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“I just don't want you to wake up in a few weeks regretting your decision.” She took a shaky breath and tried to still her trembling hands by clasping them in front of her body. Her inner voice screamed at her to shut up. She should wrap her arms around him and refuse to let him go. Instead of listening, she pressed on. “If you leave me now, it will crush me. But if you leave me later after I've come to depend on you, I don't think I can survive it.”
He placed a tender kiss on her forehead and another on the tip of her nose. The third landed on her lips. It was the briefest of all the kisses they had shared. “I am not going anywhere. Never. Get that through your pretty head. You are stuck with me, baby. I love you.”
“I never thought this would happen to me, that I would find love with someone so perfect. I'm not the type of girl guys go crazy-wild over. I'm just plain old Beth.”
“That isn't true.” He made an expression of total disbelief. “Sometimes you are the classy and elegant Elizabeth. Sometimes you are the fun-loving Izzy. You can be the sexy, tempting Liza, and then just like that, you're Beth again, the strong and courageous girl that fell in love with a messed-up cowboy.”
She loved the way he talked about her with a touch of awe and a whole lot of loving tenderness. “I can't believe this is real. For years, since I was probably thirteen and read my first romance, I have fantasized about being the love of your life.”
“Let's get one thing straight,” he said in a sober tone. “When it comes to the two of us, I am the lucky one. You are way out of my league. I was just too stupid or blind or both to see that before now.”
“Doesn't matter.” Her vision blurred with tears. “If I can spend the rest of my life with you, nothing can hurt me. With you by my side, I can endure anything.”
His mouth pressed against hers, and he kissed her until she couldn't think straight. She clung to him, holding on to his muscular arms so she wouldn't keel over. If she could go back in time, she would tell her sixteen-year-old self not to worry. Just kiss him. Make a move on him. Even though he was a grown man and would verbally rip her to shreds seconds later.
In the end, it was worth all the pain and confusion.
Jared Wilder was the love of her life, and she was finally the love of his.
Epilogue
“Daddy! Daddy!”
A round of delighted shouts coming from her children let Beth know that Jared was home. She hated it when he worked holidays, especially Christmas Eve. She quickly finished what she was doing in the kitchen, wiped her hands on a towel, and hurried out to greet him.
The sight of him struggling to walk with a kid hanging onto each leg made her laugh. Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped moving forward long enough to memorize the moment. She had to be the luckiest woman in the world. How else could she explain having the greatest husband and the two most beautiful children?
“How are you home from the hospital already?” she asked. “Thought you had to work all night and half the day tomorrow?”
He beamed with pride. “I finally got smart and found someone who is like I used to be.”
Her brows drew together. “Used to be? And how was that?”
“I found a young doctor with no family in the area, and he agreed to take my shifts. In return, I'm taking over for him on New Year's Eve so he can party like it's 1999. Whatever that means.”
“Wow. I wish you'd thought of that last year.”
“Better late than never” He sniffed the air. “Smells delicious in here, and I am starving.”
Their six-year-old daughter shouted with excitement. “Mommy made turkey and stuffin' and two kinds of potatoes!”
“She did?” He scooped Gracie up, and she squealed with delight as he swung her upside down for a few seconds. “What else did she make? Is that pie I smell?”
“Yeah!” their four-year-old son yelled. Wanting equal attention, he held his arms up. Jared put Gracie down and lifted Benjamin high over his head for a moment. Their little boy giggled as he answered his father's question. “We got apple pie and punkin pie!”
“Yummy.” Jared winked at Beth, and they shared a knowing smile. In a few hours, the kids would be in bed, and they could have some precious alone time. He added, “I'm going to eat all the pie. No one else can have any because I am soooo hungry.”
Jared liked to tease the kids. Fortunately, they knew their daddy was just being silly. She also suspected they took after him when it came to humor. Instead of getting upset, both of their children laughed.
“You have to share, Daddy,” Gracie said. “Teacher says only naughty people don't share.”
“That's right,” Beth said. Then she told her husband, “They are learning about sharing this week. Gracie has been doing a great job today sharing with Benjamin.”
“That's my girl,” he said. He bent down to kiss Gracie on the top of her head. “Now, I am starving. Seriously Let's eat. A grown man can't live on vending machine chips, and that's all I had today.”
∞∞∞
A few hours later, the kids were finally asleep. All it took was a warm bath, three stories read by their father with sound effects, and a goodnight song sung by her. Wearing the red dress he gave her years ago, Beth snuggled up to him on the couch. She sipped from her glass of wine while he let his rest on the coffee table.
