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She shook her head. “No, I had a feeling you didn’t like it, but I just ...”
“What is it?” Something serious was afoot.
“I think it’s important that we don’t lie to each other.”
“Okay,” he said slowly. “It wasn’t a real lie. I just wanted to keep watching the movie with you, and I didn’t want you to feel bad that I didn’t like—”
“No, no,” she said, “not that.” She looked down at Mona’s head in her lap. “I feel like I’ve already been caught in a lie, but you are too nice to say it.”
What was she talking about?
“You’ve probably figured out by now that I don’t know how to cook.” She looked up quickly. “I thought that I would be able to figure it out before I had to cook something. You know, like make the lie true before you realized it was a lie. But obviously, that’s not the way things turned out. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie. I just really wanted to marry you, and you seemed so happy to think I could cook.”
His chest grew warm at her words. She hadn’t said that she wanted him to marry her or that she wanted to save the kids. She had said that she wanted to marry him. He was so in love with this woman. Maybe it was time he told her. “I love you,” he blurted out.
She let out a bewildered giggle. “What? I admit my big scam to you, and you profess your love for the first time?”
He laid his hand gently at the base of her neck. “I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t want to tell you too fast because I didn’t think you’d believe me.” He laughed awkwardly. “And I really didn’t mean to tell you right now. It just came out because I didn’t want you to feel bad about the cooking thing.”
“Really?” Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the TV’s blue light.
He nodded. “Really. And please don’t feel pressured to say anything in return. What we have here is fantastic whether you ever fall in love with me or not. I mean, I hope that you can grow to love me, but I don’t want you to lie and tell me that—”
She silenced him with her lips pressed to his, and his hand found the back of her head, his fingers sliding into her soft hair as she kept leaning into him. He couldn’t help but chuckle as they kissed. “You’re not supposed to laugh when a woman throws herself at you,” Nova said in this sultry whisper.
Is that what was happening? “Sorry,” he tried to mumble, but he wasn’t sure she heard him as she was curling one leg under her so she could push herself closer to him.
He glanced down at Mona and then pulled away. “Do you want me to carry her upstairs?”
Nova nodded quickly. Gunner stood, his legs feeling a little weak, and slid both arms under the little girl. Cradling her head on his bicep, he easily carried her up the stairs and laid her in bed, praying that she would stay asleep. He did not know what was happening with his wife, but whatever it was, he didn’t want it to be interrupted.
When he stepped out of Mona’s room and back into the hallway, he ran right into Nova, who kissed him again. Now he picked her up, and was mighty pleased with himself at the way she gasped when he did so. He kept kissing her as he carried her down the hallway toward his bedroom. But he paused the kiss when he reached the doorway. “Shall I carry you across the threshold, wife?”
She nodded. “If I had known that you loved barbecue this much, I would have figured it out long ago.”
Chapter 46
When Nova woke up, Gunner was already out of the bed, making her feel like a lazy slacker. The sun was already up, so she knew she was behind schedule. She listened for the sound of kids’ feet as she slipped out of bed, knowing that she would feel worse if she had slept in while he dealt with the children, but she didn’t hear anything.
When she reached the doorway, she stood there for a moment collecting herself. Last night had been incredible. So overwhelmingly incredible that she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She hadn’t been planning for things to go that way, but they just had. It had felt so right, so real, and so necessary. Though she hadn’t said it yet, she was in love with this man and last night she had wanted to make him feel that love in every way possible whether it was pulled pork or making love. But now she felt a bit dizzy from it all, a bit bashful, a bit vulnerable. She was a confident woman. She couldn’t believe that she was afraid to go downstairs and face her husband. That didn’t match who she was. But then, as she tried to steel herself, tried to psych herself up for the big journey down the stairs, she heard Gabby’s voice below her. That broke the spell. She hurried down the stairs to rescue Gunner from some lecture on fingernail polish.
She found her whole family in the kitchen, and was surprised to see them all there together acting so peaceful. Gunner was at the stove, and she smelled sausage. His face lit up when he saw her, and he strode across the small room and gave her a kiss. It was sweet and longer than she expected, and might have gone on even longer if Conley hadn’t said, “Ewww.”
Gunner pulled away still smiling, and Nova’s eyes fell to see General Lee watching her through the screen door. “General’s trying to get back in again,” she said, grateful for the distraction.
Gunner chuckled. “Yes, she has already succeeded once, but Mona is keeping an eye on her for me.”
Nova’s eyes found Mona, and sure enough, the little girl was staring at the back door like she had a real job to do.
“I’m going to make a quick trip to the little girl’s room.” Nova scurried off, still feeling abnormally shy. She washed up and then primped a little in the mirror, something else she wasn’t used to.
When she got back to the kitchen, Gunner was putting plates on the table. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him for another kiss. “Would you like some coffee?” he said in an oddly gravelly voice.
She nodded, breathless. He pulled her chair out for her and waited for her to sit before going to the coffee pot. A plate piled high with food sat in front of her. Conley was already eating.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” Nova said.
“I know, but we have so many eggs piled up that I wanted to use some up.”
