She reached up and touched his cheek, felt the scrape of his whiskers against her palm and smiled when he turned his face into her touch and kissed the heart of her hand.
“But, Maggie, today I realized that not risking love brings its own kind of pain.” He pulled her closer and watched her eyes. “I’ve been alone and empty. I don’t want to be alone anymore, Maggie. I want to love you. I want to be loved by you. I want to raise our baby—and all the other babies we’ll have together.”
“All?” she managed to squeak.
“All,” he said with a wild laugh. “Let’s have a dozen.”
“Sam…”
“I’m ready to risk it all again, Maggie. I’m ready to have faith. To believe. And what I believe in is you.”
Everything in her went warm and gooey. She felt as though if he let go of her, she might just ooze into a puddle on the floor. It was more. So much more than she’d hoped for—prayed for. “Oh, Sam, I—”
He talked right over her, his excitement coloring his voice. “I already talked to Doc Evans. I’m going to take over his practice in town—”
“You are?” Eyes wide, she grinned, overwhelmed by him, by the knowledge of the future they were going to share after all.
“But if it’s okay with you, I’d like to live here. At the ranch. Jeremiah’s getting up there and he could use the help, and damn it, I want my family back. I want my roots. This place.”
Maggie laughed through her tears. “Of course it’s okay with me. This is my home. I love it here. I love Jeremiah.”
“And me?” he asked breathlessly. “Please tell me you still love me, Maggie. Please tell me I haven’t waited too long.”
“I love you, Sam,” she said, her heart in her voice, her tears blinding her completely. But it didn’t matter now. Because she knew she’d be able to see him every day. She’d always be able to see the light of love in his eyes. “I’ll always love you.”
“Then you’ll marry me?” he asked and sounded a little nervous about it.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she whispered and felt her heart fill to bursting. “And I swear I will love you forever.”
As he pulled her in for a kiss, he whispered, “That may not be long enough, Maggie. Not nearly long enough.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6804-7
EXPECTING LONERGAN’S BABY
Copyright © 2006 by Maureen Child
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Expecting Lonergan’s Baby Page 13