A Bride for the Mountain Man
Page 19
Those blue eyes of hers narrowed and a shiver, long and loose, ran through her from head to toe. “If you’re about to do what I think, then you should probably stop,” she said, her words wobbly. “I don’t want a marriage of convenience. I don’t want you to think you have to marry me out of some form of responsibility, to ease your conscience. I... I...”
Her words disappeared into the air, but she didn’t let go and she didn’t look away.
That bolstered his hope, despite what she’d said. And of course, she would think that was what this was about. Of course she would. Well, Liam would have to change that mindset.
Pronto. “Close your eyes for me, Goldi, so you can really listen to my voice as I talk,” he said, operating on pure instinct. “The first time you heard my voice, your eyes were closed and you had that dream. The one you still haven’t told me about, but based on the little you said, I believe it was an incredible dream. About us. Am I correct in that belief?”
Moisture filled her eyes. “Yes. It was incredible and it was about us.”
“Okay, then. Close your eyes, darlin’, and let me talk. Listen. And see if you can hear the truth in my voice without any other distractions.” He paused for a few seconds, mostly to try to find the words he would say, now that the moment was here. “Can you do that for me?”
She breathed in and nodded. “I can.”
Max and Maggie, who hadn’t yet greeted her, padded to her from the fireplace, standing sentry, one on each side. Even in this moment, one with so much riding on the outcome, he was amused by their stance. As much as they were Liam’s dogs, Goldi belonged to them.
And they weren’t going to let her fall.
Their presence seemed to offer her a sense of comfort. She closed her eyes, he tightened his hold on her hand and while he hadn’t yet chosen the exact words to say, he decided to let his emotions lead his tongue. And he started with the most emotional of them all.
“I love you, Goldi. I do. And I have for what feels like forever, for far longer than the actual time we’ve known each other. So, I can’t define when this love began or when it became so big that it could no longer be ignored. I just know, with every bone in my body, that I am in love with you. Completely.”
Another breath, this one larger than the last, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t open her eyes. Just stood there, holding on to him, in...well, trust was there. Belief of some sort. And perhaps she had the same hope he did. He wouldn’t know unless he kept talking.
“But see, even though I recognized this fact, that I love you, I wasn’t ready to do anything with it, wasn’t even ready to admit it to myself. I was edging in the right direction, but I think...no, I know, I would’ve proceeded slowly. With caution. But I was getting there.”
“You started opening up to me, about your life,” she said softly, eyes still closed. “So, I thought so. Wondered. But I didn’t know for sure. I...just didn’t.”
“How could you?” His turn to breathe. The bees were still there, but not quite as many and not quite as strong. “When you came here to tell me about the baby, I...and it shames me to admit this, Goldi, but I got scared. Because you were already so important in my life, and you’d already chiseled into my shields. Add in a baby and the past seemed to be repeating itself.”
“I get why you were scared. I have been scared, too.”
That pained him incredibly, to hear her say this. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. So damn sorry I couldn’t see the past from the present, couldn’t stop them from merging together. I just didn’t have the ability to do so in that moment, but I wish I had. I wish I could go back and—”
“You don’t have to apologize,” she said quickly, her words running together. “It was a shock for both of us, and you were still good to me, Liam. Still calm and patient. You just weren’t ready to dive in deep, and I don’t know if I was, either. Not really.”
“I’m still sorry. Forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive,” she said, as stubborn as always. God, he loved that about her, too, that she didn’t back down. That she held her ground. “Can I open my eyes yet?”
“Not yet. Soon.” Swallowing, he continued the path he’d taken, telling her about the paradise tanager photograph, how when he’d shot it, he’d been filled with happiness for the future he’d surely have with Christy and as a father. He told Meredith what those birds had represented and how they’d flown away almost instantly.
“It was later that day that I found out that Christy had died, and ever since, I’ve connected that photograph to my future crumbling into dust. To losing what I loved most. That beauty...well, that it doesn’t last, I guess.”
A sob escaped from between her lips. “I can see how you would make such a comparison. I think I would, too. And, Liam, I am so very sorry. You don’t know how—”
“Shh. I’m okay, Goldi. I wasn’t, for a long time, but I am now. Thanks to you.” Then, before this woman he loved keeled over because he’d made her stand with her eyes closed for minutes on end, he then told her about the rainbow lorikeets, about what had transpired mere days ago. How in that moment, all he’d already known became crystal clear, solidified and sent his fear into the shadows. How hope and joy had done that.
How she had done that. For him.
Now came the most important, the most vital, of all he wanted—needed—to say. And Lord, he prayed he got it right. Or close enough to right that it wasn’t wrong. He’d take that. He’d count that as a win.
Pulling the ring box from his pocket with his free hand, he said, “You can open your eyes now, but only if you promise not to say a word until I’m finished.”
She nodded, said, “I promise,” and opened her eyes. Looked down and saw the ring box, which he’d opened, so the diamond solitaire sat front and center. “Liam! I just said—”
“That you promised to let me finish, so let me do so.” Another nod, but it came slower. “I love you, Meredith. I do. With my heart and my soul and my brain. I can no longer imagine waking up every day without you beside me or without ‘Mamma Mia’ playing too loud and you dancing in the kitchen. Or without you kicking my butt in Hedbanz. Or,” he said, “though it is difficult to admit this, your incessant questions and love for talking. I can’t live...my—”
Here, he broke off as emotion overwhelmed him, caught in his throat and stole the words he needed to say the most. Okay. He could do this. What was the worst that would happen?
She could say no. That was the worst, and he would respect her decision. But he wouldn’t give up easily. Couldn’t. Not for this woman.
Steadier again, he looked straight into her eyes, cleared his throat and said, “My life doesn’t work without you, not how it should. Not the way it is meant to. So, I’m asking you to marry me. Because I can no longer see a life that doesn’t include you beside me.”
“Liam.” She breathed his name more than she said it. “Are you sure?”
“Very sure. And we don’t have to marry tomorrow or next week. Or hell,” he said, feeling his confidence grow, “next year.”
“Next year, huh?” she said, a glimmer of amusement in her voice, her expression. “I don’t know about that. Seems a little too undefined for my liking, but Liam, you—”
“I’ll marry you tomorrow,” he said. “Now, if we could. But I want this to be your choice, when you feel confident that I have your heart and will keep it whole. Forever.”
“I love you so much.” Tears welled and spilled down her cheeks. “Have for a while now and, yes, I know this about you. You’ve shown it to me from day one.”
“Is that a yes, Goldi?” He knew it was, but he had to hear her say the word. Had to know that she was his, that he was hers, before he could fully welcome the joy and revel in the promise of the life he would have with this woman. “Will you walk with me down this path of ours?”
And with those words, Liam reached for her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger, sealing the deal.
She was his. He was hers. From this moment forward, he would cherish and treasure his Goldilocks, care for her, raise his sword in defense. And he knew without question that this woman would do the same for him. Each day. Every day.
For the rest of their lives.
Epilogue
Warm, brilliant sun shone down on Meredith’s shoulders. Today marked her and Liam’s daughter’s first full month of life, and they were celebrating with a picnic outside their house. It was Liam’s idea, his surprise, and since Teagan, which meant “beautiful,” hadn’t given them many hours of sleep last night, Meredith had agreed.
Her infant daughter always seemed calmer when they were outside in nature, which seemed to show she took after her father in that regard. In other ways, too. She had Liam’s rich, dark hair and green-and-amber eyes. What she had of Meredith’s, so far, at least, was a love for ABBA and a very vocal set of lungs. This amused Liam to no end.
He liked to tease Meredith—whom he still called Goldi most of the time—that she’d brought sound back into his life due to her love of talking. She didn’t think he’d ever fully understand that her love of talking hadn’t existed until she’d met him. It was with Liam that she had truly found her voice, and it was their conversations she loved.
Stretching her legs on the quilt Liam had laid on the ground, Meredith waited for her husband—they’d married when she was six months pregnant—to bring actual food to their picnic and looked over at her sleeping daughter who rested next to her, protected from the sun by the arch of the tree’s branches above them.
This tiny baby was...everything. Happiness and love and sweetness all bundled together in one beautiful, if loud, package. And Meredith couldn’t wait to see the person her daughter would grow into. What her interests would someday be, what her smile would look like and if she would laugh in Liam’s booming or in her mother’s softer, yet no less joyous, manner.
The storm that had brought her to this life, to the man she loved, no longer held any remnants of the terror she’d felt that night.
How could it? If not for that storm, she might never have found Liam, never dreamed about the life she now led, never become a mother to Teagan.
Of course, when she said such things to Liam, his logical brain forced him to point out that she wouldn’t have known the difference. That she couldn’t have missed what she didn’t have, hadn’t known about. But he was wrong. She would’ve known in her heart and her soul that her life lacked something. Someone. And she would’ve yearned.
Now, the most she yearned for was more than three hours of sleep at a time, but that, too, would come to her again. Until the next baby and then the next.
Three was the number that she and Liam had agreed upon, but she kind of thought they’d end up with four. In her dream, they’d only had two children, but...well, dreams could change.
Her husband appeared then with a picnic basket in his hands and Max and Maggie at his heels.
The shepherds came to her first, to show their love, before carefully taking up their guard-dog positions around Teagan, one at her feet and the other above her head. She was theirs, too. One of the pack. And they were never far from the baby for very long.
“Hope you’re hungry,” Liam said, dropping onto the blanket next to her. “And if so, you better eat up fast. Before the little one decides she’s hungrier.”
This man treated her so well. Cared for her. Protected her. Allowed her to do the same for him, so what they ended up with was a true give and take. A true partnership.
She was easily the luckiest woman in the world.
“I am hungry,” she said. “But first, if you don’t mind, I could use a hug. Maybe a kiss.”
His arms came around her, his lips met hers and just like their very first kiss, the world disappeared and all that was left was just the two of them. The emotion that existed between them, their friendship and...yes, the heat that erupted into being.
Instantly.
She fell into the kiss, into the man, and could’ve stayed that way, locked in his embrace, with his mouth on hers, for all eternity. If not for Teagan deciding that now was the precise time to wake up and demand to be fed.
Her whimper turned to a wail, which led the dogs to whining and then howling, which softened Teagan’s tears, rather than ramping them up in volume.
Liam broke off the kiss, ran his hand down the side of her face. “I love you, Goldi.”
“I love you, too.” Meredith turned to reach for the baby. “More than you know, even.”
“Oh, I have a good idea. Even so, I am pretty sure I love you more,” he teased. “I mean, ABBA. In the morning, afternoon and when I’m trying to work. Just saying.”
Shifting Teagan so that she could feed her, Meredith smiled at her husband. He did put up with a lot, especially for a man who had lived in these mountains for so long in almost complete solitude.
“A good point. I can start using my earbuds more often, to give you some peace.”
“You could, but that wouldn’t be you,” he said, playing with Teagan’s tiny fingers. “And you are the woman of my dreams. So, don’t change. A thing. Okay?”
And that...well, that said it all.
* * * * *
THEIR CHRISTMAS ANGEL, the next book in Tracy Madison’s delightful miniseries, THE COLORADO FOSTERS, will be available in November 2017 wherever Harlequin Special Edition books and ebooks are sold!
And don’t miss out on previous books in the series:
FROM GOOD GUY TO GROOM
ROCK-A-BYE BRIDE
DYLAN’S DADDY DILEMMA
Available now from Special Edition!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S SECOND-CHANCE FAMILY by Jules Bennett.
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The Cowboy's Second-Chance Family
by Jules Bennett
Chapter One
The mysterious man sitting in the back of the room didn’t want to be seen. Too bad, because Lucy Brooks had spotted him the second he’d tried to slip in unnoticed twenty minutes ago.
A sexy man with broad shoulders, perfectly tanned skin, denim worn out in all the proper places, and clutching a black cowboy hat could not simply blend in. That square, stubbled jaw alone would grab any woman’s attention. Not that Lucy wanted to be grabbed.
She tried to focus as one of the regular attendees discussed her one positive experience from the past week. The Helping Hands support group Lucy had started with her best friends Tara and Kate was a way to encourage others struggling with grief. Everyone brought something different to the meetings because everyone handled the loss of a loved one differently. And nobody had the same story to tell.
Which brought her gaze back to the cowboy in the back. Stonerock, Tennessee, had its fair share of ranchers, but she’d never seen this man before. The fact he was new explained the jumbled nerves in her belly. She refused to believe they were caused by the dark stare he was returning in her direction.
“Does anyone else have anything they’d like to share?” Tara asked, pulling Lucy back to the moment. When nobody stepped forward, Tara went on. “Remember, we will be changing the starting time next week. We’ll be switching to seven instead of six. Have a great week, everybody.”
All in attendance tonight were regulars, save for the cowboy. They’d all had a positive week and tonight’s meeting had mostly been smiles and laughter—the whole reason for forming this group nearly two years ago.
Lucy excused herself from her friends and headed toward the back of the church where the new guy was trying to sneak out as quickly and quietly as he’d snuck in.
Lucy wasn’t having any part of that. She made her way through the aisles, smiling and nodding to familiar faces. But when she reached the back, the stranger was gone. Jogging out the open doors, she spotted him striding toward a big black truck. What else would a mysterious cowboy drive?