'I can't marry you.' She pulled away from Ashe, but he jerked her up against him.
'What do you mean you can't marry me?'
'I told you that I didn't want you to marry me because of Allen. That was true eleven years ago and it's true now.'
'I'm not marrying you because of Allen. Didn't you hear me tell you and Allen and Mama Mattie and Annie Laurie that I'd been a fool to ever let you go, that I realize I've always loved you?' Ashe tilted her chin with one hand while he held her close with the other.
'There are all kinds of love, Ashe. As much as I love you, I can't spend the rest of my life married to a man who doesn't feel the same way about me.'
'You're confusing me, honey. What the hell are we talking about here? I've said I love you.'
'Not the way I want to be loved.'
'What does that mean?'
'It means that…' Pulling out of his arms, she got out of bed, picked up her robe off the floor and put it on.
'Deborah?' Ashe stood, totally naked, and followed her over to the windows.
'I came close to dying tonight,' she said, her back to him. 'I realized how very much I want to live. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember, but you didn't feel the same way about me. You still don't.'
He eased his arms around her, leaning her back against his chest, enfolding her in his embrace. 'If a man ever loved a woman, I love you. Nothing and no one is more important to me.'
She trembled. He soothed her, caressing her arms, kissing the side of her face.
'You've been a part of me forever,' he said. 'Maybe I didn't have sense enough to know I loved you eleven years ago, but you've stayed alive inside me for all these years. I've never been able to forget you. Now I know why.'
She turned in his arms, her eyes filled with tears. 'Why?'
'Because I'm in love with you, Deborah. Deeply, passionately, completely in love with you.'
'Oh, Ashe.'
Lifting her in his arms, he carried her back to bed. Laying her down, he eased off her robe, then braced himself above her. 'Marry me. Let me spend the rest of my life proving to you how much I love you.'
'Yes. Yes.'
He buried himself within the welcoming folds of her body, telling her again and again that he loved her. She accepted him and his proclamations of love. Giving and taking, sharing in equal measure, they reached fulfillment together. Resting in the aftermath, they accepted the beautiful reality of their life, knowing in their hearts that love and happiness was truly theirs.
« ^
The whole family gathered around the shiny, new, black Mitsubishi 3000 GT. Mattie Trotter clicked snapshot after snapshot, while Carol Vaughn zoomed in on Allen's beaming face with her camcorder.
'We couldn't wait until after graduation tonight,' Deborah said. 'We thought you might want to drive it to your class party afterward.'
'Wow! I hoped for something like this, but I wasn't sure. Thanks, Mom!' Tall, lanky, handsome eighteen- year-old Allen hugged Deborah. 'I'll bet you picked her out for me, didn't you, Dad?'
Ashe grinned. 'Yeah. Your mother wanted to get you something a little more practical.'
'I helped, too,' seven-year-old Martha McLaughlin said, tugging on her big brother's pants leg. 'I wanted to get the red one, but Daddy said no, that you'd like the black one better.'
'He was right, squirt.' Allen lifted his little sister up in his arms. 'I think I'll take this baby for a spin around the block. Want to go with me, Martha?'
'You bet I do.'
'Don't be gone too long,' Deborah said. 'You'll want time to go over your valedictory speech one more time. I know you want it to be perfect.'
Allen deposited his sister in the car, jumped in and revved the motor. 'Listen to her purr.'
'Don't drive too fast!' Deborah cautioned.
'Hey, if I get a speeding ticket, my dad will take care of it for me,' Allen said jokingly. 'He's the sheriff, you know.'
Ashe reached out and took two-year-old Jamie McLaughlin off his mother's hip, then turned to watch his older son spin out of the driveway in his high school graduation present.
'Don't worry, honey. They'll be all right. Allen won't take any chances with Martha in the car with him. Besides, he drives like I do.'
'I know. That's what worries me.'
Everyone laughed. Ashe kissed his wife, saying a silent prayer of thanks to the powers that be for his many blessings.
All the dreams of his youth had come true. He had married his beautiful society wife and she'd given him three perfect children. Having been elected sheriff of Colbert County when Charlie Blaylock retired, Ashe had acquired the respect and admiration of the community, especially after he'd helped the Feds put Buck Stansell behind bars and break up the local crime ring.
Ashe didn't know whether he deserved his wonderful life, his three great kids and a wife like Deborah, but he spent every day trying to be the best husband and father in the world. And not a day went by without him thanking God for giving him a second chance with the only woman he'd ever truly loved.
* * * * *
