Oh, God. He did love her. He was madly, passionately and completely in love with Amanda Allen or Crawford or whatever name she wanted to call herself.
Or Casale. Now, there was a good name. One that she could claim if she married him and spent the rest of her life with him.
He leaned forward and pulled out his cell phone, quickly hitting his contacts. The phone rang three times as he tapped his foot and felt as if he might jump out of his skin.
“Mom?” he said quickly when she answered. “Look, I need to see you now. Can you meet me at the bank? Oh, and bring the safety deposit key.”
“Are you in trouble? Leo, what happened?”
“No, no, I’m great. Better than great. You know how you’ve been after me to settle down? Well, I finally figured out what that meant.”
There was a momentary pause, and then his mother said, “I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Make it ten.” He disconnected the call and headed for the door.
AMANDA WANDERED THROUGH the rooms of the old Crawford home, disappointed that it didn’t have the same wallpaper or carpet or even cabinets as when her mother lived here. Christie explained that she’d remodeled the old place because it really needed a face-lift, never thinking that anyone wanted to see it the way it had been.
There were some photos, though, and Christie said she’d get them out. For now, Amanda wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
She’d stood up for herself with Leo, which felt good, but he’d let her down, which felt terrible. He’d seemed so stunned by their confrontation in the coffee shop. She felt bad about making a spectacle in front of his friends and neighbors, but she hadn’t done it on purpose. She’d just finally said what needed to be said.
She walked to the back kitchen window and looked out at the ranch. Bluebonnets and other wildflowers grew up the rocky hillside. A fence separated the yard from the closest barn. A few orphaned calves ate and frolicked there. I know how you guys feel, she felt like telling them. Life goes on, even without your mom. At least you’ve got each other.
She now had Cal and Troy, plus Christie, Peter and little Callie. Troy promised that he and Raven would come see Amanda, wherever she settled, or she could come and stay with them. For the first time, she had lots of family, lots of options.
But she didn’t have Leo.
She heard the front door open. Probably Christie, coming to see if she was okay. “Christie? I’m in the kitchen.”
“It’s not Christie.” Leo appeared in the wide doorway between the kitchen and front hall.
“Oh.” Amanda stood there, hugging her middle. “What…what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, of course.”
“Why?” Her heart began to beat faster as she searched his face. He looked different than he had this morning. She’d made him confused and a bit frantic, she knew. He’d appeared as frazzled as a handsome international man of mystery could get.
“Because I finally figured it out.”
“What?”
“Why I want you to stay.”
She twisted the hem of her shirt. Her palms felt sweaty. Please, please, give me the right answer.
“Why?”
He reached in his pocket and put something in his hand, then got down on one knee, right in the middle of Luanna Crawford’s remodeled kitchen. Amanda put her hands on her chest to keep her heart from pounding right through her breastbone.
Leo ignored her death grip on her shirt, pried her left hand loose and held it tightly. “I love you, Amanda. I’ve never said that to anyone before and I hope to never say it to anyone but you the rest of my life.” He took a deep breath. “I realized that I started out wanting to spend time with you because you intrigued me. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to help you. I told you that I wanted to be your friend.”
He shifted a little, playing with her fingers. “Now I realize that I was just kidding myself. I fell in love with you and I don’t even know exactly when. I didn’t realize it and I’m sorry for that. You became such a part of me so fast. Now I can’t imagine life without you.”
“Oh, Leo,” she whispered.
“Will you marry me, Amanda, and spend your life with me? No matter where you want to settle down, I’ll be there with you. No matter how many garage sales you want to go to, I’ll go with you. No matter how many secret relatives you have, I’ll be there beside you.”
“What if I want to stay right here, forever?”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“And if you decide you don’t want to own the hardware store or restore old buildings?”
“A very wise person told me that I love my hardware store. I think I’d like to keep it.”
“And if you get the urge for new adventures?”
“Amanda, my love, you’re all the adventure I want. Everything else comes in a very distant second to how I feel about you.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Then yes, Leo Casale, I will marry you and love you for the rest of my life.”
He slipped a ring on her finger, but didn’t give her time to see it before lunging to his feet, sweeping her into his arms and twirling her around the kitchen.
“You love me?” he asked as the room swam around them.
“Of course, I love you. You’re the person I’ve been searching for even before I knew I wanted you. You’re the family I need, the anchor that grounds me.”
He stopped spinning them and gazed into her eyes. “I never knew I could be this happy.”
“I never expected to feel this way, either. But I remember a wise man telling me that I deserved happiness. I just didn’t know at the time that he was the one who would make all my dreams come true.”
She looked down at the ring on her finger. A delicate filigree setting in white gold held a modest diamond cut in the old-fashioned, less faceted style. “Is this from your family?”
“Great-grandmother’s ring, passed down to the first-born sons. I know she’s looking down on us, so glad that you’re the one who will be my bride.”
“I will,” Amanda said, throwing her arms around his neck. “I wish I had something equally valuable to give to you, but—”
“You have yourself,” Leo said, kissing her softly. And then he looked up. “And all those Crawford relatives.”
Amanda grinned, sunlight sparkling through the windows of her mother’s old house, casting prisms in her tears of happiness. “Yes, I do, don’t I?” She had everything she’d ever wanted…and so very much more.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0235-1
SUDDENLY TEXAN
Copyright © 2011 by Victoria Chancellor Huffstutler
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 publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
* Brody’s Crossing
Suddenly Texan Page 18