“Oh,” Cate whispered. Her guilt roared to life, just as it always did when she was inadvertently blindsided by a memory of Lily. Funny, this time, something even stronger rose up from her chest to meet it.
That something was forgiveness.
Cate took the trivet out of the drawer, cradling it with steady fingers. She’d spent a lot of time hiding from her guilt, and even more time punishing herself for it. She might not have planned to ever be a parent, but she’d loved her daughter from the minute she’d first held her, and she’d been a good mother.
She wouldn’t ever forget Lily—God, she wouldn’t ever want to. But it was time to begin forgiving herself. It was time to fulfill her own legacy and start the business she’d wanted for so many years.
Even if she had to do that without Owen in her life.
A sharp, rapid-fire knock sounded off from her front door, startling a soft curse out of her and prompting her to put the trivet on the counter with care. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and it wasn’t as if she’d get any sort of delivery at—she peered at the clock on her stove—eight o’clock on a Sunday morning. Who the hell could be banging on her door?
“Cate? It’s me. Owen,” he clarified, his voice trapping her breath in her lungs all the way through the wood and steel. “Please, open the door.”
Every instinct she had screamed at her to do exactly that. But she’d meant what she’d said to him last night. She couldn’t give him what he really wanted, and she’d never ask him to compromise on having exactly what he deserved.
Cate rested her hand against the door, fighting the tears in her eyes as she stayed silent. A beat passed, then another, before Owen’s voice came again.
“Come on, sweetheart. I know you’re in there. I’d know the smell of your oatmeal raisin cookies anywhere.”
Her heart twisted behind her T-shirt, pumping faster when he continued. “I came here to tell you something, and if I have to do it through the door or in the middle of town square or, hell, in the middle of Times Square, then so be it. I love you, Cate. No”—he paused—“it’s more than that. I don’t just love you. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to stand by you as you start the best cake catering business in the Shenandoah Valley, and I want to lean on you for support when things at Cross Creek get tough. I want you beside me at our family dinner table, and I want to fall asleep in your arms every night. I wasn’t wrong about my legacy. I want a family. God, I need it more than I need to breathe. But I was wrong about what that family looks like. I don’t need kids to be happy, Cate. I only need you.”
Hope flickered in her chest, but oh, God, she had to be sure.
She opened the door a crack. “Owen, I meant what I said last night. I’m not ever going to want kids. You have to be certain—really certain—you’re okay with that.”
A half-smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, sending another curl of hope through her belly. “And I meant what I said last week. Perfect is in the eye of the beholder. For Eli and Hunter, that means having kids, but to me, perfect is having you.”
Oh. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t mean to hurt you, or make you believe something that wasn’t true,” Cate whispered, but Owen shook his head.
“I didn’t give you much chance to tell me before I went from a dresser drawer to proposing,” he said. “But I mean it, Cate. All I need is this. Just me and you.”
The tears that had formed in her eyes spilled over her cheeks, and she pulled the door open at the same time Owen rushed through it. “Well. I guess you have a way with words after all, Casanova.”
“I love you, Cate McAllister,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. “And I’m never going to stop. How’s that for a way with words?”
“Seeing as how I love you, too, I’d say that’s perfect.”
And as she pressed up to kiss him, Cate knew they’d found the perfect family. Just the two of them.
Together.
Previous works
Want hot heroes, exclusive freebies, and all the latest updates on new releases? Sign up for Kimberly Kincaid’s newsletter, and check out these other sexy titles, available at your favorite retailers!
The Station Seventeen series:
Deep Trouble (prequel)
Skin Deep
Deep Check
Deep Burn
In Too Deep
Forever Deep
The Cross Creek series:
Crossing Hearts
Crossing the Line
The Line series:
Love On the Line
Drawing the Line
Outside the Lines
Pushing the Line
The Pine Mountain Series:
The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap, with Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell
Turn Up the Heat
Gimme Some Sugar
Stirring Up Trouble
Fire Me Up
Just One Taste
All Wrapped Up
The Rescue Squad series:
Reckless
Fearless
Stand-alones:
Something Borrowed
Play Me
And don’t forget to come find Kimberly on Facebook, join her street team The Taste Testers, and follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet and hot and edgy romantic suspense. When she's not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as "The Pleather Bomber", she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a USA Today best-selling author and a 2016 and 2015 RWA RITA® finalist and 2014 Bookseller’s Best nominee who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. Kimberly resides in Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters. Visit her any time at www.kimberlykincaid.com
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