Page 59 of Cheyenne

The break in his voice made her throw her arms around him again. She kissed his cheeks, his tears, his eyelids. Then she landed on his lips.

Just like so many times throughout this past week, Micah pulled her into him and kissed her back. He kissed her like he’d spent a week in the desert and only she could slake his thirst. Cheyenne had no desire to stop him. She let go. If only they could stay in this moment, suspended in time. When they were together and in love, nothing mattered.

That was how it had been until last night.

Micah finally pulled back and sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes closed. “What should we do, Chey?” He flashed his eyesopen, searching hers. “Because I don’t have a right answer. I’m supposed to be leaving. I’ll be gone for a long time. I don’t want to put you in a position like your mother was in, waiting all the time. I can’t do that.”

Cheyenne suddenly understood her mother better than she ever had. She understood the pain and the sacrifice and the reason her parents had endured their time apart. “That’s too bad, Micah, because it’s not just your decision. I love you too. And if I want to sign on for that kind of life, then that’s my choice. I guess …” She dropped to one knee. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

Shock crossed his face, and he stepped back as if she had knocked the wind out of him. Then his strong arms lifted her to her feet. “No, no, no. You are not proposing to me, Chey. No way.” He began laughing.

Cheyenne scowled at him. “I’m trying to propose, and you’re laughing at me?”

Micah crushed her against his chest. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I honestly didn’t know how this was going to go today. I wanted to let you out of this if you wanted that. But I also made a contingency plan.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I do want to ask you something.” He took her hand. “But how about we walk back to the inn first?”

She was utterly confused. “Fine. You can break up with me back there, if that’s what you want. Fine.”

She had just proposed, and he’d rejected her. She could keep it together for another few minutes.

He kept her hand firmly in his, and they made their way back to the inn. She was baffled when they opened the gate to go up on the back patio. A whole crowd was waiting for them—his family and hers. Sadie, Porter’s wife, was crying.

Cheyenne put her hands over her mouth. “What?”

Micah took Cheyenne’s hands in his. There was a huge smile on his face, but tears trailed down his cheeks. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked your brothers for your hand in marriage.”

She looked at her brothers. Their faces were all stoic, but they had tears in their eyes too. Her own eyes stung in response, and her throat tightened.

Micah brushed a knuckle across her cheek, wiping her tears. “They were a hard bunch to convince, but they insisted everyone should be here when I asked you, so my family went to work making that happen.” He paused and turned to look at his family. “That’s what the Stones do: they make sure we all get together often. So you’ll be helicoptered everywhere. Sorry.”

Everyone laughed.

Micah grinned at all of them. “And I had to have all my aunts and my cousins and my brother and sister here for this.”

A smaller boy tried to run out to him, but Trey held him back. The boy stretched out his arms. “Micah!”

Micah turned back to her. “You see, I don’t want to just elope with you. I want to get married with our families present. I want to start something with you. I don’t know how, and I definitely wasn’t prepared for this situation, but I love you. If you’ll have me, then I will marry you. We will build a life together and make sacrifices. It will be hard, but I promise it’ll be fun.”

Tears ran down Cheyenne’s face, but she couldn’t help but laugh when he got on his knee.

“Cheyenne Marie Cross.” He winked. “Your brothers told me your middle name last night.”

More laughter sounded from the group, but Cheyenne barely heard it. She could only stare into Micah’s beautiful blue eyes.

“I love you. Will you marry me? We can get married here or back at the ranch. I just want to be your husband.”

She laughed and threw her arms around him to the sound of cheers from the gathered crowd. “Yes. Yes. Yes!”

EPILOGUE

Micah

Just weeks ago, if someone had told Micah he would be getting married two days before he left for BUD/S training, he would’ve laughed hysterically. Yet here he was, waiting anxiously for his bride to walk down the aisle. Cheyenne had chosen to get married at the ranch in Wyoming, and he didn’t blame her. It was her home.

Home. Where would they make theirs?

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