Gideon's Bride
Page 27
“It wasn’t until you told me you loved me, too, that I realized what I’d done was wrong. You trusted me, and I’d lied to you. A lie of omission, but a lie just the same.
“I really was going to tell you the truth. I thought, if he loves me enough to forgive the deception, then what we have is the real thing. And if he can’t forgive me, then we never really had anything to begin with.
“But you found out before I told you.” Her dark eyes were sad and bleak. Then she glanced away and added with quiet finality, “And I guess I have my answer.”
The silence stretched between them. In the distance they heard a lone coyote crying to the moon, while nervous sheep baaed in response. And in the barn restless horses nickered softly to one another.
Gideon took a step forward. “Is it my turn now?” She nodded, but refused to look at him, and her moonlit profile was the most vulnerable thing he’d ever seen. “Then I’ll tell you what the answer is. But I have to know something first.”
“What is it?”
“Do you still love me?”
She turned her head and stared up at him, her heart in her eyes, then whispered, “Yes.”
He took her hand in his. Her hand trembled, then stilled, as he curled his fingers around hers. “And I love you, Rennie.”
She just stood there for a moment, unbelieving. Then with a choked cry she threw herself into his arms.
“Oh, God, Gideon. I’m sorry,” she said, fighting back tears. “So sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“The only way you could really hurt me is if you stopped loving me.”
“Never. I’ll never stop loving you.”
Her reward was a fierce kiss that took her breath away. Then he wrapped his arms around her, needing the melting softness of her body against his just as he needed the love she’d given him so freely. With a heartfelt sigh she fitted herself against him and closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Rennie.” He ran his hands slowly over her arms where he’d grasped her so roughly that morning, as if searching for the bruises he knew he’d left on her delicate skin. “I never meant to hurt you, either.” His conscience smote him. “That’s not true. I wanted to hurt you the way I’d been hurt. But not this way. Never this way.”
Her eyes flickered open and she raised her face to his. “I know.” She caught his right hand and carried it to her lips, then cradled it against her cheek. “But if you can forgive me, I can forgive you.”
Gideon’s throat tightened with an upsurge of emotion, and his eyes stung. “Cal was right,” he said when he finally trusted his voice enough to speak.
“About what?”
He told her what Caleb had said just before he left. “But I already knew, deep down. Even when I was accusing you, I think I knew. I was just afraid to believe it.”
“Why afraid?”
“Because I need you so much.”
She brushed his lips with her fingertips. “Is that bad?”
“Only if you don’t need me, too.”
“I do, Gideon. I always will.” She nestled closer, locking her arms around his waist. “I need the things you’ve given me,” she said softly. “A family. A home. And your love. More than anything, I need your love.”
His hold tightened. “Then you don’t ever have to look anywhere else for what you need. I love you, Rennie. Now and forever.”
She laid her head against his heart and smiled mistily in the darkness. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
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ISBN: 978-1-4592-8738-9
Gideon’s Bride
Copyright © 1995 by Amelia A. Autin
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