Building the Perfect Daddy (19 page)

He chuckled. “I'm not going to give her a puppy—at least not this year.”

Not this year
. The implication being that there would be other years, other Christmases. But how could that be? He was leaving in the New Year, and he still hadn't told her about his plans.

He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“That's the problem, isn't it?” he asked softly. “You don't want to think about future Christmases because you don't think I'm planning to stick around.”

“I know you're going to Georgia after the holidays,” she told him.

“And how do you know that?”

“I heard Brody and Stan talking about it,” she admitted.

“They shouldn't have been discussing future projects that haven't been finalized.”

“Fifteen to eighteen months in Watkinsville sounds pretty final to me.”

“It's not quite a done deal,” he told her. “We're still waiting for one last approval.”

“What's holding things up?”

“I am.”

Of all the responses he could have given to her question, Lauryn hadn't anticipated that one. “What?
Why?
”

“Because I wasn't going to say yes without talking to you first.”

“I know how excited you are about this restoration,” she told him. “I wouldn't ever ask you not to go.”

He took her hands in his. “The question is—will you go with me?”

He wasn't planning to leave her; he wanted her to go to Georgia with him. And while that realization lessened the ache in her heart, it didn't change the reality of the situation. “I want to say yes,” she admitted.

“Then say yes,” he urged.

But she shook her head. “I can't walk away from my life for a whole year, maybe a year and a half, to be with you in Georgia.”

“I'm not asking you to walk away from your life,” he explained patiently. “I'm asking you to start a new life, a new family, with me.”

Every beat of her heart was a yes, but her heart was often impulsive and foolish. She needed to think about this logically rather than emotionally. “I have responsibilities here,” she reminded him. “The business—”

“Adam is more than capable of handling the business. That's why you hired him.”

“And Kylie's going to start kindergarten next September.”

“There are schools in Georgia,” he pointed out. “In fact, there's an excellent primary school only a five-minute walk from the guesthouse on the property, where we could live while the renovations are happening.”

“You've already looked at schools,” she realized.

“I even have the registration forms.”

“But...why?”

He squeezed her hands gently. “Because I know that you don't make any decisions without considering your children. Because I understand that you and Kylie and Zachary are a package deal. And because I want the whole package, Lauryn. Because I love you—all of you.”

She had to swallow around the lump in her throat before she could reply. “I never wanted to fall in love again,” she said softly, looking deep into his eyes. “But you didn't give me a choice. You barged into my life without invitation and started knocking down walls—” she smiled a little “—literally and metaphorically—and you made me see how much better my life could be with you in it. How much better my children's lives could be. And you made all of us fall in love with you. And I do love you, Ryder. With my whole heart,” she finally admitted.

“Then say yes,” he urged, releasing one of her hands to take a ring out of his pocket and offer it to her. “Not just to coming to Georgia, but making a life with me. Let me be your husband and Kylie and Zachary's stepfather. Let us be a family.”

She was dazzled by his proposal even more than the diamond in his hand, but... “You said you weren't the forever-after type,” she reminded him.

“Because I wasn't...until I met you.”

“You also said love was a gamble.”

“And I'm willing to go for broke,” he told her. “Because I know that as long as you're by my side, I can't lose.”

She saw the conviction in his eyes, felt it in her heart. They could make this work—they
would
make this work. “You have all the answers, don't you?”

“Not quite,” he said. “I'm still waiting for yours.”

She didn't make him wait any longer. “My answer is yes. With one minor amendment.”

“Anything,” he promised.

“I want you to be my husband,” she told him. “But I'm not looking for a stepfather for my children. They need a real father. They deserve a full-time, forever-after kind of dad.”

“Do you think I could be that kind of dad?” he asked, a little cautiously.

She lifted her free hand to his cheek. “You already are.”

He slid the ring on her hand, and it was as perfect a fit for her finger as he was for her life. And then he kissed her, and it was a perfect kiss, too.

“I think my sister was right,” she murmured.

“What was she right about?”

“I should never have tried to guess our ending—or given up hope that it would be a happy one.”

“She was only partly right,” he said. “This isn't an ending—it's our happy beginning.”

Epilogue

O
n Christmas morning, Kylie
awoke early, excited to discover what presents Santa had left for her and
Zachary. 'Cept Mama had one very strict rule—no presents could be opened until
everyone was awake. But that didn't mean she couldn't sneak downstairs and just
peek
at what was under the tree, did it?

She climbed out of bed and stuffed her feet into her slippers,
then tiptoed to the stairs. She held tight on to the handrail as she made her
way down. Some of the steps used to make a scary sound when she stepped on them.
Mama said they groaned like an old man, but Ryder fixed that. Ryder fixed a lot
of things that used to be broken—like the roof. Now even when it rained really,
really hard, with thunder and lightning and everything, it didn't rain in her
castle.

She was going to miss her castle when they went to...
Watkin-something. She scrunched up her face and tried real hard but she couldn't
'member the name. But Mama showed it to her on a map, and it didn't look very
far away. Her tummy felt a little funny when she thought about moving, but Mama
said it wasn't forever. Just till Ryder fixed all the things that needed fixing
in some old house there; then they would come back here.

She reached the last step and tiptoed into the living room.
There were lots of presents wrapped in bright paper, but it was the castle in
front of the tree that made her breath stop inside her.

She took another step closer and dropped to her knees for a
better look. She reached out, wanting to touch it, but snatched her hand back.
She was only s'posed to peek, but now she really wanted to see what was
inside.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and quickly backed away from
the castle, climbing up onto the sofa so that she wouldn't get in trouble for
peeking.

Ryder smiled at her from the doorway. “I thought I heard
someone tiptoeing around down here.”

“I twied to be quiet,” Kylie whispered.

“Why did you try to be quiet?” he asked. “Don't you want to
open your presents?”

She nodded. “But Mama said no pwesents till everyone is
awake.”

“Then we need to go back upstairs, stomping our feet the whole
way, to wake them up, don't we?”

Kylie giggled. “Will Mama get mad?”

“Nah. Not on Christmas,” he promised.

She slid off the edge of the sofa again but couldn't resist
another peek at the presents under the tree.

“You're looking at that castle,” he guessed.

She nodded. “Do you think it's for me?” she whispered the
question.

“Let's find out,” he said, taking her hand and guiding her
closer. “Is your name on the tag?”

She couldn't print her name yet but she knew how to read it.
She nodded as her finger pointed to each letter. “K-Y-L-I-E.”

“That's right—it says ‘To Kylie, From Santa.'”

She felt her mouth smile but she couldn't find any words to
say.

He crouched down beside her. “Do you want to look inside?”

She nodded her head up and down.

So Ryder showed her the latch on the side, then helped her open
it up. Her breath stopped again as the castle unfolded. She didn't know where to
look—there was so much to see, so many rooms with lots of stuff inside.

“Did Santa do pretty good with this present then?” he asked,
after she'd looked it all over.

“It's—” she need a second to 'member the word “—awesome.”

He smiled. “The bestest present ever?”

She didn't have to think about the question long before she
shook her head. “The bestest present ever is my new daddy.”

His eyes were shiny when he hugged her. “I'm glad,” he said.
“Because your mom and you and Zachary are my bestest presents ever, too.”

Kylie put her arms around his neck and kissed his scratchy
cheek. “Can we wake Mama an' Zack now?” she asked him.

Ryder smiled. “Absolutely.”

Then he took her hand and they stomped up the stairs
together.

* * * * *

Don't miss Braden Garrett's story, BABY TALK & WEDDING BELLS
the next installment in award-winning author Brenda Harlen's miniseries
THOSE ENGAGING GARRETTS!
Coming soon.

And catch up with Lauryn's and Ryder's siblings by reading the
previous books in the
THOSE ENGAGING GARRETTS!
miniseries for Harlequin Special Edition:

TWO DOCTORS & A BABY

THE BACHELOR TAKES A BRIDE.

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SNOWFALL ON HAVEN POINT
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Single mom Andrea Montgomery only agreed to look in on injured
sheriff Marshall Bailey as a favor to his sister, but when these lonely hearts
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SNOWFALL ON HAVEN POINT
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