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“Or the way you can’t stop talking about this damn town that shouldn’t mean anything to you. Or how you get shy and turned on all at the same time in a way that makes me crazy to touch you even as I tell myself I should go slow.”
Her heart thumped faster in her chest. Her cheeks burned. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. She refused to believe it, because it scared the shit out of her.
“Shane, I don’t know. I hardly know you, and what you did… That hurt. What if I can’t get past it?”
“I understand. We haven’t known each other long and I’ve been holding back, not just from you, but from myself. I’m not asking you to love me. Heck, I’m not even saying we should be together. I’m just asking if you can forgive me. Maybe not today, but sometime. And if you can, I’d like a chance. Just a chance. I love who you are, Merry, and I think it could be way more than that, but all I need right now is to know if you’ll consider it. If you’ll just…consider me.”
She didn’t let herself answer right away. This was a serious question and she couldn’t take it lightly. Could she forgive him? Could she ever trust him? Could she give it a chance? He’d hurt her, badly. He’d lied. He’d embarrassed her. And he’d tried to take something from her that meant so much.
But could she hold on to that forever in the face of what he’d given up? Of what he’d realized?
He’d been hurt, too, after all. Badly, and by so many.
Despite her hesitation, she knew in her heart she could at least try. But before she could answer, another truck approached down the dirt road and pulled up next to them. She recognized Nate Hendricks in the passenger seat. The driver tipped his hat. “Shane,” the deputy said. “The sheriff wants to set up base just up the road… We’ll cut over to the creek just past Providence.”
“Sure,” Shane said.
“Forensics should be here within the hour.”
He nodded and the truck drove on. As they watched it go, Merry reached for Shane’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll stay here with you,” she said softly.
He looked down at their entwined fingers, then back up with a question in his eyes.
“You’re worth the chance, Shane. We’re both worth the chance.”
He moved forward, just slightly. Just a fraction of an inch, his gaze falling to her mouth as if he meant to kiss her. But he stopped then, and cleared his throat as he squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled at him and closed the space he’d meant to, to press a slow, sweet kiss to his mouth. Some of the tiredness was gone from his eyes when she pulled back. “That was for Providence.”
“Yeah?” He finally managed a genuine smile. “I give you a ghost town and I get one kiss? You drive a hard bargain, lady.”
“Don’t ever forget it.”
“I won’t. And I’d say it was a fair trade. I’d do it again for you, if I could.”
“Aw, what kind of girl would need two ghost towns?”
“A very, very odd one,” he said, then muttered, “Aw, screw it,” and pulled her into his arms. “Almost as odd as you, Merry. But not nearly as beautiful.”
When he kissed her, an honest kiss with none of those lies between them, Merry knew she’d lied. He wasn’t worth just a chance. He was worth every terrifying feeling welling up inside her heart, everything she was afraid to give. She’d give him that. She would.
EPILOGUE
SHANE LEANED AGAINST the post of the saloon porch, watching as that big pain-in-the-ass Walker pulled Merry out into the center of Providence’s road to dance. Fiddle music wound through the buildings as strings of tiny white lights swayed in the breeze. There hadn’t been this many people in the old town in almost a century, he’d wager.
The members of the board huddled in a loose circle at the edge of the porch, talking up every city or county official who got near. This party was a bit of an open house for important members of the community. The saloon was nearly fully restored and they’d started work on the church, but it was mid-September already, and things would shut down soon. Merry was already fretting about it, but Shane would be happy to see her again. The twelve-hour days she’d been working were leaving him lonely.
Open house or not, Shane felt like this party was more of a celebration of Merry’s work than anything, and her face glowed with happiness. He couldn’t even resent the wide smile she aimed up at Walker as the man spun her around. She was coming home with Shane tonight, and that was all that mattered to him. She could dance Walker into the ground for all he cared.
“Hey there, handsome,” Rayleen said, walking over to offer him a beer. “If Christmas is neglecting you, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
He clinked his bottle against hers. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yep.” She took a swig and looked him up and down. “You ever heard of the prostate gland?”
The beer he’d just tipped into his mouth nearly sprayed out on his choked gasp. Instead he managed to swallow half of it. The other half nearly drowned him. He coughed like a madman, causing heads to turn, but at least he hadn’t sprayed the backs of Jeanine and Kristen Bishop.
“Good Christ,” Rayleen said, slamming a palm against his back. “You young men really need to get out more often. You’re sheltered as schoolgirls.”
