She stepped up onto the deck and her face looked ravaged. “I remember, Adam. I remember all of it.”
He stared. His hands fisted. “All—”
“Seeing you last May.” Her voice sounded raw. “Inviting you up to my hotel room even though I knew I shouldn’t. You sh-showing up at my office in Houston a month later. And the look on your face when I told you I was engaged—” She swiped her wet cheek and brushed past him, going inside.
He realized she’d been barefoot when he saw the slick of blood on the kitchen tile.
He grabbed a towel and shoved it under the faucet for half a second before following her. She was sitting on the edge of the four-poster, staring at her hands.
He knelt down and lifted her foot. “Don’t ever wander off barefoot again,” he said quietly. He carefully wiped the dirt and blood away from her heel.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you’re bleeding.”
She sucked in a thick, sobbing breath. “I called it off with Eric before I realized I was pregnant.”
“Laurel.” His jaw was rigid. “It’s three-freaking-o’clock in the morning. I don’t really want to hear about the guy.” He folded the towel to a clean corner and pressed it against the cut on her foot.
But she didn’t listen. “He was a good man.”
Adam dropped the towel and rose. “I just said I didn’t—”
“He was.” Her throat worked as she faced him down, her aquamarine eyes flooding. “He just wasn’t...you. And I knew,” she said as she swiped her cheek, “I knew after the things you said to me in June, I knew you’d never forgive me. So I didn’t tell you about the baby, either. I don’t know how many times I started writing you a letter to tell you the truth, but I never had the guts to finish. I did so many things wrong. I went to see my parents and that was a disaster—”
“Laurel, don’t. You don’t have to do this—”
“But I do! I was having nightmares about the baby. About being my mother’s daughter. My father had just told me about her death. He was refusing to even have a funeral and I was too pregnant to fly to Virginia, anyway. I stopped in Rambling Rose just because you’d mentioned it last year when you came to the museum. I never expected to go into labor at the pediatric center’s dedication. Everyone there was so nice to me, though. They got me into an ambulance. I barely made it to San Antonio before Larkin was born.”
Adam jerked. “Larkin.”
Another tear slid down her cheek. “That’s what I named him.” She spread her palms. “He was in the NICU for days. I stayed in a hotel near the hospital. My father stopped taking my calls. And then it was time for Larkin to leave the hospital and—” She broke off. “I don’t remember leaving him at Dr. Green’s office. I don’t remember how I even got to Seattle. Or the accident or any of it. I just remember I was so afraid of hurting someone else I loved—”
“Stop.” He knelt in front of her again, closing his hands around hers. “What matters is you’re here now. And Linus—Larkin. God.” He pressed his forehead against her hands until he could speak again. He looked at her. “You’re both here and everything is going to be okay.”
“But you’ll never love me like you used to.”
“There’s nothing past tense when it comes to loving you.” He cupped her face. “Don’t you get that by now? I’m never going to stop loving you. If you hurt, I hurt. If you cry—” He hauled in a shaky breath. “Eric told me he thought you were dead. Otherwise he’d have located you. They were the worst three days of my life. Anything can be fixed as long as you’re safe. I’ve loved you since the day I met you and I’ll love you until the day I die. But I swear to God, Laurel, if you ever feel so overwhelmed again and don’t just tell me—” His voice broke.
She was staring at him, wonder filling her eyes. “You are my safe place, Adam. You always have been. I’ve never deserved you. But I’ve always loved you. My only love.” She brushed her thumb over his cheek. “I told you that first night at the hospital that I wished I’d said yes. You didn’t say anything. I thought that meant...” Her eyes flooded again. “I thought you didn’t feel the same.”
“You can make up for it by saying yes now.”
Her throat worked. “You still want to marry me?”
“Every day of my life, sweetheart.” He brushed her tangled hair away from her face. “I don’t have a ring at the moment to make this more official, but will you please, finally, marry me?”
She smiled through her tears.
And she said yes.
EPILOGUE
“Do you think she is ever going to let someone else hold him?”
Adam glanced over to where his parents were sitting on one side of Provisions. The restaurant might have been closed for their private dinner, but it was packed fuller than it had ever been, what with all of the guests arriving for the wedding that was being held the following afternoon.
And it was true. Now that Caroline Fortune finally had a grandbaby to hold in her arms, she didn’t look like she was going to let Larkin loose any time soon. Not even to Nelson Hudson, who’d been hovering around her for a while now. If he noticed the speculative looks he’d been receiving from Mariana, who was helping out on the serving crew that evening, he didn’t show it.
“I don’t know,” he murmured, pressing his lips against Laurel’s cheek. “I wouldn’t take bets on anything right now, since I never figured my father would step foot in Texas again or believed your dad would
