A Match for the Doctor (17 page)

He'd always been the type who'd known what he wanted when he finally saw it. Granted he'd been a little slower this time around, but that was because he was still coming to terms with the upheaval in his life. But now that was settled and he was focused again. He knew that Kennon was the woman he wanted to be with. Knew it the way he'd known when he'd first been with Nancy.

And what made it feel even more right was that he felt certain Nancy would have approved. She'd always wanted him and the girls to be happy. And Kennon made
them happy. More than that, Kennon had succeeded in making them a real family again.

“If I asked,” he said slowly, “what would your answer be?”

Oh no, she wasn't going to expose herself like that, not without Simon saying
something
more binding than that. “Depends on
what
you asked,” she told him.

All right, she'd taught him about what it took to be a family, about the importance of being together, and all that was well and good. But there were some moments that needed privacy, without a cheering section.

He turned to his older daughter. “Madelyn, take your sister into the family room and play with her, please.”

Madelyn gave every impression of being right there for the long haul. “We don't want to play anything, Daddy, we—”

Edna swept into the room seemingly out of nowhere. “You heard your father, girls, you need to leave Miss Kennon and him alone for a bit.” As she spoke, she began to usher the two sisters out of the room quickly.

Meghan gave in to the inevitable, but she looked over her shoulder at Kennon as she was being led out of the room. “Will you still be here later?”

Kennon stole a covert look at Simon, then shifted her eyes back to Meghan. “I think there's a very good chance I might be,” she told Meghan. As they were taken from the room, Kennon dropped her voice and asked Simon, “Does Edna always materialize that way, just at the right moment?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. It's written into her contract.”

The corners of Kennon's mouth curved. “You've developed a sense of humor.”

“That was your doing,” he admitted. “As was my learning to spend more than a few minutes at a time with the girls.” Simon paused. “I'm getting sidetracked again.”

“And what's the main track?”

“They want you to be their mother.”

And?
her mind whispered. “I know,” she said out loud. “I was listening.”

And he should be talking, Simon thought. He took a breath, then let it out slowly. “I've only done this once before and I'm not very good at it.”

Mentally, she crossed her fingers—and prayed.

“Give it a shot,” she said encouragingly. Though she knew she shouldn't let herself get carried away, at this point she couldn't keep from hoping that this was going where she so desperately wanted it to go.

Here goes nothing,
Simon thought. “You not only made me find a sense of humor and taught me how important it is to be part of a family unit, how important it is to be a father to my daughters, you also brought me back from the dead.”

She felt herself growing nervous again. “And all before breakfast, too,” she quipped.

He found that he could read her. The thought was comforting. “Now, that's nervous humor.”

Kennon nodded. “That it is.” She waited. The pause grew longer. “Are you trying to ask me something?”

“No,” he answered seriously. “I'm trying to tell you something.” He watched her expression as he continued. “I'm trying to tell you that I love you. That your coming into our lives made everything I just said possible. I know that I have no right to put you on the spot any more than Meghan did—”

“I'll be the judge of that,” she said, interrupting him. “Some of us work best when we're put on the spot. Go ahead,” she urged.

“Okay.” Why was his mouth so dry all of a sudden? “Will you marry me?”

“Could you go back to the ‘love' part?” she requested with a warm smile. “I like hearing that part.”

The request made him realize something. “I haven't heard you say anything about love.”

“Then you haven't been paying attention.” Because she realized she'd been conveying just that message with every fiber of her being for a while now. She'd told him without the benefit of actual words.

Kennon wove her arms around his neck. “But for the record, yes, I love you. Yes, I love the girls—and I even love Edna, too,” she threw in for good measure. “And, yes, I will be their mommy and, yes, I will marry you,” she concluded, letting out a long breath. “Does that cover everything?” she asked with a wicked smile.

Simon drew her closer and could feel the heat of her body against his. “Does for me.”

He had only begun to kiss Kennon when his daughters came running back into the room, squealing and cheering loudly.

“I thought Edna took you to the family room to play,” he said, looking at them over his shoulder. “Were you standing outside the room and listening?” he asked. He did his best to look at them as sternly as he once had.

“No, Daddy,” they protested in unison.

“It has something to do with vents,” Kennon told him just before she turned his head back toward her. “C'mere, you. I'm not finished with you yet.”

And she wouldn't be, he thought as he sealed his lips to hers. Not for at least a lifetime. Maybe more.

And in the background, he thought he heard Meghan ask, “
Now
can we go to Knott's Berry Farm?” He could feel his heart smiling.