Page 140 of The Search

“Then you should take better care of yourself. You can’t expect Monty and me to come after you whenever you get into trouble.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Because we’ll have to do it. We won’t have a choice.”

“Why not?”

She was silent a moment. “Because we . . . love you.”

He stiffened. “You do?”

“Not that you deserve it. But that doesn’t seem to make a difference. We’re stuck with you.”

“My God, what a romantic declaration. I’m not sure whether it’s you or Monty who’s—”

“It’s me. Monty has more sense.” She moistened her lips. “And I don’t care how many women you’ve loved in the past. Because I’m going to be the best and the last. We match. We could have a great marriage. I’ll work at it and make you work at it until we have something that’s really special.”

“Are you asking for my hand in marriage?”

“No, I’m telling you that you should marry me because you’re not going to find anyone who’s better for you and I’m not going to let you go for the next hundred years or so.”

“You don’t have to be so argumentative.” He cleared his throat. “I believe I made the first confession of affection. I could wish you hadn’t chosen this hole in the ground in which to reply.”

“I had to get it out.”

“Could you at least take my hand?”

“No, I might hurt you. You broke your damn arm.”

“I’ll suffer.”

She reached out and carefully linked her fingers with his. She whispered, “I do love you, Logan. I never thought I could love anyone like this. I hope you know it’s not going to go away.”

“I’ll resign myself.” He leaned his head on her shoulder and his weight felt dear and solid and wonderfully right. “There’s only one other thing I want to know. It’s of supreme importance.”

“What?”

“Do you love me as much as you do your dog?”

EPILOGUE

They heard the wolf howl as soon as they got out of the jeep.

“Thank heavens.” Eve had flung open the front door of the cabin and stared at them now in exasperation. “I never want to hear another wolf for the rest of my life. I may even cancel my subscription to National Geographic. I was tempted to give the animal a sedative just so we could get some sleep.”

“Sorry.” Sarah looked sheepish. “We’ll take over. Where are Joe and Jane?”

“Out for a run. I think they wanted to get away from Maggie.”

“That bad?”

“That bad.” Eve glanced at Logan. “That cast on your arm may come in handy.”

Maggie howled.

Monty barked joyously and disappeared into the house.

“You’d better monitor that encounter,” Eve told Sarah. “She’s very bad tempered. He may get his throat sliced.”