Page 47 of Can't Take Moore

I couldn’t lie to my mom, but I wasn’t about to confess my feelings to her either. Not yet anyway. “Vienna should be the first one I tell, don’t you think?”

She wagged her finger at me. “Stop dragging your feet.”

“It’s barely been a month,” I reminded her.

“That girl has a whole life outside of Mooreville. You have no idea when she might be pulled back to it.”

“I know.” I raked my fingers through my hair. What I’d do if Vienna decided she needed to live in a bigger city like Chicago in order to keep up with her training better had been on my mind a lot lately. I’d never want her to sacrifice my dreams for me, but I had always pictured myself raising my family in Mooreville someday. “You’re urging me to commit to a future with Vienna, even if it means I leave with her?”

“This will always be where you grew up, but Vienna can be your home if you let her.” My mom smiled up at me as she patted my cheek. “I love living in Mooreville, but I would have gladly followed your father anywhere he wanted to go. All I want for you boys is to find a love like we have.”

“I know.” And I believed with all of my heart that I’d found that in Vienna.

“And to have grandbabies for me to cuddle.”

I sighed in exasperation. “Vienna is an Olympic athlete, Mom. I have no idea if she’s anywhere close to being ready to even think about having babies.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” She made a shoo-ing motion with her hands. “Go talk to her and find out. Profess your love for her while you’re at it. Women like that.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I murmured as I made my escape.

Heading in the direction of the nearest restroom, I intercepted Vienna before she returned to the waiting room. The hospital was the least romantic place for my confession, but I couldn’t hold the words back any longer. Not after everything that had happened over the past day and how she had stood by my side through it all. But I wasn’t going to do this in front of my entire family. I preferred to have a little privacy the first time I said those three little words to a woman...my princess.

Interlacing my fingers with hers, I poked my head into a few rooms before I found an empty one and dragged her inside. After the door shut behind us, I wrapped my arms around her and tugged her close. Tilting her head back, she smiled up at me, her pretty brown eyes filled with curiosity. “What are you doing?”

“It's been a long night and day. I wanted to get a moment alone with you,” I explained.

She jerked her chin toward the hospital bed, her brows arching as she asked, “In here? Wouldn't we get in trouble if we were caught?”

I loved that Vienna had blossomed so much during our time together that she was actually considering the possibility of having sex with me in a hospital room with my family down the hall. But that wasn't what I had in mind, and I wasn’t going to let my fierce desire for her get in the way of what I needed to say. “That's not why I brought you in here.”

She twined her arms around my neck, her fingers toying with the ends of my hair. “Then why did you?”

“I know this probably isn't the right time or place, but I can't hold the words back any longer. I've fallen in love with you, Vienna.”

“You love me?” she gasped, pressing trembling fingers to her lips.

“So fucking much,” I confirmed, the words pulled from the depth of my soul.

My heart burst with joy when she replied, “I love you, too.”

“Thank fuck,” I breathed, dropping my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I didn't wait until we could redo our romantic date night to say all of this.”

“No,” she cried, shaking her head. “This was honest and real. It was us. It was perfect.”

I was glad that she thought so, but when I asked her to become my wife, I was going to set the stage properly so my proposal was more memorable…and a better story to tell our children someday in the future.

21

Vienna

Iwas just starting to think that my mom’s threats had been empty when I discovered how wrong I was. As I came off the ice at the local rink after skating for two hours, I was approached by someone I didn’t know. Having grown accustomed to strangers stopping to say hello since I moved to Mooreville, I aimed a smile of greeting at him. But it was wiped away when he stretched out his arm to hand me a folded stack of papers and said, “You've been served.”

“Pardon?” I asked, my mind having trouble catching up with what was happening.

“You've been served,” he repeated.

I looked down at the packet, my brows drawing together. “What is this?”

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