Page 92 of Hunter

Her expression was fierce as she caught his chin in her hand and guided his dark eyes back to hers. “They’ll accept you on your merits. Just the way I have. None of them is ordinary. All of them have had to cope with being different.”

“Different how?”

“I’ll have to let them tell you their secrets.” She laughed. “You may not believe some of what you hear. But they are a perfect group for you. All of them have unusual backgrounds and talents. And they’ll help you learn about the world, just the way I have. We can do things gradually. Each thing when you’re ready.”

She felt some of the tension seep out of him as he shifted his position beside her. He had never had a home or a family who cared, but he was about to find out what it was like to be part of a warm extended family of people who were there for you in bad times—and good.

He raised himself on one elbow so he could look down at her. “To have you for a mate—for a wife—would be a miracle.”

She gave him a playful little grin. “Not to be pushy, you understand, but is that a proposal?”

“A what?”

“Are you asking me to marry you?” she said, half teasing, half serious.

He flushed as he realized the implications of his words. “I . . . want to. More than you can ever know. But I think we should wait.”

“Why?”

“I want to make sure that it’s the right thing for you.”

When she started to object, he shook his head.

“Let me see if I fit in first.”

She swallowed, nodded. He was cautious. And honorable. But she’d have plenty of time to make him comfortable with the idea of marriage.

He brought her hand to his lips, tenderly kissed her fingers. “Dr. Kolb said you looked like Ben Lancaster’s wife,” he whispered. “Ben Lancaster had excellent taste.”

“Thank you.”

“I don’t know much about her, except that she was beautiful. But she isn’t the same as you. No other woman has the warmth and strength you have. No other woman could have seen Swinton’s laboratory and still loved me.”

When she tried to deny the statement, he shook his head and plowed on, “No other woman has your bravery. No other woman could have gotten me out of Stratford Creek.” Tears misted his eyes. “No one else would have cared enough about me. Why did you care so much?”

Her own vision swam. “At first, I knew you needed me. Then I knew I needed you, too.”

They lay holding each other silently for several moments; then he spoke again. “Would you . . . would you go to the desert with me? See the places I remember—the memories from Ben Lancaster?” he asked in a tentative voice.

“I’d like that.”

“It’s a good place to start, but I have a lot to try and understand now.”

“I know. But you’ll have my help. And my love.”

“I couldn’t do it without your love,” he said simply. “Meeting you was like waking from a bad dream to find that there was a bright, warm light piercing the darkness around me.”

“Oh, Hunter.”

He folded her close, even as she wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered to the joy of the moment, the joy awaiting them in the future.

Epilogue

He stood beside the mirror, tugging at the hem of his knit shirt, then studied his hair before glancing anxiously at Kathryn.

“Do I look okay?”

“You look fine.”

---