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“I—” Her mouth worked for a moment, then she swallowed as if her throat had gone dry and started again. “Let’s hear them.”
“I come with the lot, Sinclair. Or rather, we do. I’m sorry I lied. I wasn’t playing you so much as looking for a way to convince you to deal with me—and when you did, I fell for you all over again. Hard, and fast, like the first time, but this time there was no fucking chance I could walk away. I bought the lot thinking I wanted to hold onto an important piece of my past.” He laughed. “I didn’t realize until afterwards, when I was sitting there with a deed in my hand, I’d only owned up to half my motives. It wasn’t just about the past. It was about the future. The whole truth is I wanted the lot because I want roots. I want a home. I want you. And I want this baby we’ve made. I don’t have a hell of a lot of control over that part, but I’m in, Sinclair, for whatever ride life takes us on.”
She blinked fast and wiped at her damp cheeks, which might be a bad sign, or just a by-product of the rain that fell in a steady shower around them. “You hate it here.”
“No. As someone took the time to point out to me recently, I belong here. I haven’t fought hard enough for my place, but that’s going to change. I’m not leaving just because certain people would rather not have me around. I don’t really give a shit if half the town thinks I’m trouble. I?
?m staying. So, what do you say, baby girl? You want to settle down with Magnolia Grove’s least-favorite son?”
Her arms were around his neck and her body plastered to his before he finished asking the question. Triumph surged, only to recede just as quickly when her voice broke over something like a sob, and she said, “No.”
He eased back and lowered his chin to get a look at her face. “Sinclair, I have to warn you, I’m going to do whatever it takes to change your—”
“No, you’re not Magnolia Grove’s least-favorite son. You’ve earned people’s respect. All of this”—she gestured around them again—“proves my point. Claudia Pinkerton doesn’t suffer fools, but she didn’t doubt when you told her the barn was at risk. Mayor Campbell wouldn’t rally a crew in the middle of a rainstorm to lay a bunch of sandbags just because Ricky showed up with his checkbook. He did it because of you. They trust you.”
Maybe they did, and later, he might take a moment to appreciate the victory, but right now, he only cared about winning one person’s respect. “What about you, Sinclair? Do you trust me?”
By way of answer, she came up on her toes and sealed her mouth to his. He cupped the back of her head and took everything—demanded everything—and didn’t let her go until they were both panting. Once his breathing leveled off, he heard the whistles and catcalls over the soundtrack of falling rain and truck engines. He blocked them out and focused on the woman in his arms. “I know my timing could use a little work, but I’ll take that as a yes.”
She nodded. “Yes, I trust you. And yes, I want to settle down with the man I love.” Her arms tightened around his waist, and she gave him a hard hug. “As for your timing, I’d say it’s perfect.”
Pride and relief washed through him, as tangible as the rain. “In that case, I’ve got one more question for you.” He eased back and dug in his pocket. “Think you can turn this into a wedding ring?” He opened his hand to offer her the infinity symbol she’d made him for his eighteenth birthday.
She reached for it and then drew back when the platinum caught the light. “Oh my God.” Shock sucked the strength from her voice, leaving only a whisper. “You still have it.”
He shifted the artfully twisted wire so he held it between his thumb and forefinger. “The leather wore away a long time ago, but this”—he traced her lip with the precious metal—“this lasted. When you gave it to me, you promised me forever. I’m holding you to it.”
This time there was no mistaking the tears in her eyes, but she smiled and took the symbol. A single, dark brow shot up. “What’s your timeline?”
“Expedited,” he answered and lowered his mouth to hers. “I’ve waited a decade already. I don’t want to wait anymore. The rest of our forever starts now.”
Epilogue
“Aw, baby, don’t put your mouth on that,” Shane heard his brother-in-law, Beau, warn. “You don’t know where it’s been.”
He stepped through the tall glass doors that led from the back deck of the barn to the dining room in time to see his six-month-old daughter, April, bestow a wet mess of a kiss on Hunter Knox. The toddler in Hunter’s other arm—his adopted daughter, Joy—giggled at the baby’s sloppy affection and followed suit, depositing a smacking kiss on her father’s cheek.
“That’s right, girls. Ignore Uncle Beau.” Hunter jiggled both kids and aimed a lazy grin at his friend. “He’s just jealous ’cause you like me best.” Then the blond man’s nose wrinkled. He sniffed one girl, then the other. His grin turned conspiratorial and switched to Shane. “Hey, Uncle Beau, April’s got a present for you.”
Beau paused on his way to the fridge, snagged a diaper out of the bag on the table and winged it at Hunter like a Frisbee. “Man up, Uncle Hunter. You’re her favorite.”
Hunter turned to shield himself from the padded missile. It bounced off his back and landed on the floor. “Huh? What’s that, baby?” He held the infant higher in his arm, as if she whispered in his ear, and winked at Joy. “Nope, she definitely said, ‘Uncle Beau, this one’s for you.’”
Beau took a beer from the fridge and turned, but whatever reply he’d been about to offer got cut off by an enthusiastic, “Doooooown!” He had just enough time to place his beer on the table and catch his towheaded son, Ryder, before the turbo-powered ten-month-old jumped from the high chair. “Sorry, April, I’m busy keeping Savannah, Jr. out of a body cast.”
“Nice catch,” Shane joked as he passed Beau and headed toward Hunter. “I’ll take her.”
Hunter handed her over, but picked up the diaper on the floor and tossed it at Beau’s head. “Multitask, motherfucker. We’re supposed to be handling things, so this hard-up fool can set the scene out back and get himself laid for the first time in six months.”
April cooed at Shane as he set her down on the changing mat lying on the floor in the living area. He smiled and touched his nose to her tiny one. “The scene is set, and we don’t say the f-word in front of the kids, do we? No, we don’t.”
From behind him, Joy clapped her hands. “No fofo!”
“Shhh!” Hunter whispered and snuggled her.
Shane wasn’t so easily silenced. “That’s exactly right, Joy.” With practiced skill, he changed the dirty diaper then bundled it up and lobbed it at Hunter.
Anticipating retaliation, the limber motherfucker ducked out of the way. “Missed me, bitch.”
