She laughed. “Like you had some enormous secret, and as if you wanted to eat me up like an ice cream cone.”
Mark shrugged. “Pretty accurate.”
It was a good thing he was already lying down, because otherwise what she said next would have knocked his feet out from under him.
“I felt it,” she said. She took a deep breath. “I mean, I felt it too.”
His heart rate sped up.
She pressed her fingers over his lips to keep him from speaking. As if she needed to get this confession out. “Mark, I was attracted to you as well. It was a pure, sweet moment of something that wasn’t meant to be, not right then. It wasn’t wrong, because we never did anything about it, but it was very beautiful. And now I think it’s that moment that brought us here. It was one of those strange things, almost reverse déjà vu. Maybe something of today magically jumped back in time to that moment, and we felt a hint of what would be.”
Oh, hell, yes. Mark curled upright, hauling Dana with him. They both sat on the bed naked, grinning at each other. “Dana, I love you. Are you telling me—”
He couldn’t breathe.
She stared at the mattress for a moment before deliberately lifting her eyes to meet his. “Part of me isn’t ready to say it yet, but part of me has loved you for a long, long time.”
The sensation in his heart bloomed bigger and bigger until the entire room was pounding with it. “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”
Dana crawled over him, one hand on his chest to angle him back against the mattress. “I would like to move in with you, first,” she said clearly. “Because we have all that talking to finish up. Plus, it would be good to let Rafe and Laurel have some time to themselves.”
“Good thing I’ll soon have a place for you to move into, then,” Mark said. “But will you marry me eventually?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Eventually, maybe.”
She folded her arms over her chest, expression going teasing. He didn’t care, not with her perched over him, her naked skin heating his body and his hands on her hips where he could caress soft skin.
“Labour Day? Or maybe Thanksgiving?”
She snorted. “Eventually means longer than that…”
He didn’t stop. “New Year’s? Valentine’s?”
Her lips twitched. “You are so not good at the patience thing.”
“I know. Canada Day, next year. It’ll be the first time that the Wild Rose Colemans host the gathering. We can make it extra special by having the entire family here to witness our vows.”
Dana stilled, her expression softening. “You make it very difficult to not be charmed out of my socks.”
“You’re not wearing any socks,” he pointed out before taking control and rolling her under him again. He pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. “I love you, and I want everyone to know. But I will be patient until—”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Something deep inside him cracked wide open and happiness spilled out, washing over them both. “Yes, what?”
Just to be certain.
“Yes. I’ll marry you. July first, here at Wild Rose ranch. But between now and then you have to promise me—”
“Anything. I’ll do anything for you.”
Dana poked him in the ribs, laughter rising up. “Just love me. Promise to keep listening and keep loving. That’s all.”
“I promise.” He said it quietly, but somehow the words echoed in the room and bounced down the hall, slipping into the farthest corners of the house.
The place he would make sure was filled with listening and love. Because it wasn’t only a house. It was more.
Mark had truly come home.
28
October, Six Pack ranch
Blake caught Jaxi as she flew past him at high velocity. “Whoa, slow down there, Slick. I need to talk to you.”
“I’ve got two minutes,” she warned before wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tight. “Hey, love. Missed you this morning.”
“Travis had problems, and I was on call.” He slowed her enough to be able to kiss her, deep and lingering by the time he stopped.
She sighed happily. “Okay, you have my attention.”
“Anything else you need me to do for the party this coming weekend?” he asked.
Jaxi considered then shook her head. “Jesse and Joel came out yesterday and helped get everything ready in the space we’ve cleared in the barn.” She pressed her fists against her hips and looked annoyed as all get out. “Of course, there’s supposed to be a huge snowstorm this weekend, way ahead of normal.”
“I don’t know that it’s early. This is October in Alberta, sweetheart,” he reminded her, “but I’m glad we’ve got the barn as backup. If you think of anything else you need, let me know.”
“I will.”
She went to head away, but Blake kept hold of her fingers, tugging her back against him so he could hold her a little longer. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly
Her expression went dreamy. “Really good. Really.”
He slid a hand between them, fingers spread over her belly where their baby was growing. “I still can’t believe it.”
“I guess we needed to have sex on a pool table sooner,” she teased.
“Still not telling anyone?”
Jaxi shook her head. “There’s a lot of other stuff to celebrate right now. Let’s let the rest of the family be the focus.”
Which was pretty much what he’d expected her to say. “Agreed. Love you, Slick.”
“You’re pretty much my favourite guy as well,” she agreed, dancing out of reach. “Go. Do big cowboy stuff.”
So he did.
He was on his horse and heading out the front gate when he saw another figure sitting tall on horseback across the road. Blake directed Thunder toward where his father sat waiting.
Mike leaned on the saddle horn as he grinned contentedly. “Was going to ride for a bit before that storm decides whether it wants to arrive or not.”
“Want some company?” Blake offered.
“Always.”
They turned their horses toward the trail along the extreme eastern border of the Coleman land. A little farther from the Rockies, with the knowledge that everything between them and the mountains was Coleman country.
It was an incredible feeling. An incredible rush to have the privilege of being a steward of the land and a part of something so much bigger than himself.
Blake stared off into the distance, thinking hard. Trying to figure out what it was that wanted to come to the surface, because the past year…
He’d watched and listened and learned, and there was a truth even bigger than the Coleman land that he needed to share with his father.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you told me at the start of the year.” Blake glanced over at Mike. “You know, there’s a big difference between what you had to do when your dad passed away and what we’re looking at going into the future.”
Mike lifted his eyes, surprise there. “You think?”
“Oh, some of the differences are pretty clear. The equipment we have, the technology. The amount of land that the Coleman clan has cleared and is using in different ways. Hell, the number of Colemans, period. All of that’s a lot more than you faced.” Blake shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about, though.”