Stranger in Town (Dundee, Idaho #5)(76)
Author: Brenda Novak

Kenny and Brent didn’t seem to care if anyone else was excited. They were ecstatic. Kenny had grinned from ear to ear. Brent had started running through the house with Lazarus, yelling frenziedly that they belonged to a family now.

A family…Hannah smiled as she gave up her grip on the blanket to pull her hair back. Father, mother, two kids and a dog. All living together. Just when she’d given up on the whole concept.

Headlights appeared at the end of the street, making Hannah’s pulse speed up. It was Gabe.

As he pulled into her driveway, she walked over to the driver’s window. “Hi,” she said.

He let the engine idle, looking nervous for the first time since she’d known him. “Hi.”

She dragged the blanket up around her shoulders again. “I watched the show today.”

“What’d you think?”

“That you’re crazy.”

He seemed taken aback. “Why?”

“What about the accident?”

“What about it?” he responded.

“It cost you so much, Gabe. I cost you so much. Do you really think you’ll be able to forgive me for that?”

“Hannah…” His eyes grew intense. “The accident cost me a lot,” he admitted. “But I don’t see any reason to let it cost me any more than it already has, do you?”

Hope swelled inside Hannah. “So you were serious when you said you wanted to marry me?”

A lazy grin spread across his face. Seeing it, her heart nearly pounded right out of her chest. He was serious. She knew right then the dream was real. “What do the boys think of the idea?”

“They like it,” she said.

At this, some of the tension seemed to drain from his body. He turned off the truck and opened his door, and she stepped closer to him. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “Now I don’t have to worry about all the things I’ve been planning to say.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Things that I hoped would convince you I’d be a good stepdad.”

“You were worried I wouldn’t think so?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Knowing how much you love those boys? Yes.”

She chuckled softly.

“So?” he said.

She gave him a grin of her own. “So, what?”

“What do you say?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up a hand. “Wait, I think I’ll have a better chance if you see the ring. The salesgirl convinced me there wasn’t a woman on earth who could say no to this.”

What the salesgirl had probably meant was that there wasn’t a woman on earth who could say no to him, but Hannah didn’t clarify. She was too busy staring at the ring he’d thrust in front of her. He’d bought the biggest emerald-cut diamond she’d ever seen, set in white gold.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Is that a yes?” he asked eagerly.

She was having trouble finding words. This ring had to have cost more than her house. It was hard to believe that yesterday she’d hesitated about buying a forty-dollar sweater and today she owned the biggest diamond in Dundee; that yesterday she’d thought she’d never remarry and today she was ready to set the date.

“I know you have money, Gabe, but…can we really afford to spend so much on a ring?”

He laughed and shook his head. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Hannah. I can afford whatever I want to buy you. And this isn’t just a ring—it’s a promise.”

“Of what?” she murmured, still staring down at it.

He took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. The weight of the diamond felt foreign to her hand, but good. “That I’ll never hold the accident against you. That I’ll love you forever,” he said. Then he tilted up her face and kissed her gently on the mouth.