ma’am, thank you.”
“We’re fine, thanks,” Rick told the older woman with the iron-gray hair and the sucked-on-a-lemon expression. Mrs. Mulaney was the town librarian and lived her life as though it were her duty to tell people “hush” everywhere in town.
“I wasn’t speaking to you, Rick Pruitt! But I should think a United States Marine would know better how to conduct himself.” She hurried on as if dogs were chasing her.
“That’s just perfect,” Sadie muttered. “Now Mrs. Mulaney knows that I was naked in the moonlight with you. Just great. That should take about ten minutes to get all over town.”
He smirked at her, knowing he’d just scored a point. “Thought you don’t care what anyone thinks about you anymore.”
“I don’t,” she snapped. “Not enough to say yes to a marriage proposal that I know you don’t even really want to make.”
“You are crazy,” he countered. “I’ve been straight up with you, Sadie, right from the beginning. I told you I want to marry you. Be a daddy to our daughters. You’re the one holding back here.”
She took a deep breath, held it for a second and then let it slide from her lungs as she shook her head.
“You know,” she finally said, “I should thank you. Only a few years ago, I might have accepted that proposal just to keep from making a scene in the restaurant. But because of you, I’ve found myself.”
“What’re you talking about?” Rick had the distinct feeling he wasn’t going to like this, but he had to hear her out. How else could he plan his next move?
“I moved to Houston when I was pregnant because I didn’t want to hear the talk. Didn’t want the girls to hear it.”
“I know that already.”
“But what you don’t know is, I’m not that woman anymore.” Sadie looked up at him. “I’ve grown up at last and I like who I am now. These last couple of weeks with you have helped me there, too. I’m not perfect little Sadie Price anymore. I don’t care what this town has to say about me or you for that matter. Let Mrs. Mulaney spill her guts. I’ll hold my head up anyway. And later on, if someone’s mean to my girls, I’ll handle it, but I’ll see to it that Wendy and Gail don’t care about gossip, either.”
She leaned in until their gazes locked in a silent battle of wills. “I’m going to show them so much love, so much complete acceptance for whoever they are, that they won’t care what anyone else thinks.”
There was that pride in her again. It was good to see her so sure of herself. The only downside was, she seemed to have convinced herself she didn’t need him. And that he couldn’t have.
“Sounds good to me, Sadie,” he told her, reaching for her only to have her step back, evading his touch. “All of it sounds just right.”
“But you don’t believe it. You still think I can be maneuvered into agreeing to marry you.”
A stab of shame dug into his chest and Rick didn’t like the feel of it. Yes, he had tried to trick her into saying yes. So what did that say about him? That he was a desperate man, that’s what.
Damned if he’d apologize for it, either. She’s the one who was being unreasonable.
“Maybe I was maneuvering you …”
“Maybe?”
He sighed and felt the weight of the diamond ring in his pocket, dragging at him. This day had really not gone the way he’d planned. But there was a part of him that was standing back enjoying this moment in spite of everything.
Damn, she was magnificent. Her eyes flashing, her skin pink with temper, she was so much more than the porcelain doll her parents had made her. So much more than he had thought her to be. And he wanted her now even more than ever.
“If you’re waiting to hear me say sorry,” he told her with a grunt of frustration, “you’ve got a long wait.”
“Amazing,” she muttered.
“Sadie, I’m not going to keep asking you to marry me only to have you slap me down for it time and again.”
“Good.” She didn’t look particularly happy, though.
He moved in on her, ignored the people streaming past them on the sidewalk and pushed Sadie up against the wall of the club. Hands on her shoulders, he could actually feel her tremble under his touch and that reaction gave him hope that all wasn’t lost. Not yet, anyway.
Because as he’d warned her, he wasn’t a man to give up on what he wanted. He had told her he wouldn’t keep asking her to marry him and he meant it. But that didn’t mean he was through demanding she marry him.
“I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was telling you in there,” he said, voice low.
“I don’t want to hear it,” she said and tried to pull free of his grip.
He only tightened his hold and kept her pinned to the wall, where she was so close, he felt the heat of her body radiating toward him and damned if she didn’t feel hotter than the Texas sun.
“You’re going to, though. This you have to hear.”
“Fine.” She folded her arms over her chest, cocked her head and glared up at him. “What is it?”
“You should know, I’m not reenlisting.”
“What?”
He laughed shortly at the surprise in her eyes. Hell, he’d felt the same way when he’d made his decision a day or so ago. But a part of him had known from the moment he saw his daughters that he was through with the Corps. His wandering days were over and he wasn’t sorry to see them go.
There was more for him right here in Royal than anything he could find elsewhere. He loved his daughters and he … cared about Sadie. He didn’t love her. Wouldn’t allow himself to go that far. But what they shared was important, so his decision to come back home, though not easy, had at least felt right once it was made.
“My hitch is up in two months,” he was saying. “In two weeks, I’ve got to report back to duty, but I’ll stay stateside until I’m out. Then I’m coming home. To Royal. To you.”
“Rick,” she said, clearly stunned, “I don’t know what to say to you….”
“Don’t have to say a thing,” he whispered, leaning down until his mouth was just a breath away from hers. “I’m doing this for me as much as for you. It’s time I took up the reins on the family ranch. The oil business. John Henry’s getting up there in age, though God knows he wouldn’t admit that. And I miss home. Have for a long time.”
She reached up to cover one of his hands with hers. “This doesn’t change anything, Rick.”
“Everything changes, Sadie. That’s all life is. A series of changes. It’s up to us to recognize them when they show up.”
“Not
