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“Well, you see,” he said, flicking the end of her nose, “that flyboy is thinking as long as there is already a party going on, he might invite a reverend to say a few words before the barbecue starts. And then, after a few dances, that flyboy would take his new bride, that gorgeous woman, on a night flight, so that when the fireworks started they’d be high in the sky, looking down at all those fiery sparks filling the air.”
Her frown was not what he expected. “What about your airmail route?”
“What about it?”
“Won’t you be flying across the nation all the time?”
“No,” he said. “If I get the contract, I’ll be flying from Minneapolis to Iowa five days a week. I’d be home every night.”
“You would?”
“Could you deal with that?” he asked. “Me being home every night?”
Smiling, she nodded. “Yes, I could, but...”
“But?”
“This is where it gets complicated again,” she said woefully. “I need to be busy, too. I don’t want to sound—”
“You’re going to busy all right,” he said, rubbing his nose against hers. “You’ll be running the Plantation.”
“Your mother—”
“Doesn’t want any more to do with it now than she did years ago.” Regret swelled inside him. “I have no idea why I said what I did. Jealousy, I guess. Thinking you wanted to be rich more than you wanted to be with me.”
“I’ve been rich,” she whispered. “I am rich. But it’s nothing compared to how much I love you.”
“I love you, too, Twyla Nightingale. The best hostess in the country. This town isn’t going to know what has hit it on the Fourth of July.”
She giggled. “I hope so.”
He kissed her nose. “And I hope you say yes, that you’ll marry me.”
She squealed and leaped forward, pushing him onto his back. Wiggling until her body rested perfectly atop his, she asked, “You mean it, Forrest? You really, truly want to marry me?”
He framed her cheek with a hand and relished the way her breath merged with his as he whispered, “Yes, I mean it. You are, and forever will be, exactly what I want. If you marry me, I promise to never go anywhere again without telling you or taking you with me.”
Her smile was so bold, so beautiful, its glow spread across her entire face. “Oh, Forrest,” she whispered. “You make me so happy. It’s like my heart is so full it’s singing. I love you so very, very much.”
“So,” he said, running a hand down her back to press her hips deeper against him. “Will you marry me or not?”
“Of course I’ll marry you.”
Their kiss started with a few slow gentle pecks, which quickly escalated into a passionate exchange that should have scalded them both. When it ended, knowing he couldn’t wait much longer, he asked, “On the Fourth of July?”
Unexpectedly, she crawled off him and jumped to her feet. “I’d marry you right now if there was a preacher handy.” She grabbed his hands to tug him upright. “But since there’s not, get up.”
To say he was disappointed was putting it mildly. Lying on the hot sand with her, married or not, had instantly become a favorite pastime. Forrest stood and shook the sand off his pants and shirt, trying to also shake away a small portion of the desire still blazing through his veins. He could wait. It might kill him. But he could wait.
“Grab the picnic basket and follow me,” she said.
The flame in his blood flared again, so strong his breath caught. “To where?”
“The other side of the island,” she said even more saucily than usual. “Where there are no houses and no balconies where someone is standing with a pair of binoculars.”
He laughed. “Josie?”
“That would be my guess.”
“She packed the picnic basket.”
The twinkle in her eyes said she knew something he didn’t.
“That’s what I hoped,” she said, giggling.
Chapter Sixteen
Twyla wasn’t blindsided by love. That would have been impossible. She’d been in love with Forrest forever. However, the freedom of being able to admit her love was spectacular. And knowing wholly, inside out, that he loved her in return was the best thing of all. Who said a girl couldn’t have her cake and eat it, too?
They ran hand in hand to the other side of the island. Past the spot Forrest had carried her ashore several days ago to where a large cluster of boulders made a tiny, enchantingly private alcove. He set down the basket, and she wound her arms around his neck, kissing him freely, openly, and laughing to the heavens above when it ended. The happiness inside her was so great, so phenomenal.
