Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“I don’t want you near him. I need you. I need you with me.”
I folded her into my arms. “I am. Now, I need you with me. In the present.”
“Ask me what I miss the most about Richton.”
“What?” I asked fondly.
“The farm.” Her lips trembled. “I don’t want to go back to my house tomorrow. I want to stay with you.”
Delight flooded me. I cupped her face. “Quinn, baby. Are you sure?”
“I don’t want to wait to be happy. You make me happy. You make Abby happy. You’re right. You’re it for us too, John. We both love you.”
I tugged her close. “Then we’ll have our own party in the room with our girl and order in whatever you want. Tomorrow, we’ll go home, and you’ll stay.” I drew in a long breath. “On one condition.”
Easing back, she frowned, tensing. “Which is?”
“You stay—as my wife.”
Her eyes widened.
“Marry me, Quinn. Let me adopt Abby. Let’s be a real family. Let’s make sure nothing and nobody can take her away from us.”
She was speechless.
“Quinn and Abby Elliott has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
She flung her arms around my neck.
“Yes!”
QUINN
Richton came into view, and I sighed happily. I glanced at John, who met my eyes and winked. He knew how much I wanted to come home. Last night, I had no doubt that if I said I wanted to leave right then, he would have calmly checked us out, driven us home, and never uttered another word about it.
But we stayed. Ordered room service. Watched a silly movie with Abby. He understood without saying a word that I simply couldn’t leave her last night. Not with what had happened and what she had confessed to me.
“I would hear yelling and look, Momma,” she whispered. “He was always mad. And his hand pumped. I saw it yesterday and thought he was gonna hurt you. I had to stop him.”
My heart had cracked at her words.
I had cupped her face and pressed kisses everywhere. “You are so brave, baby. But it’s my job to look after you. Your job is to be a little girl.”
She had smiled up at me. “Now that Farmer John found us, I can. He protects us.”
John was right. She was smart beyond her years. “Yes, he does.”
“He loves us. He told me.”
“He told me too.”
I smiled in happiness as we turned up the driveway to the farm. Home. I was home.
I had felt more at home here in the past days than I had ever felt anywhere in my adult life. John was home. With him, I was safe. Loved.
And I was never leaving this place, or him, again.
John stopped the truck and turned off the ignition. “We’re home, family.”
Family.
I finally had it.
“So, I asked Quinn to marry me,” John said casually as we sipped coffee after dinner at Laura’s dining room table. She had gone all out, making a delicious meal and having a birthday cake for me. There had even been a few gifts. Thoughtful, heartfelt ones I would use and love.
I watched Laura carefully for her reaction, worried she would feel it was too soon and we were rushing into it. Instead, there was only joy as she sprang from her chair and hugged me, then John. Bob followed suit and shook John’s hand. He glanced at his wife with a wink.
“You called it, honey.”
John looked at his sister. “Called what?”
Laura laughed as Bob explained. “She came home from the town hall meeting and told me you’d be married before the fall. Probably sooner. And she was right.”
John gaped at her. “You thought that back then?”
Laura shook her head. “You couldn’t vote against her. You were trying so hard to hold on to your curmudgeonly ways, but they were already slipping. I saw the way you looked at her when you thought no one was looking.” She threw a wink at me. “And how you glanced at him, Quinn. I could feel the connection between you.”
“So you threw out the swing suggestion?” John questioned her.
“Once you let it slip you had kissed her, I knew I had to push you along.” She shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”
John laughed. “Yeah, it did.”
“When and where is the wedding happening?” Then she frowned. “Why aren’t you wearing a ring? Was it too big? How did you propose? After dinner? Tell me all the details.”
We exchanged glances.
“Ah, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. No ring. Nothing fancy.”
Laura frowned. “You don’t have a ring?”
“I don’t need one. I have his heart. I’d like a band once we get married, but we need to work out all the details.”
“What aren’t you telling us?”
John looked over his shoulder. The kids were playing outside on the trampoline. He drew in a deep breath and told them the story of my birthday. They listened, their eyes growing round as John told them about what Abby had done. I added what she had told me and how I needed to stay close. John finished with him asking me to stay and be his wife.