Rekindled Dreams
Page 23
Her eyes shone. “Did you—”
“Let me finish. I watched you fight to stifle your opinions, and I hated it. I know you thought you were helping me. But you shouldn’t have. That was too much to ask.”
Her head jerked sideways. “Finn, I wanted to.”
“Sorry, this is not the way I wanted…” He rubbed his face with both hands. “Tonight’s fiasco showed me I don’t want a political office, or even a predictable life.” He watched her expression to gauge her reaction and saw hazel eyes filling with tears. “Vena, do you realize that just two weeks ago I thought I needed all this…” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the hotel. “These people and their connections, to make my life complete. But what I really want is the opposite.”
“I don’t fit your lifestyle.” She shook her head and inched away on the bench. “There’s no place for me.”
His arm snaked around her waist and he stopped her movement. “If you feel like that, then my choice of career is wrong. Without you, I have no life, no future.”
“I bring only chaos to your life.” Her body stiffened.
“Not chaos, Vena—a breath of fresh air, excitement. I need you.” With a gentle hand, he rubbed at the tension in her back.
Her body loosened and a shoulder leaned against his arm.
How he wished his words could extract as quick a response as his massage did. “I need the craziness you bring to my life. Through your eyes, I see things from another angle and that’s good. You challenge me to try harder, to be a better person. Your essence reminds me to be true to my roots—to the promise I made Grandda and myself.”
Under the combination of his words and his hands, she shivered.
His confidence grew. He might be fumbling for the words, but he had to tell her how essential she was to him.
“But I’m not the right person. You need—”
“Haven’t you been listening?” His hand closed around her shoulder and pulled her against his body. The need to stake his claim raged from deep inside. “I don’t want or love Thia. I love you. I need you.” He brushed a kiss against her temple and forced the last words over a dry throat. “And I think you need me, too.”
She twisted under his arm until she met his gaze. A glint came into her eyes and her chin rose. “Really? In what ways?”
At the teasing note in her voice, he felt a knot release in his chest. “Think of me as the brakes that keep you from spinning out of control.” He paused, hearing his words filled with imagery and thinking how unlike him they were. “That sounded crazy.”
“Not exactly crazy, but a bit poetic. Maybe some of the acting has rubbed off.” She grinned. “But I don’t want you like that.”
Panic slammed him in the chest, and he ground out the words. “What are you saying?”
She shifted at his side and rested her hand on his thigh. “I want you beside me, taking encouragement when you need it and giving it when I need it. I want to be with you when we face a new adventure, together. Love shouldn’t be about power and control, but sharing ourselves so we fill the gaps in each other and are stronger for the sharing.” She blinked and let out a nervous laugh. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to tell you this?”
His stomach unclenched and he leaned back against the bench in relief. She was his.
“Let me tell you, that uptight Finnian who greeted me the first night worried me. I was convinced you and your serious career had killed off all spontaneity. I couldn’t reach the old you, the one I knew so well.” She reached up and ran a hand down his cheek.
He captured her hand and kissed her palm, flicking his tongue along its center.
Her eyes danced, and she sighed. “I’ve loved watching the reemergence of the passionate youth I first fell in love with so long ago.”
“That was you.” He enfolded her and drew her against his chest. “You did that to me.” Tonight, her hair smelled like lemons and he inhaled the scent, fixing the moment in his memory forever.
“But how can this work?” She snuggled close, planting a kiss on his jaw.
He bent forward and captured her mouth in a breath-stealing kiss. He’d do whatever he could to keep this woman by his side. She was his inspiration and he refused to let that go.
Muscles tensing, she pushed away from his embrace, a wrinkle between her eyes. “How can you disappoint those people who believed in you? Those who were willing to back your platform?”
Her sweet face. He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. “They aren’t as important to me as you are. I can’t disappoint you.”
“That’s nice.” A bright smile flashed across her lips then faded. “After all your years in Helena, how can you give up being involved with the political scene?”
“The campaign is not an option. I want you, I need you. The campaign would have withered you away. If I have to give up something, it won’t be you. The backers will find another candidate, but I’ll never find another Elfie.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Could you stay here in Montana?”
“Wait a minute.” She stood and faced him, hands on hips. “You’re the one without a job now. I have a job, and a possible promotion, back in Los Angeles. Why shouldn’t we move there?”
He loved the fire in her eyes but hated what he was hearing. Montana was in his blood; he could never leave. The thought of living anywhere else had never crossed his mind. “Maybe there’s a museum closer to here with an opening.”
Vena started pacing, and then stopped. “Oh, Finn. What will your parents say?”
A laugh escaped at the horrified look on her face. “They’ll be glad I’m making an honest woman out of you. Don’t think for a minute that Maxie or Ruth hasn’t tracked them down in Ohio and filled them in on the goings-on at The Shamrocks.”
“You’re kidding.” She threw her hands in the air.
Now who was the dramatic Fenton? “No, Ma’s been hinting for me to find a life partner.” This conversation filled him with calm. They were discussing the best ways to be together. “She’ll be pleased my future wife is someone she already likes.”
“Your wife? I love the sound of those words.” Vena swallowed hard and sank to the bench then nudged him with her shoulder. “Be serious, Finn, what is our future? I can’t decide anything until I know how we’ll live.”
“Practicality from you, Ms. Wild Spirit?”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “Oh no. Some of your personality has already rubbed off.”
“You sassy thing.” He grabbed her hands then stood and pulled her upright, straight into his embrace. Right where she belonged. “Okay, let’s discuss options. I could return to my lobbyist position in Helena…”
****
Vena willed herself to keep a straight face. Had she misunderstood this entire conversation? She nodded. “That’s one option. What else?”
“Actually, lobbyist is considered a stepping stone job for bigger things. Now that the political arena has lost its allure…”
At his teasing voice, Vena let loose her smile and took a deep breath. “Too bad we can’t think of something we could do together. You know, combine our strengths. My defense of historic buildings made me excited about the vision of a tribute to the pioneers.”
“You’re brilliant, Vena.” He grasped her face and kissed her hard, and then broke away to stare at the stars.
Several moments passed, and Vena’s patience snapped. “What? How was I brilliant?”
“Oh, sorry, just sorting it all out.” He approached and stood before the bench. “We’ll start our own foundation. I have the contacts to find out about available grants, and you have experience with artifacts and clothing. We’ll turn this town’s museum into a living one. Just like the type you were writing the scripts for—with docents dressed in period costume, live demonstrations, all presented in accurately restored buildings. Hell, the Gray Ladies will probably love this type of thing.”
“Can we really?” Her heart pounded. “Me, in charge of m
y own displays? A curator’s dream come true.” She met his gaze with a challenge of her own. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you assuming a lot here, Quaid?”
“Of course, all of this will take time.” He planted his hands on his hips. “First, there is a mountain of paperwork involved in setting up a foundation. Then, there’s the registry of historic buildings. I already have some of that—”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant us.”
“I know, I’m just teasing.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “I thought the matter was already decided. From the moment you described what love is for you, I felt it and knew our futures were linked.”
Heart brimming with love, she gazed into his laughing eyes. “A girl deserves the real thing. Especially when she’s waited so long.”
“You’re absolutely right.” He nodded, then stood and started to move back toward the hotel.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Turning, he scratched his head, his forehead wrinkled into a frown. “My cellphone’s inside. Don’t I have to ask your father for your hand in marriage? Isn’t that the old-fashioned way?”
“Okay, different plan.” Her laughter bubbled up, and she extended her arms. “Come over here and be a twenty-first century man.”
A few long-legged strides and he was much closer. He grabbed her in a tight hug and swung her in a circle. “Sweet Vena, you have rekindled my Montana dreams.”
About The Author
As a child, Linda was often found lying on her bed reading about characters having exciting adventures in places far away. Upon reaching a landmark birthday, she decided to write one of those romances she loved so much. Easier said than done. Perseverance paid out and twelve years later, she received her first call from a publisher and a confession story was published. Now Linda writes heartwarming contemporary and historical stories with a touch of humor, and many have a tie to her previous home of Texas.
Linda enjoys writing from her cabin in the mountains among the cedar and pines with her husband of 34 years and their two much-loved dogs.