“No. Although no home really should be without one.”
“Then what is it?”
Claudia shrugged her shoulders. How did she explain to the girl what she herself didn’t understand. “I—”
“We’re ready.” Ross stood next to Frank’s blue sedan. Frank was loading the last piece of luggage into the trunk and the two men were shaking hands.
Claudia stood and called back, “I have to get my bag.” Slowly, with the sound of a requiem ringing through her ears, she walked back to the house and retrieved her bag from the couch in the living room. She looked around one last time and tried desperately not to dwell on the fact that it could have all been hers if only Ross had asked her to stay. She did love this farm. It protected her and made her feel secure in a time during her life when she needed it most. If nothing else she would always remember that.
Shoulders back. Chin up. Claudia marched out the front door and down the porch steps toward Frank’s car. She needed this to be as quick and painless as possible. No turning back. Not a peek. Not a glance. Nothing. She knew Ross and Rosa May stood together farther down the driveway, but she would not look at them, could not look at them.
But as she walked closer to the car, her steps slowed. So slow she stopped completely.
“What are you doing?” she asked herself out loud. “Walk over to that car and get in. Do it now!” Her body refused to obey.
Ross stood a distance away watching Claudia. She was stopped halfway to Frank’s car and it appeared that she was talking to herself. Her head was bobbing, her arms were flailing and Frank was looking at her as though she had just lost her mind.
Then it happened. She turned around in a flash and came storming down the driveway directly toward him.
“First,” she shouted.
Ross beamed.
“I can’t believe you were going to let me get in that car and drive away when you know you want me to stay. Second.”
The joy burst inside him.
“You never once gave me the chance to prove how noble I could be, by telling you that I couldn’t stay even if you did ask because you needed someone better than me to run this smelly farm with you. Third.”
Ross moved forward and wrapped his arms about her waist, pulling her up against his chest. The perfect place for her.
“Third,” she repeated, a little calmer now that she was where she was always meant to be. “Nobility is for the birds. I may not be the best helpmate, but I do love you. And I will make you a spectacular wife.”
Rosa May jumped up and down, little squeals erupting from her mouth.
“Fourth,” Ross finished. “I love you, too. Desperately. Which makes you the best helpmate I could ever have.”
“I am going to want to start up my own nail salon in town.”
“Does that mean I get my living room back on Mondays?”
“Yes, but we’re going to have to get an espresso machine,” she warned him.
“And you’re going to have to learn to milk a cow,” he promised.
A decent compromise. To seal the bargain they kissed on it.
Claudia felt the blush spread across her shoulders, up her neck and over her face to the very tip of her head. She was absolutely positive she was glowing. Lesson number five at the Brooklyn Academy of Beauty: Love is the ultimate cosmetic!
HARLEQUIN DUETS
ISBN: 978-1-4603-7472-6
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Copyright © 2001 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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THE DOC’S DOUBLE DELIVERY
Copyright © 2001 by Jackie Hyman
DOWN-HOME DIVA
Copyright © 2001 by Stephanie Doyle
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