Page 82 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

His face lit up. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She smoothed out the line she’d dug in the sand with her toes. If only she could so easily smooth away the barriers between them. “I need to comfort Grandma after her double heartache. The seaside cottage needs renovations and a paint-over. My aunt could use some help at the restaurant. And this place... It calls to my heart.”

You. You call to my heart.

“What about your job?” he asked.

Huh. She’d expected him to be more ecstatic. “I can do some bookkeeping jobs remotely. And if a client insists on meeting in person once in a while, I can drive to Charleston.”

“Great. And you could sell your watercolors and paintings again.” He lifted her up and whirled her around, making her head spin.

“If not, I’ll enjoy them in my spare time,” she said when she could talk again because he took her breath away. Every cell in her body went ecstatic at being in his arms.

“I think my mind needed a paint-over.” She started packing her art supplies when he put her down.

“Excuse me? A paint-over?”

“My life doesn’t need to go from one swing of the pendulum to the other. It doesn’t have to be either-or. I don’t have to be either a serious accountant or a goofy chatterbox artist. We have so many sides of us, and we don’t need to suppress some of them to fit into a new mold.”

“You’ve put it beautifully.”

“And we shouldn’t judge ourselves or judge others based on our parents or theirs. We are our own people.” Subconsciously, once she’d realized what her father had done, once she’d focused on whathisfather had done, she’d been scared there was a chance Dallas might turn out the same. “Instead of finding myself in a big city, I ran away from myself and my memories.”

“And me.”

“And you.”

But hestilldidn’t say he loved her. Her heart sank into the sand. Was it too late for them, after all?

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As he led Skylar totheir special little cove, Dallas didn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous. What would her answer be?

His stomach clenched. He hadn’t been this much on the edge the first time he’d proposed. An overconfident teenager, he’d been sure she’d say yes.

“Okay, when can I open my eyes?” She giggled.

“Just a little more.” He held her hand, guiding her.

“What if I stumble?”

“I’ll make sure you stay standing.” He hoped he’d get to do that for the rest of his life. Not that he’d want her to stumble, of course.

She stopped. “Is Breeze still running along?”

Breeze barked as if to show that yes, she sure was. And she was going to play an important role in all this, too.

Kai, who’d guarded the cove entrance until Dallas got there, waved at them. Dallas waved back and gestured that Kai could leave. “Thanks, bro.”

“Thanks, bro? Dallas, can you at least give me a hint?” Skylar demonstratively sighed.

He shook his head but then remembered she couldn’t see him. “Nope. Sorry.”

Then, when they were close enough, Breeze took off and ran inside the cove.

“Oh no! Breeze, wait!” Dallas shouted. She’d better not set her coat on fire.

“I guess I can open my eyes now?”

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