“I cannot see that happening. I will not allow that to happen. I know the attorney representing the grandparents, so I tried to reach him but couldn’t. Honestly, I’m hopeful that this is a shot across our bow. I’m guessing that these are grieving parents who lost their son and want to know their granddaughter. They think this is the way to ensure that it happens.”
“Well, that’s stupid. All they had to do was ask. Right?”
“Right.”
“So why are you scared?”
Boone shoved to his feet and began to pace back and forth in front of her. “I’m afraid that my patience is going to bite me in the ass. I haven’t had time to lock this thing up. Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t blame you for running for the hills. You need to protect your heart. I get that. But, ah hell.”
He went down on his knees in front of her and took her hands in his. “Don’t leave us. Please, Hannah, don’t leave us.”
“Oh, Boone.”
“I know you’ve bonded with Bree already. You love her. I see it in your eyes as you gaze down into hers. I hear it in your voice when you speak to her. You struggled to resist her, but she’s irresistible. She won your heart. Now it’s my job to make certain it doesn’t get shattered again. I will do that, Hannah. Your heart is precious to me. I love it. I love you. I will protect your precious heart. You have my word. You can trust me. You can lean on me. I am here for you and Bree and for our family. Because that’s what we are—a family. Maybe we don’t have a legal license yet, but we are a family. You and Bree are my family. And I will protect our family with my life. I’ll be your strength. You have my word on that. So don’t leave us, Hannah. Please, don’t leave us.”
She reached out and tenderly cupped his strong chin in the palms of her hands. She stared deeply into his silver-gray eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Tension began seeping from inside him like air from a slowly leaking balloon. “You’re not?”
“Except maybe to Texas if our fight for our family takes us to Fort Worth. I love you too, Boone.”
He exhaled a heavy breath and rolled back on his heels, rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. “Whew. Okay. I knew you were falling for me. Wasn’t aware I had a one hundred percent commitment.”
“Then why have you reserved the Honeymoon Cottage at Angel’s Rest for New Year’s Eve?”
“Where did you hear that? No, doesn’t matter. We can talk about that another time.”
“Now is good. We are not going to lose Brianna. I have total confidence that Boone McBride, Esquire, has what it takes to settle the situation with her grandparents in a way that’s good for everyone involved. I also have it on good authority that Bree has two little guardian angels watching out for her.”
Sophia and Zoe. One corner of Boone’s mouth inched up as he pictured older sisters with wings fluttering over Bree’s crib.
“You and I are meant to be Brianna’s parents,” Hannah continued. “She is meant to be our daughter. We will fight for her. Fight for what is best for her. And we will win. I have no doubt, so we don’t need to discuss it any further at the moment. I want to talk about this wedding. I’ll have some say-so in the planning. Frankly, New Year’s Eve in Eternity Springs doesn’t work for me.”
Wedding. Planning. She said wedding and planning. The last of Boone’s tension disappeared in a blast of joy. She loved him. She’d said it. She couldn’t take it back.
Then, because a man must do what a man must do, he rolled to his feet and faced her, his stance wide, his arms folded. “Marrying me on New Year’s Eve in Eternity Springs doesn’t work for you? Why the hell not?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s cold.”
“I’ll keep you warm.”
“And I don’t like snow. Oh, flurries are fine, and a storm or two is okay, but feet on the ground for months on end?” She wrinkled her nose. “Not a fan.”
Boone was tempted to lean down and nip at that cute little nose. “Well, that’s a bit of a problem for someone who has moved to the mountains and started a new business, don’t you think?”
“It is. Luckily, I’ve thought of a way to fix it.”
“You have, have you?”
“Yep. Consider it as an addendum to my business plan. I’ve already talked to Angelica about it.”
Now, that one shocked him. “Angelica!”
“Seems the children’s store in Redemption is up for sale.”
“Wait a minute.” He held up his hand, palm out. “A moment ago you said you weren’t going anywhere. Now you want to leave Eternity Springs? You want to move to Redemption?”
“From October to March sounds good. Maybe April. Come home to Eternity Springs for the good weather and the tourist season.”
“Oh. Well…” He slowly began to nod.
“Your cousins and their new wives have both settled in Redemption. It’s an easier trip for your parents to make from the ranch. Brianna should grow up with family, don’t you think?”
“I do, but—”
“Of course, our friends here in Eternity Springs are family too. It’s the best of both worlds, the way I see it. I realize this schedule could pose a problem with your legal practice, but frankly, from what I’ve seen, you don’t do all that much work.”
“Hey!” he protested. “It takes a lot of effort to keep Benjamin Karr from disinheriting his daughter.”
Hannah rose from her seat atop the rock wall. She faced him and reached for his hands. “Teleconference. It’s all the rage.”
Boone gazed down at their linked fingers, and his heart swelled. “I am so lucky. So blessed. It scares me to think I might have driven right past you that morning in June. I love you. With all of my heart and soul, I love you. You’ve changed my life, Hannah. You’ve completed my world. You’ve completed me. You are who and what I came looking for when I moved to Eternity Springs.”
The time had come to do this thing right. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a ring in his pocket, but that was a minor issue. His grandmother’s engagement ring was at home in his safe. He’d cook up some real romance for this evening and present it to her then.
His fingers tightened on hers as he moved to go down on one knee. Her tug halted the movement.
Love shone in Hannah’s eyes as she held his gaze. “On a morning not too long ago, I found myself here at Lover’s Leap in the middle of nowhere. Today because of you, here in the middle of nowhere, I have found myself. I have a heart that is mended and whole and ready to be shared. And I have wings to wrap around my loves as shelter from life’s storms. Wings that on clear days will enable me to soar, to leap like a lunatic and land safely with you beside me.”
Hannah caught Boone totally by surprise when abruptly, she went down on one knee. “Will you marry me, Boone? Will you marry me in October in Texas, at the Fallen Angel Inn in Enchanted Canyon, with Tucker and Jackson as your best men and Brianna and Haley as our flower girls? Will you dance a first dance with me at the Last Chance Hall and skinny-dip with me in the moonlight pool beneath the waterfall?”