All eyes turned to Christine as she entered the room.
“Am I late?” she asked, tucking her hair behind one ear.
“Right on time,” Zach answered from his place near the projection screen at the front of the room.
When Christine went to slip into a chair near the door, Maddie, who stood next to Zach, gestured to her. “We’ve got a place for you up here.”
“Okay,” Christine agreed, hoping no one expected her to speak at the meeting. When she was seated, Maddie clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“Now that we’re all here,” she announced, “we’ve got a special presentation today. Could someone dim the lights?”
Christine frowned as she glanced around. No one else seemed surprised at how oddly the meeting was starting.
Maddie took the seat across from Christine and hit a button on the laptop that sat in front of her on the conference table.
A background of a tropical scene with the words, “Love is the Adventure” superimposed on top of it displayed on the wide screen.
“It doesn’t matter to me where I am...”
Christine froze as Gavin spoke into the silence of the room.
“As long as I’m with you.”
She darted a quick glance at Maddie, who grinned broadly as she hit the computer’s keyboard. A digitally edited photo of Gavin and Christine appeared on the screen. She recognized the original photo—it had been taken at the Fortune family reunion. Gavin had an arm slung over Christine’s shoulder, pulling her tight to his side. She was leaning in, her head resting on his shoulder, and they both were smiling broadly.
The happiness radiating from her in the photo was undeniable, and a fresh wave of pain stabbed at her heart. But what surprised her was that Gavin looked just as happy, at peace and content in a way she thought she’d imagined during their time together.
Instead of the background of the Mendoza Winery, it looked like they were standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
“Whether we’re traveling to the great cities of the world,” he said, his tone both tender and deliberate, “or to a tropical beach...”
Maddie winked at Christine as she clicked a button on the keyboard. Christine couldn’t help but smile as her face, along with Gavin’s, appeared superimposed onto the bodies of people lounging on the beach. The next photo showed them skiing, and in the following one they were traversing the Great Wall of China. She laughed, as did many of her coworkers, as the photos became an unofficial “where in the world are Gavin and Christine” montage.
Gavin continued to narrate all the adventures they could have together, and hope bloomed in her chest like the first crocuses of spring pushing through hard ground. That was the life she wanted, filled with fun and adventure, and most of all with Gavin at her side for every moment of it.
When the original photo popped up on the screen once again, someone in the back of the room flipped on the lights. Christine’s breath caught as Gavin came forward.
“But in the end,” he said, pinning her with his gaze, “I don’t care where we are or what we do as long as we’re together. I thought I had things all figured out but you changed everything for me. You changed me.”
She shook her head automatically. She was the one who’d changed over these past few weeks. How could he—
“I love you, Christine,” he said softly as he came to stand in front of her chair. “I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want to be half in or to put any limits on us. I want it all. I want to be the man you deserve.” He reached out a hand, and she placed her fingers in his, the warmth of his touch sending sparks shooting along her skin. It had only been a couple of days since she’d seen him, but she’d missed this like he’d been gone for months. When she’d heard through the office grapevine that he’d returned to Denver, she figured it was the end.
But now he was offering her a new beginning.
He pulled her to her feet and lifted her hand to his mouth, brushing a soft kiss across her knuckles. “You deserve to be loved for exactly who you are. You’re beautiful inside and out, kind and generous, and you make everything in my life better.” He squeezed her fingers. “You are my life.”
“Oh,” she breathed. She wasn’t sure she could put together any actual words without bursting into tears.
“If you give me another chance,” he continued, and she felt her eyes widen as he dropped to one knee, “I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.”
There was a collective gasp in the room as he took out a small black box, opening it to reveal the sparkling diamond solitaire she’d already come to think of as hers.
“I don’t want to wait,” he told her with a hopeful smile. “I can’t imagine losing you and I promise I’ll never give you a reason to doubt me again. I love you so damn much, Christine. Will you marry me?”
Words. She needed words. Around the galloping beat of her heart and the blood hammering through her brain, she managed to nod.
“Yes,” she finally whispered, and Gavin let out a pent-up breath that told her he hadn’t been confident in her answer. But she had no doubt she’d love this man forever.
“I love you,” she said as he slipped the ring onto her finger. “I’ll love you for all of my life, Gavin.”
As he stood and kissed her, a cheer went up throughout the room. Christine only had eyes for Gavin. She knew her life would never be the same and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
In the past month she’d discovered a strength in herself she hadn’t known she possessed and a love with a man who made her happy in ways she could never have imagined. She planned to hold on tight for whatever adventure life brought her way.
Epilogue
“I touched a fish,” Christine said with a wide smile. “You must be sick of hearing me say that, but I still can’t quite believe it.” She giggled. “I swam with fish in the ocean and I didn’t drown. It was like I was the Little Mermaid. Everything was beautiful. I can’t believe I missed out on that for so long.”
Gavin leaned in for a quick kiss, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. They sat on two lounge chairs at an exclusive resort outside Cancún, watching shades of pink and gold streak across the evening sky.
“I’m glad you enjoyed snorkeling,” he said. “Are you ready for parasailing tomorrow?”
“I’m ready for anything with you,” she confirmed, then placed a hand on her stomach. “But let’s not talk about it or I might lose my nerve.”
“You can do it,” he told her, taking her hand as he leaned back in his chair. “I believe you can do anything.”
She bit down on her lower lip as tears pricked the backs of her eyes. Would she ever get used to his unwavering support?
She watched the waves curling against the shoreline for several minutes, letting the sound of the surf relax her. “I still feel a little guilty leaving Austin when things are so tumultuous with the agency and the Fortunes.”
Gavin squeezed her fingers. “We’re here for the weekend, sweetheart. Maddie and Zach totally support you taking a couple of days off.”
Christine nodded. Gavin had suggested the spontaneous trip to the beach over dinner with his family the evening after he’d proposed to her. Her first instinct had been to say no, but both Maddie and Kenneth, who’d driven over from Houston with Barbara for the impromptu celebration, had agreed it was a fantastic idea.
Schuyler had taken her on a quick tropical-vacation shopping spree since Christine’s only bathing suit was one she’d owned since college.
Her new life would take some getting used to, but she wouldn’t change a thing. Every day with Gavin would be an adventure, whether he was at her side as she conquered her fears or they were settling into a normal routine in Austin. Gavin seemed to enjoy being back in Texas, opening his law firm’s Austin branch.
They’d already talked about finding a house together, and Christine had agreed to sublet her condo to her sister when they did. Her parents had been supportive and surprisingly excited for her when she’d shared the news of her engagement with them. Aimee hadn’t said much but she’d shoved a wedding magazine toward Christine and mumbled that she’d marked the pages with “not hideous” bridesmaid dresses.
She hadn’t bothered to reveal the details of how her relationship with Gavin had actually started. No one seemed to doubt his feelings for her. After years of feeling like she didn’t fit, Christine had discovered that believing she was worthy of being treated with love and respect made all the difference. They had a long way to go to become the close-knit family her mother hoped for, but Christine actually believed they had a chance of getting there.
So much of that had to do with how she’d changed and grown in the past few weeks. She was becoming exactly who she was meant to be and felt more confident than ever. She credited Gavin for helping her to see herself in a different way.
“I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed the ocean like this,” Gavin said, his thumb tracing small circles on the center of her palm.
“Come on,” she chided. “You don’t have to pretend like this is something new for you. I know you’ve been to beaches all over the world.”
“Yes,” he agreed slowly, “but I was always moving, looking for the next thrill. Now I’m content. You’re the best adventure I can imagine, and I don’t need anything else.”
He tugged on her hand and scooted to one side of the cushioned chair. She moved next to him, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Thank you,” he said against the top of her head, “for seeing something in me that I couldn’t see in myself. I love you, Christine.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered. The connection they shared meant everything to her, and she was excited for a lifetime of both big adventures and tiny moments with Gavin. Her heart overflowed with happiness as they watched the sun dip below the horizon. Each day would be a new beginning and she’d cherish every single one.
* * *
Look for the next book in
The Fortunes of Texas:
The Lost Fortunes continuity,
Her Secret Texas Valentine
by Helen Lacey.
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The Cowboy’s Lesson in Love
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
“Are you nervous?”
Shania Stewart’s softly voiced question to her twenty-six-year-old cousin broke through the otherwise early-morning silence within their small kitchen in their newly rented house located in Forever, Texas.
Wynona Chee didn’t answer her immediately. She was tempted to nonchalantly toss her long, shining black hair over her shoulder and confidently deny the very idea of having even a drop of fear regarding whatever might lay ahead of her today.
Ahead of both of them, really.
But over the course of her young life, Wynona had gone through a great deal with Shania, more than so many women even twice their age. Always close, the cousins had suffered the loss of their parents almost simultaneously. For Wynona, it had been the death of her single mother—she had never known her father—when sickness and heartbreak had claimed her. For Shania, it had come in waves. First, her father had died when a drunk driver had hit his car, then her mother, who had by that time taken in an orphaned Wynona to live with them, had succumbed to pneumonia.
By the time Wynona was ten and Shania was eleven, they did not have a living parent between them. Instead, they faced the grim prospect of being sent off to family care where they would then be absorbed into the foster care system. The latter fact ultimately meant that they would be separated.
The immediate future that faced the two cousins had been beyond bleak at that point.
It was then that they learned the true meaning of the word hope. Their late grandmother’s sister, Great-Aunt Naomi, came swooping into their lives from Houston like an unexpected twister sweeping across the prairie.
A fiercely independent woman, Naomi Blackwell, a dedicated physician who had never married, had been notified about the cousins’ pending fate by the town’s sheriff. She immediately came and took the girls under her wing and returned with them to Houston to live with her in her oversize mansion.
Over the course of the next sixteen years, Naomi not only provided them with a home, she also made sure that they both received an excellent education. This helped guarantee that they could go on to become anything they set their minds to.
It turned out that the girls had set their minds to return to Forever and give back a little of their good fortune to the community. After a short attempt to talk the cousins out of it, Naomi gave them her blessings and sent them off.
When they finally returned to Forever, the house where they had spent their early childhood—Shania’s parents’ house—was gone, destroyed in a fire some eight years ago. Some of the ashes were still there. Consequently, when they arrived back that summer, they moved into a house in town and then set about putting their mission into motion.
Today marked the beginning of their new careers. Shania had been hired to teach physics at Forever’s high school while Wynona was taking over a position that had been vacated at the end of the school year by Ericka Hale, the woman who was retiring as Forever Elementary’s second/third grade teacher.
“A little,” Wynona finally admitted after pausing to take in a deep breath. She could feel her butterflies growing and multiplying in her stomach. “You?”
Shania smiled. As the older of the two, Shania had always felt it was up to her to set the example. But like Wynona, she couldn’t be anything but truthful. It just wasn’t in her nature.
“I’d like to say no,” she told her cousin, “but that would be a lie.” Her smile was slightly rueful. “I feel like everything inside me is vibrating to Flight of the Bumblebee.”
“Really?” Wynona asked, surprised to hear that her cousin was anything but confident. She’d always projected that sort of an image. “But you’ve always been the calm one.”
“Most of the time,” Shania admitted. “But I’m not feeling very calm right
now, although I guess I did manage to fool you,” she told Wynona with a self-deprecating laugh. “Now I guess all I have to do is fool everyone else.”
“That’s easy enough,” Wynona assured her cousin. “All you have to do is channel Great-Aunt Naomi.” A fond smile curved her lips. “That woman could make a rock tremble in fear.”
Shania laughed. “She could, couldn’t she?” A wave of nostalgia came over her as she looked at her younger cousin. “Do you find yourself wishing we were back in Houston with her right now?”
“No,” Wynona said honestly. She saw that her answer surprised her cousin. “Staying with Aunt Naomi would have meant taking the easy way. I think we both know that we’re right where we’re supposed to be just as I know that Aunt Naomi is proud of us for choosing to do this.”
Shania smiled in response, nodding her head. “I think you’re right.” The young woman looked at her watch, then raised her eyes to meet Wynona’s. She took in a deep breath. “Well, Wyn, it’s almost seven. If we don’t want to be late our first day of school, we really should get going.”
Wynona nodded in agreement as she felt her butterflies go into high gear. “Okay, Shania. Let’s do this.”
Copyright © 2018 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Michelle Major for her contribution to The Fortunes of Texas: The Lost Fortunes miniseries.
ISBN-13: 9781488041716
A Deal Made in Texas
Copyright © 2019 by Harlequin Books S.A.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
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