Her Cowboy Soldier (21 page)
“I don’t have to move to Denver to write. I’ve been thinking about doing more freelancing. And I’d like to write a book. Charla says there’s a writers’ group that meets at her shop. I might check it out.”
“That’s a good idea.” He reached out with his other hand—his hook—and she wrapped her fingers around it. The metal was warmer than she’d expected, and felt right in her hand. “I’d be glad if you stayed,” he said again. “Bobbie and Charla and a lot of other people will be happy, too.”
“I told myself when I first came here it was only temporary, but I know now I came looking for the one place I would always belong—the place I never had as a child. People here have accepted me, even though I know I made it hard sometimes.”
“I wouldn’t love you if you always made things easy on yourself,” he said.
Love.
Not a word she’d heard him use before. She looked into his eyes, her heart pounding as if it might burst from her chest.
“I do love you, Amy,” he said. He pulled her close and she went gladly, releasing his hands to wrap her arms around him.
“I love you, too,” she said. “I have for a while, but...it scares me. I made so many mistakes with Brent and...”
“Shh.” He put a finger to her lips. “We’ll probably make mistakes, too, but we’ll work together to fix them.”
She nodded. “I guess we’ve both had experience with that.” Being with Josh now didn’t feel like a mistake—it felt like the most right thing she’d ever done in her life.
He smoothed his hand down her back. “I’ll tell Bobbie to keep the orchard.”
“No. I think you should buy it. It’s too much for her, and you’ll do a good job of managing it.” Her smile this time came more easily. “I think she’s ready to let go, and she deserves not to have to worry about it anymore.”
“I’ll need help to run it,” he said. “A partner who already knows the business.”
His eyes held such tenderness she felt as if the hard shell of pain that had constricted her heart melted away. “Do you have someone in mind?” she asked.
“Would you be my partner, Amy? In the orchard and in life?”
“What are you asking, Josh?” She thought she knew, but she needed to hear him say the words.
“Will you marry me?”
She caught her breath, heart pounding. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He bent his head and kissed her, and ever after the scent of green apples would remind her of that moment, when she let go of everything that held her back for too long, and started on the greatest adventure of her life.
EPILOGUE
“M
OMMY
,
YOU
LOOK
so pretty.”
Amy studied her reflection in the mirror in the back bedroom of the farmhouse. Bobbie had already moved to her new townhome off Main Street, and Amy was still deciding how to turn the rest of the house into her home. But she had more pressing concerns today. She smoothed her palms down the slim-fitting white lace dress. The hem fell only to her ankles—she’d refused to try to walk through an orchard in a long dress and train. “Thank you, sweetheart,” she said, and turned to straighten the crown of apple blossoms atop Chloe’s gold curls. A matching crown topped her own pinned-up hair.
“It’s time, girls.” Bobbie, dressed in a trim blue suit, her cane garlanded with more apple blossoms, stood in the bedroom doorway. “You look beautiful, Amy.”
“So do you, Grandma.” Amy took Bobbie’s arm and held to Chloe with her free hand and the three of them made their way out the back door and down the path toward the orchards.
Guests lined the path and stood among the trees, which were crowned with pink-and-white apple blossoms. Their perfume scented the air, sweet with the promise of the harvest to come. Amy spotted the faces of those who had become dear to her—Ed and Cody from the paper, Erica and her boyfriend, George, Teresa and Stephanie, the men and women from her writers’ group, and so many others. All important parts of her life—the extended family she’d come to treasure.
Amy’s parents hadn’t been able to make the wedding—at this very moment they were somewhere in the wilds of Chile, escorting a group of wealthy Europeans on the adventure of a lifetime. But they’d promised a visit sometime this summer, and Amy was content with that.
At the end of the makeshift aisle, Charla stepped forward to relieve Amy of her bouquet of lilies and roses, and Amy turned to greet her groom. Josh’s smile warmed her to her toes, and she returned the joyful look.
Just beyond Josh, his parents beamed, Mitch dressed in a Western-cut suit to match Josh’s, a spray of apple blossoms at his lapel. Josh took her hand in his, and they turned to face the minister.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here...”
At their feet, almost obscured by a crown of new green shoots, the trunk of an old apple tree bore silent witness to the pledge of their love. On this spot six months ago, Josh had asked her to marry him, and Amy had insisted that the stump be left as a marker. She’d once thought she was dead to love and new possibilities, but Josh had proved her wrong. Here in Hartland, with this man, she’d found the home she’d always wanted, and the love she’d always need.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460316238
Copyright © 2013 by Cynthia Myers
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