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“Positive,” Dani cut in before Chase could say anything. They had been walking toward the house through the parking lot and Dani stopped at Chase’s Jeep.
The wind caught on one of the shutters and it banged against the barn. “Looks like we’re in for a nasty one,” Caleb said.
Chase glanced up at the threatening sky. “I’ll be back later.”
“Good.” Caleb clapped Chase on the back and then walked slowly toward his farmhouse.
“So what do you suppose prompted Jenna to quit?” Chase asked once they were back in the Jeep and heading toward Dani’s farm. Big drops of rain began to pelt from the sky, hitting the windshield and running down the glass in grimy streaks. Chase snapped on the wipers and squinted as he turned off the main road.
“You don’t believe him,” she said flatly.
“Not for one minute. Do you?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so;” Chase muttered, parking the Jeep by the house. “Maybe we’d better do some checking around.”
“Now?”
“Before Jenna has a chance to leave town.”
“I can’t go,” Dani said, eyeing Blake’s pickup. “Not until I’ve touched base with Cody. They shouldn’t be out in this storm. . . .” She hoped that Blake and Cody had enough sense to come back to the house.
Chase looked as if he were about to argue, but kept quiet. Instead he jumped down from the Jeep and held his jacket over Dani’s head as they ran to the house. Once they were on the porch, Chase wiped the raindrops from his hair. “Caleb certainly is a cool one, isn’t he?”
“As ice.” Dani held the screen door open with her body to allow Chase to pass. “It’s spooky.”
“Spooky?” he repeated with a laugh.
“Laugh if you want, but that man gives me the creeps. I’ve never met anyone who can talk out of both sides of his mouth the way that Caleb can,” she said while rubbing her arms before shaking her head at the impossibility of the situation. “I hate to admit it, you know, but I suppose I owe you an apology.”
“Probably,” Chase agreed. “But let’s call it even.”
“Fair enough.” Dani flashed a quick smile and then walked to the window near the fireplace and stared across the fields and past the creek. “I wish I knew what Caleb was up to,” she said, idly brushing the dust from the windowsill with her finger. “But then, I wish I knew what Blake wanted, too.”
“And me?” Chase asked, standing beside her.
“Yes,” she admitted with a thoughtful frown. “I’d like to know what you really want.”
“It’s simple,” he said. “I just want out of the yoke of this mockery of a partnership with Caleb and I want you to come to Boise and marry me.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Sighing, she leaned against him, grateful for his strength.
“It could be, if you’d let it.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small black jeweler’s box. “Open it,” he instructed as he wrapped her small hand around the velvet case. Dani felt tears in her eyes as she snapped open the case and viewed the dainty gold ring with a large pear-shaped diamond.
Her throat was so swollen, she couldn’t speak.
“I was going to wait until tonight, when we were alone and Cody was in bed . . . but I hadn’t counted on Blake showing up or all your suspicions about my being involved with Caleb.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“Just say yes.”
Pausing only a moment, she extracted the ring from its case and slid it onto her finger. “Yes,” she murmured, closing her eyes and letting the tears drizzle down her cheeks.
Chase took her face in his hands and kissed the salty tracks on her skin. “I love you, Dani. And no matter what happens, we’ll pull through this together.” Kissing her gently on the lips, he silently promised her a future of togetherness and joy.
Dani slid her arms around his neck and listened to the comforting beat of his heart. Desperate for the security and love he offered, she returned his kiss and managed to forget, for a little while, all the problems still plaguing her.
