Maya blinked away the tears that wanted to blind her. “But what about rebuilding your business? I thought that was your dream.”
“Initially. Maybe. But dreams can change. Or morph into something better. Something you never thought of until you’re planning and are in a place to envision it. I’m choosing to go with the something better.” He rubbed a hand over his lips. “When we werein that tunnel and pretty much facing death, I thought about a lot of things—mostly escaping with both of us alive—but also about choices and ones I regretted.” He pulled her to her feet and leaned over to kiss her. Gently. Sweetly. “I don’t want to have any regrets when it comes to going forward. I wish I’d told you how I felt about you years ago. I love you, Maya. I think I’ve always loved you.”
“I love you too,” she said, pushing the words past the lump in her throat. “But the nightmares—”
“We’ll face them together and we’ll beat them. Just like we did Vance and Ellie. Together. Whatever comes next, we’re a team. And we have God, so that really makes us an unbeatable trio.”
“I like the sound of that.” A tear slipped down her cheek. Could she put aside all her insecurities and fears to spend a lifetime with this man?
She gave herself a mental slap. Why was she even questioning that?
She could do it because the alternative wasn’t an option. She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of his arms around her. Standing in this moment, this place. Then her mind slid back to what they’d been through, and she looked up at him. “I can’t believe Vance really thought he could use Ellie wanting to kill me as a way to get away from her. I believe in fighting for your marriage, but when your spouse is deadly ... well, that’s a whole different situation.”
“I have no doubt he was afraid she’d kill him too, if he didn’t do what she wanted.” He paused. “I wonder if that bullet he hit her with was meant to kill her.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He had the chance to kill her when he was supposedly taking her to get help, but he didn’t. Maybe deep down he just couldn’t do it.”
“But, in the end, he could kill us.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “He sure used that avalanche to his advantage. Ellie had ranted and told him her plans to get rid of me, so he piggybacked on that. I’m sure if the avalanche hadn’t happened, he would have figured out how to work everything so Ellie took thefall and he came out as the grieving husband with the murderous wife. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it.”
“Then don’t. Wrap your mind around something else.”
“Happy to. Why are we even rehashing this? What should I wrap my mind around now?”
“This.” He dropped to one knee, pulling something from his pocket.
Maya sucked in a breath.Oh,God,pleasedon’t let me pass out.
He looked up and she looked down. Their eyes met. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, waiting for the right moment and this is it. Right here on the porch, just us, with a beautiful view, perfect weather, and, well, frankly, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“I agree. Don’t wait any longer.” She gave a breathless little laugh, and he grinned.
“All right then.” He held the ring up to her. “Maya Sullivan, will you marry me? Will you let me help you run this ranch, build our future, and trust God to heal whatever needs healing—together?”
With a trembling hand, Maya reached for the simple ring. A beautiful solitaire diamond set in white gold. Then she looked into the face of the man she’d loved for what seemed like forever. The fears were still there, just small and less significant.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes to all of the above.” He slipped the ring on her finger and she cupped his face. “I love you, Gideon Price.”
He stood and kissed her, long and slow, tender and demanding. A kiss that said he cherished her and desired her. That she was finally home.
He pulled back and hugged her. She’d never felt so secure, so safe. So unafraid. “Gideon?”
“Yeah?”
“Call your parents. Today, okay? Life’s too short not to reconcile.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I already did that this morning. Dad’s going to help me draw up the plans for the new veterinary clinic you’re wanting to build.”
Maya laughed and wound her arms around his neck. “I think this is what Gramps always dreamed of for this place. For it to be a place of healing. For all living creatures—animals and people.”
“Yeah. It’s going to be exciting to see that come to life.”
“Oh, there’s one more thing that needs healing,” she said.
He frowned. “What?”
“Your muffler.”
He snorted, then laughed. “Right. It’s on my list.”
“A list that can wait,” Maya said, pulling him down for another kiss. “For now, I just want to stay here and plan our future.”
“I’d say that’s the perfect way to spend the day as long as it involves lots of kisses.”
She grinned. “I think that can be arranged.”
