last time I’m going to be saying that, is it?”
Devil snorted and twisted his great head back and forth.
Emma giggled. “Probably not.”
He frowned at her bare feet. With a resigned sigh, he released her hand and sat down in the middle of the road. A few second later, with his boots and socks in his hand, he took possession of her fingers once again. “Okay. Let’s go home.”
“Let’s go home,” she repeated.
Beneath the clear blue morning sky, they both walked barefoot, hand in hand, with a big black horse playing bodyguard. Beneath her cast, Emma’s fingers began to twitch in anticipation.
Oh, yes. It was all going to make a beautiful picture.
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Acknowledgments
To dad, the ultimate storyteller, who gave me the courage to put pen to paper and write my own. Miss you, Papa. To mom, who introduced me to a wonderous world called “the library” and never laughed at my dream to someday live in one. I am still working on that part, though.
To the entire Entangled Publishing team, thank you for seeing something in my story worth believing in. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to become part of the family.
Thank you to my amazing editor Nina Bruhns for her guidance, encouragement, and patience with all my random questions and Canadian spell check.
To my fellow fangirls, you are amazing. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement. I hope you can fall in love with the world of Absolution as much as I have, because the plot bunnies don’t seem to be finished with it quite yet.
Last in line but first in my heart—to my two rock stars, thank you for putting up with all the take-out meals, unfolded laundry, and lost mugs of tea. There’s no way I could have done this without your love and support. Love you to forever and back.
About the Author
Jugging her zany schedule like a cat herding guru, Nika Dixon spends half her time at the hockey rink, the other half trying to remember where she put her tea. Nika lives in Ontario with her family, and dreams of converting her office into a library so she can spend her days trapped between her two addictions—romantic suspense and sci-fi. When she isn’t overrun by the plot bunnies, Nika works as project manager and graphic designer. Her loves include road trips, cheesy action movies, summers on Georgian Bay, and cheesecake (although not necessarily in that order).
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