"Pilar's not always right. Sometimes people have to be forced to do what they really want to do," she said.
"Do you know anybody like that?"
"One person. She thought it was her duty to take care of her father, to protect him from the world. Then when a man came along who forced her to admit she was wrong, she got angry. When he said he loved her, she couldn't believe him. She didn't realize that although a beautiful woman already filled his mind, his heart was empty."
"Do you think she realizes it now?" he asked.
"She's hoping his heart will soon be filled with somebody new."
"Only if that somebody is you."
She wanted to believe him, but still something held her back. "Are you sure you love me?"
"Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Because I want it so much."
"I never thought I'd be flat on my back unable even to sit up when I proposed marriage to the woman I love, but if you'll come a little closer, I want to tell you that I feel the same way. And if you don't kiss me--God, I can't believe I'm having to beg a woman to kiss me!--I'm going to die anyway."
"You're too weak."
"I'll risk it."
"Your friends will be furious with me."
"They'll never know."
"Of course we will," Broc said from the hallway. "Why do you think I've been killing my knees watching through this keyhole? Kiss him and put me out of my misery."
"See, we're all dependent on you."
Felicity grinned and got up. But rather than kiss Holt, she took a napkin from the table next to the bed and stuffed it into the keyhole.
"Broc's not going to be happy," Holt said.
"Let Broc find his own woman."
"Are you really my woman?"
"Just try to get rid of me."
* * *
A week later Holt was strong enough to come downstairs. He was delighted to be able to spend the evening in the parlor with Felicity, Mrs. Bennett, and Dr. Moore. "I was getting awfully tired of those same four walls," he said. His friends had left two days earlier. Cade said if they stayed any longer, rustlers would steal all their cows. Holt was sorry to see them go, but it was nice to have Felicity to himself. Broc had started flirting with her just to give Holt something to complain about.
"You're just in time to hear our important announcement," Dr. Moore said.
"What announcement?" Felicity asked.
"He's decided to set himself up as a society doctor and leave me high and dry," Holt teased.
"Not that," Dr. Moore said. Holt had decided he wanted to stay in Galveston and work with Dr. Moore. "We're going to become so successful we can charge outrageous fees and become rich."
"That way we can afford to treat our regular patients for sides of bacon, baskets of eggs, and sacks of pecans."
Felicity was glad Holt had decided to remain in Galveston and work with her father. She couldn't have wished for anything better. Vivian had eloped with one of her suitors and gone to St. Louis. Felicity hoped she'd passed out of their lives forever. Everything was turning out perfectly until her father said he had an announcement to make. He never made announcements.
"What is your announcement, Papa?"
"First I have a question. Would you mind having a double wedding?"
Holt's crack of laughter startled her. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "What does Holt think is so funny?"
"Not funny," Holt said. "I'm so pleased, I could bust."
"Pleased about what?" Felicity asked.
"Are you going to tell her or am I?" Holt asked.
"I am," Mrs. Bennett said. "Your father has asked me to marry him, and I've said I would. It was his idea to have a double wedding. I told him a young woman ought to have her own wedding, but I don't mind if you don't."
Felicity was speechless. She knew her mouth was moving, but no words came out.
"You aren't upset, are you?" her father asked.
"She's so happy, she can't think of a word to say," Holt said.
That wasn't true. She could think of hundreds of words to say, none of which she'd utter even after the shock wore off. She'd thought her father was so slavishly devoted to his wife's memory, he could never marry again. If her father could fall in love again, truly anything was possible.
"Of course I'm happy," she finally managed to say. "It's just that I'm surprised. You've been so careful, I had no idea."
"You've been a little preoccupied the last several days," Mrs. Bennett said.
"I plan to see that she's very preoccupied for the next several years," Holt said. "And that's just the beginning. By then I ought to know how to do it up good and proper."
It really was just the beginning. Everything in her life had been a prelude to this moment. The fulfillment of her mother's promise that she was born to love. She wished her mother were here now. She'd tell her there was something even better--that to love and be loved was the best of all.
About the Author
Leigh Greenwood is the award-winning author of over fifty books, many of which have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. Leigh lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Please visit his website at http://www.leigh-greenwood.com/.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
About the Author
Born To Love Page 31