Page 105 of Unforgotten

Hating that he couldn’t have her in his arms and hold herprotectively, he tried to give her what she needed in words. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have pushed. If you don’t want to do appearances, you don’t have to.”

“I was thinking about us too.”

“Okay...”

“Ryan, maybe I should give you a break too.”

He knew if she pulled away, he might never get her back. That wasn’t an option. Not without a fight, at least. “No.”

Obviously shocked, she gasped. “What?”

Needing to be closer to her, he knelt in front of her chair. “Candace Evans, you are a pretty amazing woman. You are brave and determined and you love hard. I love how much you love your cousin. I love how you smiled at all those little girls who wanted to touch your dresses and your sash and your crown. I love how you have goals and could practically live on vanilla ice cream. I think you’re just about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. But most of all, I love that you’re my girl. I need you, Candace. Don’t leave me.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “But I’m not the same, Ryan. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same Candace you first met.”

“Then be different. I’ll love the new Candace too.”

His words startled a laugh. “You can’t mean that.”

“I mean every word. I want you forever, Candace ... if you think you can one day love me too.”

“I do. I love you too. But—”

No. He was not going to let her put up another obstacle. Not after everything she’d been through.They’dbeen through. Pulling her close, he said, “Then, still be mine.”

“Do you really think love is that easy?”

“With you, yes.” Brushing his lips along her cheekbone, against her temple, he said, “Do you want to hear my dream?” When she nodded, he whispered, “One day you and I are going to be older. We’re going to have a bunch of kidsand a bunch of grandkids, and we’re going to be sitting in a room like this on Monday nights, watching TV.” He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips before leaning back again. “And then, at the end of the night, when we’re both yawning and tired, we’re going to walk to our bedroom.”

Her eyes lit up. “And then?”

“And then, on one of those evenings, you’re going to stop in the middle of the hallway. You’re going to look up at me with those beautiful eyes of yours that I love so much and ask if I remember this moment.” He lowered his voice as he got down on one knee. “You’re going to ask if I remember kneeling in front of you just like this. If I remember baring my heart and begging you to give us a chance.”

Her eyes luminous, Candace whispered, “And what will you say?”

“That of course I remember. I’m going to tell you that I remember every detail of this room, every word, every feeling. I’m going to tell you that I haven’t forgotten a single thing.”

Candace’s lips parted. She seemed to catch her breath. And then she said the one thing he needed to hear.

“Good.”

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