And I Love You (37 page)

He never stirred as she got settled.

Lying on her side, she watched him intently, each rise and fall of his chest a reminder that he was alive and well, if a bit battered at the moment. Unable to resist the need to touch him, she rested her hand flat against his chest, the steady beat of his heart serving as further proof.

Reassured, she snuggled closer to him, mindful of his injuries but needing the warmth of his body to further remind her that he was there, he was fine, he loved her. She released a deep breath along with all the tension that had knotted her up since the minute she heard he’d been hurt and drifted off to sleep.

The second the pain pill wore off, Hunter was awake and aware of every one of his injuries, especially his head and elbow, which throbbed relentlessly. Shifting to find a more comfortable position only made things worse until he realized he wasn’t alone in bed.

She’d come back to him. The realization nearly trumped the pain that had woken him in the first place. He wrapped his uninjured arm around her, willing to bear the fiery blast of pain to bring her closer to him.

Her eyes popped open. “Are you okay?”

“I’m much better now that you’re here.”

“I’m sorry I left before. I’m sorry for everything that’s happened since you got hurt. I should’ve come to the hospital with your mom, and I should’ve stayed with you tonight, and I should’ve—”

“Stop, sweetheart. You don’t owe me any apologies. I know it was hard on you to hear I’d been hurt, and the fact that you freaked out actually makes me happy.”

“How?” she asked, baffled.

“It means you care.”

“Hunter,” she said on a long exhale, “of course I care. I care too much. That’s the problem.”

“It’s never a problem to care too much about someone.”

“It is if you’re me and live in constant fear of the people you love disappearing in the blink of an eye.”

“The people you love … Does that include me?”

“Are you fishing?”

“Damn right I am.”

“It does include you. I figured that out right about the time your mother told me you were hurt.”

“Then it was well worth falling down the side of a mountain if it moved things along for us.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”

He laughed and then grimaced. “Laughter is not my friend. Makes my brain feel like it’s exploding.”

“Can you take another pain pill?”

“Not for a couple of hours.”

“Shouldn’t they last longer than they do?”

“You would think.”

“So what do we do until you can take another one?”

“Talk to me?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

His eyes closed, and for a second she thought he might be drifting off again. “Let’s talk some more about the moment you knew you loved me. Tell me that story again. I love a happy ending.”

She chuckled at his shamelessness. Even when injured and in pain, he was all about her. But thinking about Molly coming into the diner, her face bleached of all color, her eyes wide with fear and panic, had Megan spiraling down the rabbit hole again.

“Hey,” he said, squeezing her hand, “where’d you go?”

“I took one look at your mom, and I knew something had happened to you. I dropped the coffeepot on the floor and it smashed into a million pieces. I remember thinking my heart was doing the same thing at the thought of you being hurt. I reacted badly. Molly wanted me to come to the hospital with her. She said you were asking for me, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t bring myself to go there, to see you hurt or worse … I couldn’t do it. Your mom was disgusted with me, and for good reason.”

“Don’t worry about her. I took care of it.”

“What do you mean, you took care of it?”

“I explained to her that I’d promised I wouldn’t get hurt, and you were right to be upset with me for breaking my promise.”

“Hunter … It wasn’t your fault you couldn’t keep your promise. It’s not like you fell off the side of a mountain on purpose.”

“Definitely not.”

“Your mom got to see a side of me I’m not proud of. Hannah saw it, too, so now they’re both filled with doubts about whether I’m good enough for you.”

“All that matters is that
I
think you’re good enough.”

“Even after I nearly bailed on you when you needed me?”

“You didn’t.”

“I thought about it.”

“But you didn’t do it. You’re right here, which is exactly where you belong.”

“I’m starting to believe that might be true.”

He kissed the back of her hand and the inside of her wrist, his rough whiskers against her sensitive skin sending a tingling awareness rippling through her body. “It is true. I’m sorry my fall upset you. I’m sorry you had to hear that kind of news and that it caught you off guard. I’d never do that to you intentionally. I hope you know that.”

“I do.”

“What’re we going to do about all these fears that are holding you back from enjoying life to the fullest?”

“They’re not doing that.”

“Yes, they are, and I want you to be able to enjoy every single minute we spend together without worrying all the time about how it’s going to go bad. It doesn’t
always
go bad.”

“It does for me.”

“Not this time.” He continued to kiss her hand and wrist, setting her on fire with only the touch of his lips and the brush of his whiskers. “This time you’re going to get everything you want and need. All you have to do is stop being afraid and let go of the things you can’t control.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“You’re right. It is. But things are going to happen, upsetting things, difficult things, sad things. That’s life. The good news is there’re also plenty of happy things and joyful moments. I want to experience all of them with you—the highs, the lows and everything in between. I want you to have faith that I’ll always be right there with you. And I want you to have faith that I’ll always love you no matter what. I want us to live together and sleep together and work together at the diner and make beautiful babies together and watch them grow up together and then grow old and cranky together.”

Megan laughed even as a sob erupted from her throat. His incredible words had her emotions spinning out of control again. “Are you proposing to me?” she asked, teasing.

“Maybe I am.”

She gasped. “Hunter … Don’t. You’re high on pain meds. This is no time to be having that kind of conversation.”

“Maybe it’s the perfect time.”

“Stop it. You should try to go back to sleep for a while.”

“Megan, look at me.”

She forced herself to make contact with those beautiful brown eyes that looked at her with nothing but love.

“I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you spend the rest of yours with me?”

There she was again, hovering on the edge of that cliff trying to decide whether to take the leap. She thought about what he’d said about the highs, the lows and everything in between. Life would happen whether she was with him or not, and if she had to go through it, she’d much rather go through it with him by her side, always assuring her that it would all be okay.

He studied her intently, probably trying to gauge her reaction to his question. “Megan?”

“Yes, Hunter. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Really?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“Why?” he asked with that small sexy smile that left her breathless.

“Because I love you, and I don’t want to be anywhere but where you are.”

“Good answer, my love.” With his hand curled around her nape, he drew her into a sweet, lingering kiss. “Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“There’s a small silver bag in the top drawer of my dresser. Will you get it for me?”

“Now?”

“Right now.”

“Okay.” She moved slowly to disentangle herself from him and get out of bed without jostling him. In his dresser she found the bag but couldn’t make out the words on it in the faint glow of the nightlight. She delivered it to him.

“Thanks. Now come back to bed.”

Curious about what was in the bag, she got back into bed the same way she’d left—carefully.

“Closer.”

She scooted over until she was pressed against his side.

He put his arm around her and handed her the bag. “Help me out, will you? I can’t do much with only one hand.”

Her heart beating fast, she withdrew a small velvet box from the bag and looked at him. “What is it?”

“Open it and find out.”

She flipped open the box and let out a gasp at the incredible ring nestled in dark velvet. “Hunter … what … when did you … Oh my God!”

“Turn the light on so you can see it.”

Her hands were shaking violently, but she somehow managed to turn on the bedside light. That was when she saw that the diamond was yellow. Her favorite color. He’d remembered that. Of course he had. Tears streamed down her face as it settled in on her, finally, that he really did love her as much as he said he did. And looking down at the incredible ring he’d chosen for her, she believed, really believed, that he always would.

“Do you like it?” he asked hopefully.

“It’s …
yellow!
Oh my God, Hunter. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”

“Put it on.”

She looked over at him. “Are you sure?”

“Never been more sure of anything in my life. You?”

“Same.”

“Then allow me.” He held out his hand.

With trembling fingers Megan freed the ring from the velvet and handed it to him.

He slid it onto her ring finger and then brought her hand to his lips to kiss the back. “Perfect. I knew it would be.” He looked up at her. “You’re really going to marry me?”

“You really want me to?”

“So bad. So,
so
bad.”

“Then how could I say no?”

Smiling, he kissed her like a man who was perfectly healthy rather than recovering from serious injuries. He kissed her until she pulled back from him, reluctantly, and only because she was concerned about him overexerting himself.

“The minute I feel better, we’re celebrating. You got me?”

“I got you. We’ll definitely celebrate.”

“Every day for the rest of our lives.”

Megan had taken the leap and landed exactly where she was always meant to be.

The following Saturday, Hunter and Megan made their first appearance as an engaged couple at the grand opening of Guthrie House. His arm was still in a sling, but he was feeling better every day, and he had Megan to thank for his speedy recovery. They’d spent just about every minute of the last week together, holed up in his house, watching movies, eating the staggering amount of food his family had brought over and playing board games. Citing his unfair advantage, she absolutely refused to ever play Monopoly with him again after he thoroughly kicked her ass.

They laughed, they talked, they whispered deep into the night about their plans for the future. They celebrated her twenty-eighth birthday with a cake they made themselves and fought endlessly about the newly renamed Green Mountain Diner, which was closed for two weeks while his cousin Noah completed the renovations. Hunter let her win every argument because, for the first time in his life, he didn’t care if the business was ever profitable. All he cared about was her happiness.

And she fairly glowed from happiness. In the time they’d spent together, just the two of them, he’d watched her let go of the worries that had dogged her for so long. The ring he’d given her and the promises he’d made seemed to have freed her from the past.

One afternoon, while he took care of paperwork Will had brought him from the office, she had done some writing, and he’d found himself staring at her as she lost herself in one of her stories. Watching her was far more interesting than concentrating on work.

Now, surrounded by his family and Caleb’s as they celebrated the opening of Guthrie House, Hunter felt like things were getting back to a new version of normal that included Megan, which was the best kind of normal.

Hannah came in from the backyard where Caleb’s Sultans had gathered around the fire pit. “I haven’t even gotten to talk to my own family today.”

“Everything’s been great, Han,” Will said. “You and Cameron throw one hell of a party.”

“Yes, we do,” Hannah said.

“Couldn’t agree more,” Hunter said.

His sister came over to kiss his cheek, and then she did the same to Megan. “How’s our patient today?”

“Much better,” Megan said. “Full of piss and vinegar.”

“Just the way you like me,” Hunter said.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Hannah replied. “Good job, Nurse Megan.”

She smiled at Hannah. “Thank you.”

Molly came into the kitchen. “Anyone still need a tour of what Hannah has done with the rooms upstairs?”

“I’d love to see it,” Megan said. To him, she said, “Can you live without me for a couple of minutes?”

“Only a couple.”

Megan kissed him and patted his chest. “Be right back.”

His mother watched them, her expression unreadable. Hunter wondered what that was about.

Megan followed Molly upstairs where the doors to the bedrooms were open for visitors to tour. She ducked her head into the first room, which had been decorated in shades of dark green and burgundy with an antique four-poster bed and matching vanity. “This is lovely.”

“Hannah decorated that room herself from items she kept from when Caleb’s grandmother owned the house,” Molly said.

“It’s beautiful. This is a wonderful thing she’s doing here.”

“We’re very proud of her, but then we’re proud of all our children.” Her tone was polite, as always, but Megan noted a hint of frost and couldn’t blame Hunter’s mother for being annoyed with her. She’d be annoyed with her, too.

“Mrs. Abbott—”

“Molly.”

“Molly … I want to apologize for what happened that day in the diner.” Megan clasped her hands together and forced herself to look her future mother-in-law in the eye. “Hunter’s accident … It was … I was …”

Molly put Megan out of her misery by squeezing her arm. “I know. It was for me, too. For all of us.”

“I behaved badly and gave you the impression that I didn’t care enough about him to go to him when the opposite is true.”