by Robyn Carr
“I was just being stubborn,” she said. “I think I might be over it now.” She looked at the flowers. “Yeah, I’ll get over it. I can get used to better flowers, too.”
“Yeah? Wait till you taste the wine. Cassie, I want to marry you. Get married, have kids, get a playmate for Steve. I want it all with you. You over being mad enough to do that? Marry me?”
“When?” she asked.
“As soon as we can. Maybe when Beth’s better. We can’t get it done without your girls. Your girls are as important to you as my family is to me.”
“You’re thinking of Beth at a time like this?” she asked.
“Sorry,” he said. “Yeah, I was thinking about her. We’re so lucky, Cass—our worst problems aren’t that bad. Jerod says she’s gonna be just fine and I believe him, but it’s gonna take a while for her to get on her feet. That’s okay, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not like we’re saving ourselves for marriage….”
“Walt,” she said, shaking her head at him and laughing. “That’s wonderful, that you considered her. My girls, they are my family.”
“So will you do it? Marry me? Have a dozen kids?”
“I’ll marry you,” she said. “Because I adore you. And I’ll start with one and see where we end up, but I don’t think I have time to squeak in a dozen. Thank God.”
He pulled her close, still holding the cheap flowers and bad wine. “I love you so much,” he said. “I never thought I’d get to feel like this.”
“I was afraid I’d never get to, either,” she said. “And to think, I could’ve missed you.”
“It would’ve happened somehow,” he said. “The important thing to me is you never tried to change me. God, do you have any idea how beautiful that is?”
She smiled up into his gorgeous blue eyes and said, “But if I marry you, if I have children with you, I am completely and entirely in charge of when the little ones get around a motorcycle. Completely in charge. You have to agree to that.”
“Aw, Cassie. I wouldn’t take any chances like—”
“How much do you want to marry me? Because I’m an E.R. nurse, I’m going to stay one, and that’s a deal breaker.”
“Are you going to be ridiculous about it?” he asked. “Because I own a bike company.”
“Possibly. How bad do you want to marry me and have children with me?”
He didn’t have to think long. “I guess if you have ’em, you can pull rank on certain things. After going through labor and everything,” he said in something of a pout. “You know, my mother already likes you, but I have a feeling she’s going to really love you pretty soon.”
“Yeah, she told me. She fought that bike stuff, but she lost. Walt, I’m not going to lose. I’m the last word on that. You’ll wait for me to approve. Yes?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Anything else?”
She grinned at him, tightened her arms around him. “That’s pretty much everything. You don’t even have to dress the naked lady. I think she’s growing on me.” She got on her toes to kiss him. “Really, you’re just right.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5979-3
A SUMMER IN SONOMA
Copyright © 2010 by Robyn Carr.
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