She studied me. “But do you understand it’s forever? You’re signing on to arguments and make-ups and driving each other crazy.”
“I said I did, didn’t I?”
“Saying it and believing it are two different things.” Her voice might be stern, but her eyes twinkled. “You can’t get out of this. Divorce isn’t something I’ll give you. You’ll be stuck with me.”
“And you’ll be stuck with me. With my overbearing, over-protectiveness. I’ll drive you nuts.” I pressed my lips together. Not sure why I was arguing against her agreeing to marry me when it was the only thing I needed. “Forget I said that.”
She laughed under her breath. “Will you let me drive the tractor?”
I grinned. “No chance.”
“In that case, my answer is n—”
“Fine! You can drive the tractor. I’ll buy you your own tractor.”
She snickered. “So you’re saying you’ll share Cherry River with me? You won’t get grumpy if I want to work with you?”
I cupped her cheek, loving the way she pressed her palm into my touch. “I want you there every dawn. Working with you is one of the best things to ever happen to me.”
“What are the other things?”
“Falling in love with you, of course.” I kissed her again. “Definitely the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“A few days ago, you would’ve said that was the worst thing to happen to you.”
“A few days ago, I was an idiot.”
She laughed as I ran my thumb along her bottom lip. “Stop stalling. Yes or no, Hope.”
Once again, she studied me. She didn’t hold back, assessing and debating, not taking my proposal lightly.
And I was glad.
It meant her reply would be heartfelt and binding. We’d both enter into this arrangement with commitment and steadfast promises.
To his credit, Graham didn’t make a sound, and Hope didn’t look at him over my shoulder. We could’ve been alone with the intensity in which we watched each other. Loved each other.
Finally, she nodded. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Dragging her into me, I kissed her hard, heaving a sigh as darkness erased from my bleak, empty world.
She was mine.
She’d agreed to be mine for eternity.
Hope threw her arms around my shoulders, deepening our connection.
Our kiss swiftly changed from romantic to sinful.
Graham cleared his throat, dragging me back to reality and the fact that I couldn’t maul his daughter with him watching.
Pulling away from Hope, I unashamedly positioned her in front of me, hugging her from behind, hiding the reaction she’d caused in my tight boxer-briefs.
Graham never looked away from me as he spoke to his daughter. “Are you sure about this, Little Lace?”
She nodded, patting my hand splayed on her stomach. “I believe him…finally. So yes, I’m sure.”
“But he hurt you.”
“He did. But I hurt him.”
“Perhaps sleep on it. There’s no rush.”
Hope stood taller in my embrace. “I would’ve agreed with you last night. I honestly thought I had the strength to walk away from him, and that it was for the best. But I was lying to myself, and I won’t lie to you. I’ve always loved Jacob, Dad. I will always love him—whether I’m his or someone else’s. That was what hurt me. That was what made dealing with Jacob so hard. But…I believe him.” She twisted to look up at me. “I don’t have to fight what I feel anymore because he feels the same. And…I trust him not to take that away from me.”
I nuzzled her nose with mine. “Never. I’m all yours.”
She smiled gently. “I know. That’s what makes this so easy. I don’t know how to explain it, but I see the truth in your eyes.”
“And you’ll see it every day for the rest of your life.”
Graham came toward us, his gaze narrowing. “I can see you love my daughter, Jacob. I’m not denying that. I even saw it when you were young. But affection isn’t enough if you intend to hurt her like you have in the past. Love can sometimes be the worst weapon.”
I stiffened but didn’t get angry. He deserved to judge me. He’d seen me strike out in fear. He’d lived his own tragedy with a woman who’d hurt him.
But thanks to Hope, I no longer had to be afraid. And thanks to my parents, I knew what a happy marriage entailed. It was about being there for each other through thick and thin—crying together and laughing together. Being best-friends.
Hope was already my best-friend. The rest would work out as it was supposed to. “I’ll prove to you that I’m worthy. You have my word I won’t intentionally hurt her ever again.”
I hugged Hope closer.
We were a couple.
Husband and wife already in the eyes of gods and ghosts.
Hope twined her arm around mine, nestling into me like she’d always belonged. And that was the thing…she had. I was just too stupid to see it.
“He won’t hurt me, Dad.”
Graham came closer, eyeing my undressed state and the way I glowed with relief and adoration. Slowly, he raised his hand in agreement.
I unwrapped an arm from Hope and clasped his grip.
We shook.
“I expect a wedding sooner rather than later,” Graham muttered. “Make an honest woman of her.”
I chuckled as we let go. “Is tomorrow too soon?”
Hope’s laughter made me shudder with joy.
And I had no choice but to kiss her again.
“Excuse me a second.” I nodded at Graham, spun Hope in my arms, and captured her lips with mine.
A kiss to seal our pact.
A kiss to bind ourselves for eternity.
A kiss to accept the inevitable.
Accept.
It was amazing what such a simple word could do.
The power it yielded. The fears it deleted. The serenity it granted.
Accept.
Our tongues touched.
A gentle breeze wrapped around us.
I belonged to her, and she belonged to me.
I was home.
EPILOGUE
Hope
* * * * * *
“I DON’T THINK he’s going to like this, Cassie.”
Cassie glanced my way, her fingers wrapped tight around the steering wheel as she drove us through town with two new pony rescues on the back.
I’d been living at Cherry River for three months.
Jacob and I were getting married tomorrow.
My leg had healed, my concussion all gone, and we’d officially had two fights. Fights I’d caused by wanting to take on Della’s old role and help Cassie save abused and kill-pen horses.
Jacob didn’t want me anywhere near the freaked-out, unstable beasts. And I understood—of course, I did, but I also wasn’t some city girl who didn’t have equine experience.
I promised him I wouldn’t get close unless I could read the situation correctly. I wouldn’t take my eyes off them for a moment. I wouldn’t go behind them or stand directly in front of them.
I agreed to all those terms, only drawing a line when he asked me to wear a helmet and body armour at all times.
“I did warn you.” Cassie smirked. “You’re the one getting the full blame.”
“I know.” I pouted. “But he was…. I mean, how could I leave him there?” A shiver worked up my spine as a horse kicked inside the trailer. “I hate people who don’t treat animals with kindness.”
Cassie sighed, her red-brown hair glinting in the sunshine. “I know. I’m surprised I haven’t gone to jail yet for blowing up some of these so-called farmers for what they’ve done.”
“We’ve done the right thing, though, by taking him.”
“Yeah. Hopefully, Jacob sees it that way.”
I rubbed my face with my hands. “Ugh, he’s really going to kill me, isn’t he?”
“Yup.” She chuckled. “Maybe instead of a wedding tomorrow
we’ll have another funeral.”
The fact she could laugh about so much tragedy showed how accepting of life she was.
Jacob had finally learned how to do the same—in smaller increments.
He’d accepted us.
There’d been no question that I would live with Jacob. I’d quit my job in England and returned to being a farmer’s girl.
Cherry River was mine as surely as its owner. Dad had flown back to his film location the next afternoon, and Jacob never let me out of his sights.
For the first few days, his openness to love was absolute. We spent most of our time in bed followed by late evenings hanging in the fields with the horses, seeing as I couldn’t ride with my cast.
For a few weeks, it was pure paradise.
But then his fears slowly tried to claim him again. He flinched when my cast was removed. He started second-guessing my mortality.
I didn’t let it worry me. He’d made me a promise, and in return, I promised I’d help him work through those dismal days.
Highs and lows.
Learning and growth.
Family.
When his mind started teasing him with dark and morbid things, I hugged him close and reminded him we were alive. We had hearts that beat and blood that flowed, and that was all he needed to focus on.
Slowly, he managed to ignore his nightmares and accept that life had shades of all colours—happy and sad, hard and easy.
A week after his grandfather had passed away from lymphoma, Jacob, his remaining family, and I gathered at the local church where his grandmother Patricia had been laid to rest.
The church spilled with well-wishers there to say goodbye to such a wonderful, wise man.
Jacob didn’t manage a eulogy, but he did take my hand once the service finished, and together, we sat by the freshly carved gravestone in the sun. We stayed for an hour in silence, saying our goodbyes in different ways.
I knew Jacob suffered from guilt for not being home in time. And I suffered from guilt for not telling him sooner. But touching that sun-warmed headstone filled me with a sense of peace that I hoped Jacob felt too.
That afternoon, we headed to the garden store and bought trays of vegetable seedlings and stayed up well past midnight planting fresh herbs and produce.
We bickered about what to cultivate.
We argued about which paddocks to turn into orchards.
It turned a stressful day into a restful night after yet another funeral.
And once we’d carefully tucked plants into dirt, Jacob had taken me to bed where we clung to the living, accepting touch and togetherness, saying no to death because we had so much to be grateful for.
The next week, I spent the afternoon feeding horses and cleaning out water troughs, while Jacob went to his first therapy session.
I didn’t have to cajole him into going.
He booked and attended all on his own.
And he came back different. A new level of wisdom in his gaze. A strange kind of consent to life and all its lessons.
He also came back with a gift wrapped in a small black box from Mr. Pickering’s Personals. The antique store I’d crashed into and the place where Jacob had bought my locket all those years ago.
As I cracked the lid, he’d lowered to one knee and proposed all over again, slipping a square solitaire with lacy gold filigree onto my wedding finger.
He said the lace was for the locket-wearing, lace-named girl who would always own his heart.
“Ah well, at least I don’t have a thousand bridesmaids who will miss me if I don’t walk down the aisle.” I forced a laugh.
“You’re walking down that aisle. I planned a wedding for you guys. Least you can do is go through with it.” Cassie grinned. “I’ll tell my nephew not to murder you. How about that?”
“Gee, you’re so sweet.”
She laughed.
Cassie had planned tomorrow and kept it simple at our request. She’d shown me photos of the wedding she’d put together for Ren and Della. A simple altar in the meadow, a marquee for after, and a guest list of mostly family.
That was what I wanted.
I’d ordered a dress online with a sleeveless lace top and full cream skirt, and Jacob sourced new jeans, boots, and a shirt.
Nice and easy.
Magazines called for rights to photograph the ceremony, but I told them I was no longer part of their world. I had never belonged, and they’d most likely never see me on the red carpet or on the big screen again.
I was soon to be a farmer’s wife, and that role fit me better than any other.
As we pulled up to Cherry River, a horse kicked the trailer again.
“I’ll have Chip help me with the ponies. You better go find Jacob before he sees the surprise on his own and has a heart attack.”
I flinched. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
“Too late.” Cassie laughed. “God, I’m so glad I’m not you right now.”
“Stop it. It won’t be so bad. He’ll be okay with it.”
“Yeah, suuuuure he will.” Parking outside the barn, she slapped the steering wheel, blew me a kiss, and leapt out. “Come find me if you need somewhere to sleep tonight!”
I slouched in my seat. “This is going to be bad.” Twisting to look in the back, I steeled myself against my mistake. But two gorgeous eyes met mine. A nose sniffed in curiosity. And I melted all over again.
It’s not a mistake.
I’d done my best to stop pushing Jacob—after all, he’d done so well dealing with his past and accepting that he couldn’t control every little thing.
But this new addition? He might see it as a push.
He might resent me for doing something he wasn’t ready for.
But…I couldn’t leave him there.
The little dog was scruffy, flea-bitten, and skinny, but his eyes…they were pools of trust even after the scars left by cattle irons that’d been pressed into his puppy skin.
He wasn’t pretty with grey and black fur, a muzzle of white and half an ear. But he belonged here. With us.
“He’ll love you just like I love you,” I murmured.
The dog wagged its tail once, timid and scared. His black, soulful gaze tracked me as I climbed from the truck and went to open the back door.
Only, Jacob was there.
Talking to his aunt.
His smile broad and cowboy hat tilted low against the sun’s glare. His Wranglers and plaid shirt were multi-colour with grass stains and mud, and his boots held a day’s worth of grime.
He worked so hard.
He was so capable.
My heart melted for my husband-to-be just like it’d melted for the dog.
The dog who’d been hiding in a pile of horse manure to avoid the farmer’s wife and her beatings.
After I’d helped Cassie round up the two rescue horses—seized by the SPCA and given to us for fostering—I’d seen a little shadow watching us before zipping away to hide in such filth.
As Cassie signed the paperwork, I’d snuck away, squatting down by the manure pile, whispering calm things.
It’d taken ten minutes for the dog to creep forward. Another twenty for him to come close enough to smell me.
Cassie wanted to leave.
But I couldn’t leave without him.
I’d let one stray dog down by letting others give him away to an uncertain future. I wouldn’t do it again.
With a quick plea not to bite me, I’d scooped him up, tossed him in the backseat and stole him.
Now, I was about to face the consequences.
Cassie laughed at something Jacob said, then turned to face me, pointing.
Tattle tale.
Jacob followed her finger, his grin growing wider when he saw me. His white-blond hair from Bali had grown with darker regrowth, framing his perfect face with the shaggy length tied in a knot at his nape.
He was rugged and rough and utterly sublime.
And he’s probably going to kill me.
<
br /> Striding away from his aunt, he pushed his cowboy hat farther up his head, then ducked and kissed me, sweaty and salty and so deliciously him.
I let him dictate the kiss, partly because he short-circuited my brain every time his mouth claimed mine, and partly because I didn’t know if I should reveal the mutt or squirrel him away until I’d trained and earned his trust.
But Jacob pulled away, his eyes warm as molasses. “Aunt Cassie said you had something to show me?”
“Oh, she did, did she?” I glowered over his shoulder at her.
She threw her head back and laughed.
“What’s going on?” Jacob’s smile faltered a little. “Everything okay?”
“Um.” I bit my lip. “I did something.”
“What did you do?” His gaze dropped over me, scanning me from head to toe. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” Panic I hadn’t seen in a while filled his eyes. “Goddammit, Hope. I told you I didn’t want you around those rescues. Not after what happened with Mom—” He went to grab me, but I spun out of his reach and yanked open the back door.
“I’m not hurt, but this little guy is. I know you find it hard, and I know I’m asking so much of you, but…please?” I held out my hand, inviting the little dog to creep forward. “Give him a chance?”
Jacob froze, his attention locked on the scruffy mutt. “Where the hell did he come from?”
“The farm where the horses were abused.”
“Why did you bring him here?”
“To save him.” I shrugged. “But only if you can handle it. If not, I’ll fatten him up, show him what love feels like, then find him a forever home.” I didn’t want to give him up, but I also didn’t want to hurt Jacob.
“Goddammit, Hope.” He rubbed his face with a shaking hand. “What are you trying to do? Kill me?”
I abandoned the pup and went to my best-friend and lover. “Not kill…set free.” I nuzzled into him, hugging him tight. “You love Forrest. You have a bond with him. That doesn’t hurt…does it?”
He hugged me back, wedging his chin on my head. “It hurts, just like loving you hurts.”
I kissed the dirty shirt over his heart. “But worth it.”
He nodded with a heavy sigh. “Yeah, worth it.”
I held him until his shakes subsided.
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