Chapter 13 #4
“The work has finally started, and so things are moving along,” he replied. The familiar scent of him eddied in the air, further breaking her heart as it smelled like safety, it smelled like home.
“So, how can I help you today?” She set the rest of the snowmen she had been putting up on the bulletin board down on a nearby desk.
“You can hear me out,” he replied, a touch of emotion she couldn’t identify in his tone.
She looked at him in confusion. “Hear you out about what?” She walked over to her desk and sat and then gestured him into the seat across from her. She needed the distance from him this arrangement gave her.
He sank down in the chair, blew out a deep sigh and then raked a hand through his thick hair. “Where is Sammy?” she suddenly asked.
“He’s home with Lydia watching him.”
“So, what do you want me to hear you out about?” Her heart beat an uneven rhythm as his very nearness disturbed her. Why was he torturing her by coming here?
He gazed at her. “When I left your house, I was sure I was doing the right thing. I was protecting Sammy by making sure another woman didn’t walk out of his life. He’s really having a difficult time adjusting to you not being in his life the way you were before.”
He wasn’t telling her anything new. She saw how much Sammy missed her every time she greeted him in the mornings at school. “I know he’s having a hard time,” she said.
He looked away from her for a long moment and then gazed at her once again. “The issue is I’m having a hard time adjusting to you not being in my life, too. I was sure it would get easier with each day that passed, but it hasn’t gotten easier. It’s only become more difficult.”
Once again, he released a deep sigh. “I was so sure I was protecting my son. But every night I dreamed about that moment when you stepped out of the flames with my son and his dog in your arms. You literally walked through fire to save Sammy’s life.”
“And I would do it again in a minute,” she replied fervently.
For a long moment he gazed at her, and in the depths of his beautiful eyes she saw an emotion that made a tiny ray of hope shine in her heart.
“Suzanna, I lied to you when I told you I didn’t love you. I am madly, crazy in love with you. I have realized that a woman who walked through fire for my son is a woman who loves him like her own.”
He got up and walked around the side of her desk. “More importantly, I realized that I wasn’t just protecting Sammy by not marrying again, but I was really protecting myself. I was afraid of being hurt again, but you’ve made me realize I don’t want to play it safe anymore.”
He reached out and took her hand in his.
He pulled her up to her feet in front of him.
“Suzanna, I’ve missed you every minute of every day since we’ve been apart.
I want to marry you, and I want you to have my babies.
I want to wake up with you every morning and go to sleep at night with you in my arms. I want to build a family with you and… ”
She’d heard enough and her heart expanded with love for him. “Are you lying to me?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t lie about something as important as this. I’ve been such a fool. So, do you want to take a chance on a simple farmer who loves you desperately?”
“Yes, oh yes, Seth,” she replied.
His mouth took hers in a kiss that tasted of a forever love. When the kiss ended, his warm gaze spoke of his love for her. “You’d better start planning a wedding,” he said. “Because I love you like crazy, and I want to make you my wife as soon as possible.”
“I’d like that,” she replied joyously.
“Why don’t we go tell Sammy you’re going to be his forever mommy,” he said and then picked her up and whirled her around. “I’m so happy right now I could burst.” He set her back on the floor. “Does this mean I get my job as your bodyguard back?”
She gazed up at him teasingly. “Honey, you can guard my body anytime you want.”
His eyes glowed with desire, and a delicious shiver raced through her. “Why don’t you and Sammy move back in with me until the work on your house is done?” she suggested.
“Only if I get to be your snuggle buddy every night for the rest of my life,” he replied.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she replied. Once again, his mouth took hers in a sweet kiss that whispered of hot desire and abiding love. Joy expanded in her heart as she realized she was going to get her dream of a man who loved her and truly wanted to commit to her.
When the kiss ended, he grabbed hold of her hand. “Now, let’s go make Sammy the happiest little boy on earth,” he said.
She had a momentary thought of her appointment at the car lot, and she stopped in her tracks. Seth looked at her curiously. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is more than okay,” she replied with a smile at him. After all, what was more important? An appointment at a car lot or claiming a little boy as her own?
She glanced out the window, where big fat snowflakes were coming down. “It’s snowing,” she said.
“Perfect timing because there is nothing I’d like better than getting snowed in with you and Sammy.” He grasped her hand more firmly as they left her classroom and walked into their future together.