This level of love. The depth of it…the beauty of it surrounds me, cushioning my heart, drawing the wounds to a close and kissing the scars.
This love is once in a lifetime. He’s a once in a lifetime man.
“Kannen?”
“Hmm?”
“Will you marry me?”
Chapter 9
Kannen
“Marry you?” I brush a strand of hair away from her face, trying to accept that this is not a dream. “Are you serious?”
“More serious than I’ve ever been in my life.”
She wants to marry me. Stormy, the woman I’ve loved for so long. The impossible becomes possible. “You can’t take it back.”
“I won’t.” She grips my hand. “Marry me.”
I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it. “I will marry you, my sweet Stormy. I’ll be your husband and the father of our children. And I’ll spend my days and nights loving on you.”
I cup her face and kiss her, my heart so full it can’t hold any more happiness. “When do you want to have the ceremony?”
“Tonight,” she says, then grins. “Tonight, tomorrow, the next day, the weekend. It doesn’t matter. As long as you make me yours.”
“Mine is what you’ve always been.”
“I mean legally.”
“I know what you meant. How about as soon as we can get the license?”
She frowns. “There’s what? At least a three day waiting period until we can have the ceremony?”
“Whatever the waiting period is, it’ll go by fast. We’ll be busy moving your things into the ranch house.”
“You’re right. And I’ll need to find someone to take over my lease.”
I link my arms around her waist. There were so many times I’d look up at the stars in the sky and offer up a wish about Stormy. They varied from me whispering let her do well on the test to make her parents stop fighting to let her someday love me, please.
“I need to tell my family. My sisters and my mom,” she says. “It won’t matter much to my dad.” Her voice trails into silence.
“We can tell your mom together,” I offer. Her mom swings between being happy with her new single life to being angry and bitter.
Stormy shakes her head. “I’ll tell her and my sisters tomorrow. We’re all going to breakfast together.”
“Do you need to go to your place for the night, then?”
“Isn’t my home with you?”
I let out a breath. “I was hoping you’d think that way. Do you want to stop and grab some of your clothes?”
“I do.”
It doesn’t take long for her to throw some necessities in a suitcase. I stash the case in my truck and then we head to the ranch.
After we get there, she takes a deep breath before getting out of the truck. Then she throws her arms wide, looks up at the night sky and says, “I’m home!”
