“Jeremiah didn’t like me to talk after.”
Roen knew her husband’s name would come up sometime. He regretted opening the door to it so soon. “I’m not Jeremiah.”
“I know,” she said, slanting a sideways look at him. “Iknow.” Still, she fell silent.
“Do you have regrets?”
Did she? “I regret my fears. I wish I had confronted them sooner.”
“How much sooner?”
“When you approached me with your outrageous proposal.”
“It was outrageous, wasn’t it?”
“You sound pleased with yourself.”
“Never doubt it.” He leaned over and laid his lips against her temple. The kiss had the shape of a smile. “What would you have done differently if you had confronted your fears?”
“I would have asked for flowers for myself.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And I wouldn’t have objected to a kiss at the end of the ceremony.”
“Ah, yes. That would have been brave of you.”
“Maybe I would have said yes to a ring. I’m not sure.”
“All right. Anything else?”
“You know.”
“Say it anyway.”
“You’ll be so full of yourself, your hat won’t fit.”
“So? I’ll buy a new hat.”
She blew out a breath and spoke quickly in a rush of air. “I would have demanded my marital rights.”
Roen found her hand under the covers, threaded his fingers through hers, and tightened his grip. “May I tell you something, Lily?”
There was such gravity in his tone that she hesitated a moment, uncertain if she wanted to hear. Confronting her fears again, she said, “Yes.”
“The way you did it was better. Waiting was better. The flowers, the kiss, even the ring was theater. This, tonight, was real, and it couldn’t have happened before it did. You weren’t ready, and I couldn’t be if you weren’t.”
Lily was quiet, thoughtful. “Itwasreal, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You were waiting for me.”
“All my life.”
She disengaged her hand from his and sat up so suddenly, the bed rocked. Leaning over him, she reached for the lamp and turned up the wick, then she sat back and stared down at him. After he blinked a few times to adjust to the light, he stared right back.
“You heard me,” he said.
