by Anne Brock
"There's no excuse for the way I treated you," Luke said quietly.
He felt tears well up, but he made himself meet her eyes, he wouldn't let himself turn away. She looked so good standing there, wearing those familiar cut-off jeans and a blue sleeveless workshirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a smudge of grease on one of her legs, and he knew she'd been working on her car earlier that day.
"I had a hell of a time finding you," he said, trying to smile. "I took the red-eye last night, and this morning I called every C. Rodriguez in the—"
"Last night?" Lib said suddenly. She looked at her watch. Three-thirty. "Aren't you cutting it a little close?"
Luke looked at her strangely. "Cutting what close?"
"It's Friday," she said. "Today's Friday."
He didn't know what she was talking about.
"The deadline?" she said. "For buying back your land? You have to get back to Sterling in less than nine hours."
There was a flash of understanding in his eyes. He finally got it. "I don't care about the land," he said. "The only place I've got to be is right here, with you."
Lib caught her breath, unable to believe what she was hearing.
The tears were back in his eyes. "I love you," he said, "and damnit, I made a mistake. But that shouldn't mean I have to spend the rest of my life paying for it. Lib, don't make me live without you. I need you." He had to stop, had to take a deep breath. He wiped his eyes brusquely with the palm of his hand. "Tell me what to do," he said softly. "Tell me what I need to do so that you'll forgive me."
She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe he was actually giving up his dream of buying back his farm for her. How could she let him do that? "You really love me that much?" she asked.
"I really do," he said.
"And you'll never mistrust me again?"
He shook his head. "I'm so sorry."
Lib nodded. "Then I forgive you," she said.
Luke didn't move. He just stood there, looking at her, as if her words didn't make sense, as if he didn't understand.
"Aren't you going to kiss me?" she said, her voice shaking slightly.
He didn't need to be asked twice.
Two large steps, and he was beside her, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her then, a long, sweet kiss. His arms felt like heaven around her. He smelled so good, tasted even better. Lib knew if she let him, he'd kiss her forever.
But they didn't have forever — at least not right away. They only had eight and a half hours. She pulled back.
"Come on," she said, taking him by the hand and leading him to the door. "We've got to hurry."
The real estate agent was leaning against his car, and he straightened up as they came out of the garage.
"Sorry, bad location," Lib called to him as she pulled Luke toward her car.
"Why are we in a hurry?" Luke asked, watching her unlock the passenger door of her sports car. "Where are we going?"
"Back to Vermont," Lib said. She kissed him quickly, and Luke took the opportunity to pull her back into his arms. "If we're lucky, there'll be a flight that'll get us there before midnight—"
She tried to pull free, but he held her securely. "I'm extremely lucky," he said, "but I don't want to go back to Sterling. Not yet."
"But—"
He kissed her again. "We're here," he said. "Let's take a vacation, hang at the beach for a while."
"But I thought—"
Another kiss stopped her. "We can take a week or two," he said, smiling down at her, "then we can go back to Sterling."
"But your land," she said. "Luke, I thought—"
"You were right about a lot of things," he said. "I called Ken Avery while I was at the airport and I told him I had the million in cash as we'd agreed. He wasn't happy about that. He told me if I bought back that land, all of the plans for the resort's expansion would be postponed. You were right, he wasn't interested in building on leased land. So I made him a counter offer. I offered him five hundred thousand."
Lib blinked. "You offered him less?"
"It's a more complicated deal, and yeah, it's less cash for him, but he took it," Luke said. "You see, all I really get is my name on the deed for the land, and a guarantee that if Gates Mountain Resort ever closes its doors, that land reverts back to me or my children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren. As a larger investor, I'll also get a bigger share of the profits from the resort. It's a win-win solution. It puts the land to good use, it's environmentally sound, and it keeps all those workers and resort employees from getting laid off."
Lib nodded slowly. "And the land belongs to the Fulton's again," she said.
He nodded.
She laughed, shaking her head. "You got yourself everything you wanted," she said. "Plus an extra five hundred thousand in the bank."
"I don't have everything," he said. "Not yet."
"What else could you possibly need?"
He touched the side of her face. Her skin was so soft, so smooth.
"You," he said. "Marry me, and then I'll have everything I could possibly need for the rest of my life."
Lib's violet eyes welled with tears, but her smile shone with happiness. "Yes."
Luke kissed her. "I love you," he said. "You know I've never said that to anyone ever before."
"I know," she said.
"Let's get married tomorrow," he said. "We can fly to Las Vegas if we have to—"
"Are you kidding?" she said. "I'm getting married in Sterling, in the church, the way Harriet would've wanted."
"But I want to get married now, right now," he said. "I want our lives together to start as soon as possible."
She looped her arms more tightly around his neck and kissed him. "A wedding's just a ceremony," she said, "just a symbol of the way we feel. You're already all mine, remember?"
Luke smiled, closing his eyes as her body pressed tightly against his. Oh, yeah. He remembered.
"Get in the car," she whispered, her breath hot against his ear.
Luke got in the car.
Liberty smiled at him as she climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine with a roar.
"Muffler's out again," she shouted over the noise. "I'll help you fix it," he shouted back.
"In some countries, it's considered scandalous for a man and a woman to install a muffler together," she said with a grin.
"Not if the man loves the woman with all his heart," he said, leaning forward to kiss her.
She laughed, and pulled out of the parking lot. Luke didn't know where she was heading, and he didn't care. As long as he was with Liberty, he knew he'd be happy.
-end-