Page 89 of A Rugged Beauty
He looked so serious, his eyes burning into hers with an intensity she recognized from their time together.
"I'm sorry for many things, but especially for pushing you away all this time. I've been fighting my feelings for you—and," he chuckled wearily, "it hasn't done any good."
A beat of hope stole the air and made her breathe a laugh too.
Hollis continued to hold on to her as people exclaimed joyfully around them.
"Your resourcefulness, your kindness, your optimism, all of it drew me from the very first moment."
Was he really saying this? She'd tried to protect her heart and now it seemed hard to believe.
He wasn't finished. "I felt everything... so deeply." He inhaled, his throat worked.
Rain streamed down, but she couldn't look away from him. She knew what he'd been through. How much he had lost. How the fragile feelings must've terrified him.
"I'm finished letting fear rule me. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me?—"
"Of course I can."
Joy lit his eyes from deep inside. Still, a vulnerability remained.
There were shouts from somewhere outside the little circle of herself and Hollis. She vaguely heard someone else make a shushing noise. Or a shooing noise.
All she could see, all she could hear, was Hollis.
"I want our marriage to be real," he said. "You had the courage to demand of me what I should've given from the beginning." He hesitated. "That is, if I'm not too late."
He seemed genuinely worried that she would reject him. She couldn't bear to leave him in suspense. "You aren't too late."
Everything else seemed to fade away as he pulled her into a proper embrace, as his head dipped and he captured her mouth with his.
His lips were warm and tender, his kiss both familiar and new. His embrace felt like coming home.
His mouth moved from her lips to her jaw, her cheek, then her forehead.
"I've wanted the right to do this," he murmured into her hair, still holding her close. Her arms clung to his sides.
"I love you, Abigail Tremblay," he whispered.
She went completely still.
Had she imagined the words? She'd wanted to hear them so badly...
She needed to see him, to look into his face. When she pushed against his chest, he loosened his arms so that she could peer up into his eyes.
He looked both frightened and mulish, his chin jutting out as if daring her to contradict him, while his eyes held a vulnerability that echoed inside her.
"I love you, too," she said. "I tried not to. I know you didn't want a second wife, after losing Dinah."
"I did want you for my wife," he admitted. "Only I was afraid of losing you too. When you got sick, I felt so lost—that's how I knew the strength of my feelings."
Rain dripped down his face, but when he wiped one hand over his eyes and cheeks, she guessed that perhaps there were a few tears mingled in.
Love swelled inside her, full to bursting. Her husband had such a tender heart, a strong heart to protect those under his care.
God had given her this man. A new future. It stretched before her, full of endless hope.
Eighteen
