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He took a moment and then turned to face her.
Sabrina’s hair had come loose and she pushed it away from her face, her eyes shiny and full. He saw the questions there and hoped like hell that he had the right answers.
“What are you doing?” she asked haltingly.
Teague blew out a hot breath and dragged his hands through his hair. “I’m leaving.”
Her delicate eyebrow arched. “But…”
“You asked me how I know that what I feel for you is love. Open the envelope I gave you in the summer.”
“Envelope.” A small frown furrowed her brow. “How do you know that I haven’t?
Teague watched her closely. “Because if you had opened it already, you would know.”
“What would I know?” she whispered, and her lips trembled.
“You would know that I love you with everything that I’ve got. You would know that when I look at you and Harry and Morgan, I see the world differently. I don’t see war and desperation or suffering. I see something that I’ve never seen before. I see hope and beauty. I see love.”
Teague walked past her and headed toward the front door. His chest was tight and he had no idea if he was playing this correctly. But he was going to go with his gut. He was going to give her the time she needed to figure this out on her own.
“Open the envelope, Sabrina. You’ll be able to get inside my head and then you’ll know what I know. ”
Teague sat in his car for a good five minutes, staring into the dark and wondering if he’d done the right thing by walking away. He could have had her. He knew this. He could have scooped Sabrina into his arms and carried her up to her bedroom. Lord knows his body ached at the thought.
“Shit,” he muttered, firing up the engine of his truck and pulling away from the curb.
It was a cool evening, boasting a night sky full of stars and a hint of frost in the air. Teague slid from his truck and pulled a cigar out of his suit jacket, leaning back against the vehicle as he lit the Montecristo. Voices from behind the house echoed eerily across the water and he knew that most of his family was out there. They were a noisy bunch and he smiled when his sister Grace started in on his cousin Cooper. Those two were always butting heads.
“How’d it go?”
Teague turned as his twin Tucker appeared from the dark.
“I guess I’ll find out tomorrow,” Teague replied.
“What’s going on tomorrow?”
“I’m going to ask Sabrina to marry me.”
“Huh,” Tucker said, glancing up into the night sky. “Another man down. Mom’s going to be all over this.”
Teague grinned and offered his brother a cigar.
“You’re cocky. Celebrating already,” Tucker said, accepting it.
“Not cocky,” Teague replied wryly, following his brother’s gaze and staring up into the big night. “I’ve never been more scared of anything in my life.”
“Shit,” Tucker said, with a chuckle. “This is only the beginning. Just wait.”
“For what?”
“For her to say yes. That’s when it gets real. That’s when your life changes. But I gotta tell ya, it’s worth it. Can’t believe it took you so long to figure that shit out.”
The boys said no more after that. They stayed out under the stars for nearly an hour, enjoying their cigars and the comfort of each other. It was nice, Teague thought, spending time with his brother. Being here with his family. Right now he felt as if anything was possible.
He felt as if he was halfway home and hopefully, Sabrina would help get him all the way there.
Chapter Twenty-eight
