Page 41 of The Rancher's Unrequited Love

She flipped to another page just as the first teardrop fell, and it landed silently against her skin. Memories of last night flashed in her mind, and another teardrop fell as she closed her eyes—-

And she let herself remember.

She was back in the garage, and she looked like the happiest girl in the world.

Yes. I'll marry you.

She saw Ethan in her mind, remembered vividly how his handsome face had turned rigid for a moment—-

(Almost as if)

She remembered how his kiss, when he had taken her in his arms, had tasted so heartbreakingly sweet—-

(Almost as if)

She remembered how long - oh, how so very long - it took him to slide the ring down her finger, because his own hands had been shaking so bad—-

(Almost as if)

Anah forced her eyes open.No.She closed her book.You're only imagining things, Anah.Another teardrop fell, splashing against the matte cover of her book, but she refused to let it weaken her.

She just wasn't used to being this happy, that was all. So her mind had started imagining stupid things. Ethan was not the type to have cold feet, and if he had...then why had he been so insistent on having Anah herself open his glovebox?

He wanted to marry her.

Because he loved her.

So it's going to be fine,Anah told herself.There's nothing to fix—-

"Anah..."

The sudden sound of his voice had her stomach cramping for no reason, and she had to draw a quick, fortifying breath before turning to face him. "Yup?" She noticed right away that Ethan hadn't turned to meet her gaze, and the oddness of it made her heart lurch.

(Almost as if)

"I love you."

And Anah wanted to cry.

Those words were all she had ever dreamt of hearing.

So...why...why didn't it suddenly feel right to hear them?

"I love you, Anah."

Ethan didn't even realize he had been holding his breath until he felt Anah's head rest against his shoulder.

"I love you." She squeezed her eyes shut.It's going to be fine. There's nothing to fix. You're not going to lose him.

Another shuddering breath rocked his body as he heard Anah say the words—-

It's going to be fine.

Words that he didn't deserve-—

You can still fix this.

And because of that, they were still words she could still take back.

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