Page 160 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

“And if he sets one foot in your courtyard again uninvited, sad story or no sad story, him and me are going to have a very different conversation.”

Nikos nodded so hard his flat cap almost fell off his knee.

“But it’s your land,” Blane said again. This time it wasn’t an objection. It sounded more as though he were reminding himself. “And I’m not going to be one more man who tells you what to do with your own life. Even when I think you’re wrong.” His mouth twisted. “Especially then.”

Bea’s throat closed. She’d spent almost forty years married to a man who used to call her generous and somehow make it sound as though he were actually saying stupid. Simon had known the worth of everything she owned and had never once let her give any of it away.

And here was Blane. This enormous, stubborn, difficult man who thought she was making a mistake, who had given her every reason why—and who was going to let her make it anyway because it was hers to make.

If she hadn’t already been quite hopelessly in love with him, that would have done it.

For a moment, the only sound was the cicadas. Then Blane pulled out a chair, turned it around and sat astride it, folding his arms along the back. Bea relaxed a little, recognizing the enormous concession for what it was. He’d come as close as he was going to come to declaring that this meeting was no longer a threat.

“This mountain of yours,” he said to Nikos.

Nikos looked wary. “Yes?”

“The high ground nobody wanted. The rocks.” Blane tilted his head. “How high does it go? What’s the terrain like up there? Ridges? Gullies? What?”

Nikos looked nervous at first, but then he began to answer, his hands moving through the air as he described the old goat tracks his father had walked, the places where you could see three valleys at once, and the places where a man could stand ten meters from you and you’d never know he was there.

Bea watched Blane listen. She didn’t understand yet why Nikos’s useless mountain seemed so important to him. Only that it did. He caught her watching, and for a second something passed across his face that she couldn’t read.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He turned back to Nikos. “Keep going. Those tracks—where do they come out?”

~ ~ ~

After Nikos had gone, Bea crossed the terrace to Blane and rested her hand in the middle of his chest as she looked up into his eyes. “Thank you.”

He gave a small shrug. “Yeah.”

“I know you still don’t like it.”

“I don’t.”

“I know.” Her fingers curled slightly against his shirt. “But I’m still saying thank you for not letting that be the most important thing.”

His arms came around her then, drawing her in against him. “You’re the most important thing, Bea.”

She brought both hands up to cup his face. “And you’re the most important thing to me.”

Something tightened in his jaw. He hadn’t planned to tell her yet. He’d figured he’d know when the right moment came. But looking down at her now, with her hands warm against his face, he realized he’d damn near said it anyway.

“You’re really gonna do it, then?” he asked.

“I am.” Her smile faded a little. “Oh. Did you think I might change my mind? Come to my senses?”

“No, Bea. I didn’t.” He tightened his arms around her. “Just because I don’t agree with your choice doesn’t mean I won’t respect it. Or you. I know you’re not gonna change your mind, and I sure as hell won’t try to make you.” He bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She rose onto her toes and kissed him softly. “Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“I think I do.”

She smiled up at him. “You have no idea how much you mean to me, darling.”

His mouth twitched. “I think I do, darlin’.”