28. Zane
Zane
“Where do you plan on going?”
“What?” Bliss asks in surprise.
I’m sitting on the bed, propped against the headboard, with Bliss tucked under my arm. I’ve never felt so happy in my life.
“Where are we going?” I ask again. “I’m assuming you were planning to fly somewhere. Your mom said you were going on a trip.”
“We?” Bliss repeats as she sits up and scoots away a few inches so she can look at my face.
“Yes, we. I promised to be there for you until the day I died. If you want to travel the world, then I’m packing a bag and coming with you. Because I love you, Bliss Eloise Madden. And I plan on loving you every day I’m on this earth.”
Bliss stares at me as a tear rolls down her cheek. “You would come with me? Leave behind the ranch?”
“I asked you to marry me. I promised you in sickness and in health. And I also made a promise that I would love you to the best of my ability.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “If we need to travel the world together for me to keep that promise, then I will.”
"I never said anything about traveling forever. I just needed some time to think things through,” she answers with a quizzical expression on her face.
I shake my head. “I mean that if you decide you need more in this life than a ranch, or Pine Ridge, I want to go with you. You are what’s most important to me in life. And I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy. I love you.”
Bliss looks up at me with a crumpled face. “I just wanted to be loved by you. I don’t need anything more than that. All I really want is to be wanted.”
I do my best not to snort, because all I’ve wanted the past couple of months is my wife. And she hasn’t realized it because I was too scared to tell her my feelings.
“Because I love you, Zane. It started with a silly crush, and then it kept growing. And the more I got to know you, the easier it was to see that you were someone that I could happily spend the rest of my life with. But the more I loved you, the more it hurt that you didn’t love me back.”
I open my arms to her, and she leans into them.
I wrap her in a tight hug as I say, “I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything sooner.
I thought I was the only one who was falling in love, and I didn’t want to scare you away.
The last thing I wanted was to tell you how I felt and force you to leave.
I had promised you that this would be a simple partnership.
Instead, I’ve fallen madly in love with you, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you.
Even if it means selling the ranch, I want a life with you. ”
Bliss wraps her arms around my neck and holds me tight. “I guess we’re both not very good at expressing ourselves.”
“You know that’s right,” I reply with a chuckle.
“We have the emotional verbiage of a goat.”
“But we can learn to do better. At least with each other.”
“Definitely not other people,” she adds.
I laugh and tighten my hold around her. Her firm body fits perfectly against mine. I tuck my head down against her shoulder.
“I love you, Zane,” she whispers in my ear.
“I love you, Bliss.”
She turns her face toward me and presses a kiss against the corner of my mouth. It’s gentle, featherlight.
Turning my head to the side, I meet her lips with mine. She kisses me back with enthusiasm, and I can’t believe this is my life.
My wife loves me.
Bliss didn’t want to go on a trip. She wanted to go home—to our home. We made the four-hour drive back to Pine Ridge and headed straight to our house. It was too bad we had two rigs to drive home, otherwise I would have made sure I was holding her hand the entire time.
As it was, I called Bliss and we kept each other on speakerphone the whole time. We spent the entire drive talking. Uninhibited verbal vomiting of our fears, hopes, dreams, et cetera. I’d never been so happy to talk with someone.
Pulling into the driveway at home feels completely different tonight. There is no hesitation about how to go forward from here. We both know what we want.
I shut the truck off and hurry to her truck so that I can open her door for her.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Madden.” I reach for her waist and lift her to the ground.
“You know I can climb out of a truck on my own,” she reminds me.
“But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to put my hands on you,” I smile down at her as I flex my fingers against her hips.
Bliss winks at me. “Don’t you know that’s one of the best things about being married? You don’t need an excuse to touch me.”
“Now that is a great benefit.” I lean down and kiss her slowly. Bliss kisses me back and I never want this to end. But then I remember the little project I had Charlie handle for me. Hopefully, she was able to get it done in time.
Pulling back from Bliss, I grasp her hand and start pulling her toward the house. She follows behind with a breathless laugh.
“I have something to show you,” I tell Bliss as she steps onto the porch.
She turns to look at me, a serious glint in her eye. “Just so we’re clear, if we’re going to do this, there’s going to be nothing between us. It’s going to be a real marriage, where we have a relationship and look out for each other.”
“Agreed.”
She opens her mouth to say something else, but then snaps it closed again. “You agree?”
“Of course, I agree. It’s past time that we give it our all. No more holding back. No more walls.”
Bliss smiles brightly at me. “Yes. Exactly. Thank you.”
I take her hand and lead her into the house and down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
I stop in front of her door. “You said you wanted to get cleaned up.”
The bright look falls from her eyes, and she looks embarrassed. “Oh, yes, of course. I don’t like the hotel feeling.”
She opens the door and steps inside, keeping her eyes on me the whole time as I walk to my bedroom door.
I step through the door and close it softly. Then I wait.
She takes only a moment to turn around.
Bliss yelps and slaps a hand against her chest. “The—the wall!” she stutters.
I grin as her eyes meet mine.
“The wall is gone!” she exclaims. She glances around the room. “My bed is gone.”
“No, our bed is right here,” I say as I gesture to my king-size bed with the newly added canopy.
Magnolia texted me and told me it had a nice, feminine touch and that Bliss would like it.
“You took out the wall!” Bliss is still stunned, but now she’s laughing about it.
“You said you wanted nothing between us anymore.” I take a step toward her.
She smiles up at me and steps closer. “Well, Mr. Madden, I’m happy to say, I’ll gladly share a room with you.”
“Mrs. Madden, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say those words. I love you.”
“I love you more.” She grins in challenge.
I raise an eyebrow at her. “I love you the most.”
She jumps into my arms and wraps her legs around my waist. “I can’t believe you knocked out a wall and set up a room for both of us.”
“Charlie did me a favor. I think Magnolia helped, too. They love you, you know. Charlie was practically threatening me,” I tell her with a laugh.
“It’s nice to have friends.” She leans forward and presses a kiss against my cheek. “It’s nice to have a kissing buddy too.”
“Kissing buddy? Is that all I am to you now?” I exclaim in fake outrage.
She tilts her head back and laughs loudly. “I love annoying you.”
“Well, you’re going to have to work harder at it, because I still want to kiss you.”
And so I do.