“So it is.” He got up, reached for her hand.
It would probably be more appropriate, she thought, if they got cleaned up first, if she waited until the base slept and they were alone.
Then again, covered with soot, smelling of smoke and sweat? Wasn’t that who they were?
“I did a lot of thinking in the shake and bake,” she began as they strolled toward the training field.
“Not much else to do in there.”
“I thought about my father. The two of us at little moments. About him and Ella. I’m only going to admit this once, but you were right about my first reaction to them, and the reasons for it. I’m done with that.”
“You don’t have to say it again, but maybe you could write it down, for my files.”
“Shut up.” She hip-bumped him. “I thought about Jim and Matt, about all the guys. Yangtree.”
“He’s going to make it. I’d put money on it.”
“I believe that because he’s a tough bastard, and because there’s been enough loss this season. I thought about you.”
“I hoped I was in there somewhere.”
“Little moments. And when you narrow it, look at them really close, they can turn out to be key.” She stopped, faced him. “So. I want to get married.”
“To me?”
“No, to Timothy Olyphant, but I’m settling for you.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it?”
“I’m still dealing with Timothy Olyphant, so give me a minute. I think I’m better-looking.”
“You would.”
“No, seriously. I’ve got better hair. But anyway.” He swooped her in, right up to her toes. The kiss wasn’t casual or lighthearted, but raw and deep and real. “I was going to take you on another picnic and ask you. This is better.”
“I like picnics. We could—”
He laid his hands on either side of her face. “I love you. I love everything about you. Your voice, your laugh. Your eyebrows when they grow back. Your face, your body, your hard head and your cautious heart. I want to spend the rest of my life looking at you, listening to you, working with you, just being with you. Rowan of the purple lupines.”
“Wow.” He’d literally taken her breath away. “You’re really good at this.”
“I’ve been saving up.”
“I didn’t want to fall for anybody. It’s so messy. I’m so happy it was you. I’m so happy to love you, Gulliver. So happy to know I’ll have a life with you, a home, a family with you.” She pressed her lips to his. “But I want a bigger bed.”
“Big as you want.”
“Where are we going to put it? After the season, I mean.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
Naturally, she thought. “Have you?”
“First, I think I should get my pilot’s license. We’ll be doing a lot of zipping between Montana and California.”
He took her hand and, as she’d once seen her father do with Ella, gave their linked arms a playful swing.
“Maybe we’ll find a place between, but I’m fine setting down here most of the year.”
She cocked her head. “Because Missoula needs a family fun center?”
He grinned, kissing her knuckles as they walked again. “I’ve been doing some research on that.”
“I really do love you,” she told him. “It’s kind of astonishing.”
“I’m a hell of a catch. Really better than Olyphant. Where we dig in, that’s just details. We’ll work them out.”
She stopped and, trusting them both, linked her arms around his neck. “We’ll work them out,” she repeated.
“Hey!” L.B. shouted across the field. “Thought you’d want to know, they’ve got her contained. They caught her, and they’re taking her down.”
“Go Zulies,” Gull called back.
She grinned at him. More good news, she thought. They’d go in soon, give their own good news to her father, to their family.
But for now, she’d caught her own fire and wanted to walk awhile sharing the warmth of it, just with him, under the rising moon.
