Page 67 of Suzanna's Surrender
“There could be a frog in there for all you know.” Impatient with her, he flipped up the top himself. “I didn’t want to give you diamonds.” He shrugged when she said nothing, only stared into the box. “I figured you’d already had those. I thought about emeralds, but those are something you will have. And this is more like your eyes.”
When the tears blurred her vision, the light refracted. There were diamonds, tiny, lovely stones in a heart shape about the deep and brilliant sapphire. They weren’t cold, as the ones she had sold, but warmed by the rich blue fire they encircled.
Holt watched the first tear fall with a great deal of discomfort. “If you don’t like it, we can take it back. You can pick out what you want.”
“It’s beautiful.” She dashed a tear away with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry. I hate to cry. It’s just so beautiful, and you bought it for me because you love me. And when I put it on”—she lifted drenched eyes to his—“I’m yours.”
He dropped his brow to hers. Those were the words he’d wanted. The ones he’d needed. Taking the ring from the box, he slipped it onto her finger. “You’re mine.” He kissed her fingers, then her lips. “I’m yours.” Bringing her close again, he remembered his grandfather’s words. “Eternally.”
Chapter Twelve
Suzanna took the children to the shop with her in the morning. She couldn’t tell the rest of her family the news until she’d gauged Alex’s and Jenny’s feelings. The day was bright and hot. Knowing it would be a busy one, she arrived a full hour before opening. Because they wanted to check the herbs they had planted, she took them into the greenhouse to look at the tender shoots.
She let them argue for a while over whose plants would be the biggest or the best, supervising as they gave the shoots their morning drink.
“Do you guys like Holt?” she asked casually, nerves drumming.
“He’s neat.” Alex was tempted to turn the sprayer on his sister, but he’d gotten in trouble the last time he’d indulged himself.
“He plays with us sometimes.” Jenny danced from foot to foot, waiting her turn. “I like when he throws me up in the air.”
“I like him, too.” Suzanna relaxed a little.
“Does he throw you up in the air?” Jenny wanted to know.
“No.” With a laugh, Suzanna ruffled her hair.
“He could. He’s got big muscles.” Reluctantly Alex passed the sprayer to his sister. “He let me feel them.” Screwing up his face, Alex flexed his own. Obliging, Suzanna pinched the tiny biceps.
“Wow. You’re pretty tough.”
“That’s what he said.”
“I was wondering...” Suzanna wiped nervous hands on her jeans. “How would you feel if he lived with us, all the time?”
“That’d be good,” Jenny decided. “He plays with us even when we don’t ask.”
One down, Suzanna thought and turned to her son. “Alex?”
He shuffled his feet, frowning a little. “Are you going to get married like C.C. and Amanda?”
Sharp little devil, she thought and crouched down. “I was thinking about it. What do you think?”
“Do I have to wear a dumb tuxedo again?”
She smiled and stroked his cheek. “Probably.”
“Is he going to be our uncle, like Trent and Sloan and Max?” Jenny asked.
Suzanna got up to turn off the spray before answering her daughter. “No. He’d be your stepfather.”
Brother and sister exchanged looks. “Would he still like us?”
“Of course he would, Jenny.”
“Would we have to go away and live someplace else?”
She sighed and combed a hand through Alex’s hair. “No. He would come to live with us at The Towers, or maybe we’d go and live with him at his cottage. We’d be a family.”
