Page 97 of Anything for You
Holding back a laugh, I asked, “When’s your birthday?”
Nan tucked a few strands of her short, silvery hair daintily behind her ear, then ran two fingers sweetly over Bear, who’d clearly found a new love. “March.”
Dove covered her mouth.
“Don’t you think, Dorian?” Nan asked, no attempt to hide her smile.
Dove rushed to me. “I’m so sorry. This is awkward. She’s?—”
“I sure hope so,” I said, speaking to Nan but eyes locked with Dove’s.
Her open mouth snapped shut before opening again. “Wait. You—you hope we’ll be married before March?”
“Yes. As long as that’s what you want.”
She gripped my wrist. “I do. But, wait. Are you serious? Are—are you asking me to marry you?”
Nan cackled.
“Not yet, honey. But very, very soon, if that’s alright with you.”
Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she beamed. “That is very alright with me.”
EPILOGUE
Dove
Bear frolicked along the path in front of me. I swore he was even happier now that the weather had turned cold.
It’d been a week since Nan had dropped hermarried by Marchtheory and I still hadn’t recovered. But would I ever recover from the utter bliss getting to be with Dorian was? Probably not. And honestly, I was embracing it.
Granted, I’d also been a tiny bit on edge, wondering when he planned to ask me. I was a woman of the twenty-first century so yes, I could ask him if I wanted. But he clearly had plans and I wasn’t going to pretend Iwantedto ask him.
For a girl who’d never really had someone choose her except her own grandmother and female friends, the thrill of Dorian choosing me? I didn’t know if I’d ever get over it.
I’d tried to relax and forget about the whole thing,reminding myself it’d happen when it happened. The holidays were coming, and it was about to be a hugely busy time for Dorian and the farm. I’d never wanted a huge wedding, nor did I have the money for it, so we didn’t need to have a long engagement, especially if he wanted to be married by March.
Really? March?
A thrill swept through me at the thought, right along with a little pang that Nan would be my only family there, whenever it happened. Not that I would’ve tried to invite Hawk before the whole kidnapping thing, but I wouldn’t now. I still hadn’t spoken to him, and honestly? I didn’t plan to.
Something had shifted inside me regarding him as I took care of woman after woman, who’d all been there after either being groomed or coerced by various people of Patriot Ridge—I just knew. Only one of them had admitted to being there under duress, though, and that told me far fewer people were in jail now than should’ve been. That garbage human Jeb Johnson got a pretty minor sentence since he maintained he didn’t realize I hadn’t come willingly and somehow his lawyer sold that to the judge.Sure, guy.
But Hawk? He’d had a hand in abducting meandhe’d shot Dorian. He’d be gone for a while. And after seeing all those women, clearly downtrodden and maybe all part of Jeb’s weird harem? No. Just, no. We had nothing in common except our past and that didn’t mean I had to give him any part of my present or future. I’d tried. I’d made a valiant effort at times, even, and I wasn’t going to do it anymore.
Nan agreed I didn’t owe him anything, and her blessing sealed the deal. I didn’t need to hear his cruel words or evenbear his silence if I told him how awful he was. I suspected he probably knew it, and if he didn’t, nothing from me would change that. I hoped maybe he’d heal someday, somehow, but it wasn’t on me to do that for him.
Bear’s bark pulled my attention to him where he’d stopped a ways down the lane, then trotted back toward me.
“What’d you find, Bear?” I asked, crunching in the fallen leaves to catch up with him.
He got within ten feet of me, then circled back and trotted along. Maybe I was moving too slowly for him?
But as I rounded the slight bend, my heart leapt, and it clicked. Dorian stood at the edge of a big quilt in the exact spot where we’d had our first picnic months ago. A basket sat on the blanket, and my handsome man shifted from one foot to the other before he froze himself still.
My pulse skyrocketed because in my gut, I knew.This is it.That little nervous movement, plus themajorspoiler alert from Nan…
“Well, hello there, Mr. Forrester,” I said, trying to maintain some semblance of calm as I approached.
