Chapter Fifteen
“You sure you want to do this?”
Rose nodded, hands curled around her coffee mug. “I have to.”
Scratching at his forehead with a thumb, Blake sighed. “I don’t see it that way, but this isn’t my relationship, now is it?”
Janine rolled her eyes. “Quit being a Negative Nelly, boss man. Of course, she has to. She’s in love.”
“With a man she spent a week with.” Blake glared at his assistant. “I shouldn’t have to point out to either of you that that kind of stuff only happens in the movies.”
Maybe, maybe not. But finding out and being disappointed couldn’t possibly hurt any worse than never taking the chance at all.
“I’m kinda banking on the three years Ryan and I had before that one week,” she admitted quietly. “Sure, I could get to River Bend only to have him turn me away, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” After her conversation with John, she had to.
“I don’t know.” Blake shook his head. “I think you should give it some time. Make sure this is what you really want.”
There was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to be with Ryan, but she understood her boss’s concern. “I’m not quitting, Blake.” Not yet, anyway. “I’m just taking a little vacation time to explore my options.”
“Right in the middle of our Angel Alliance announcement.”
Yeah. There was that. “I’m still committed to you. I promise. And right now, we’re just letting the word spread anyway. Garnering attention and seeing where that takes us.” She forced a smile, hoping to convince him. “Janine can handle any incidental things that come up and, if not, I’m just a phone call away.”
“But that won’t happen, because I’ve got this.” Janine nudged Blake in the arm. “Not to mention, Rose is owed the time off.”
Their boss grumbled under his breath before he sipped his coffee. “So when does your flight leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. Janine’s going to drive me to the airport.”
“But I’ll be into the office on time, so don’t worry about that,” Janine rushed to assure him.
This time, Blake rolled his eyes. “I’m not that anal retentive. Cut me some slack.” He shifted his attention to Rose, his expression softer, though still serious. “I’m just worried about you getting hurt.”
She nodded. “I am, too. But I have to trust that how I feel about Ryan is enough. That everything else will fall into place if I just give us this chance.”
A chance she hadn’t given them nine years earlier.
***
The next morning…
“I am so sorry, Rosemary. I just can’t. I think I’m dying.”
Standing outside the bathroom door, Rose bit back a groan. “Really? What is it, a stomach bug?”
“Yes. A big bug. Like…tarantula-size.” Janine’s dramatic moan came before the sound of the toilet flushing for the fifth time in as many minutes. “Call Blake. Or maybe Vivien. She should be up and getting ready to open the coffee shop.”
Which meant their friend definitely wouldn’t have time for a drive to the airport. Gah!
Rose paced back and forth, glancing between her packed suitcase and the clock on the wall. She had forty minutes. Forty minutes before she was set to board a plane to Nebraska.
“You know what? Forget the ride. I’ll just drive myself and leave the keys in the car. Blake can follow you later to pick it up.” It was the only option at this point. She needed to be in River Bend before Ryan got home from work in the afternoon.
“Wait…what? No!” Janine’s footsteps hurried to the bathroom door and when she flung it open, Rose gasped.
“You’re dressed for work.”
“Blake and I have a phone conference scheduled with a producer at six. This guy’s from New York. Time difference and all that.”
“But you’re sick.” Rose blinked. “With the stomach flu.”
Janine gave an exaggerated smile. “I’m suddenly feeling better.”
Rose narrowed her eyes, but, just as quickly, her heart fell. “Oh, my God, Blake talked you into this, didn’t he?”
“No. Nooo.” Janine’s dark haired shifted around her shoulders as she shook her head adamantly. Too adamantly.
“Oh, you two!” Rose shoved her hands into her hair and rushed toward the living room where her bags waited. “I can’t believe this!”
She hurried around, sliding into her coat and gathering her purse and carry-on, while Janine chewed on her lip, looking guilty as heck.
“You agreed that I should do this! You told me that Ryan was a good guy and that I’d be stupid not to go after him!” Frustration and panic began to burn in her face as she tugged her luggage toward the door. “God, Janine, I can’t lose him!”
“You’re not going to lose him,” her roommate said easily. “Just calm down, Rose. You’re freaking out for no reason.”
“No reason? My flight leaves in a half hour!” Sure, she could grab another one, but the plan was to beat Ryan home. To be there when he pulled into the driveway, like she hoped would be the case a thousand times over between now and…well, forever.
“You’re not going to make it to the airport and onto the plane in fifteen minutes, Rose. It’s too late.”
No. No, no, no. Giving up was not an acceptable answer.
She flung open the door and didn’t stop until she reached her car, John’s words echoing in her ears. Don’t wait seventy years, Rose. Why settle for less than the true love you’ve already found?
Loading her things in the trunk, she sniffled. Just because things might not work out exactly as planned, didn’t mean she should just give up.
She’d already done that one time too many.
***
“Mom, I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you later, okay?” Ryan put his gas station coffee into the cup holder and cranked over his truck engine.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she continued on. “It’s so unlike you to be so…so rash.”
Yeah, well this decision wasn’t exactly rash. Some aspects, yes. He couldn’t deny that. But playing it safe hadn’t gotten him where he wanted to be in life. Time to change things up and see where he landed.
“Is there anything I can do, honey? Something to help?”
Ryan smiled as he buckled his seatbelt and turned up the heater. “You’ve already helped.”
“I have?”
“Yep. But I really can’t talk about it right now. I’m about to hit the highway.”
“Ugh, fine. Call me as soon as soon as you can.”
“I will. I promise.” He ended the call and opened up his text messages. He’d lasted a whole two weeks without reaching out to Rosie, but he couldn’t put it off any longer.
Hey princess. Got something to talk to you about.
Grinning like a fool, he shifted the truck into drive and pulled out onto the desolate road. Another hour or two and there’d be morning-commute traffic, but right now he had the road to himself. Suited him just fine, because that meant he could go faster and get to where he was going a sooner.
Rose’s response came only a minute later. Long time, no hear, stranger. Can you wait a few hours to chat?
He could, but he wouldn’t have to. Five miles down the road, he hit his blinker and turned into the Sweetgrass Airport.
Spotting Rose’s car in the lot, he prayed like hell that he wasn’t too late. Hopefully Janine had done her job and bought him the time he needed.
He sprinted across the lot and into the small building with more gusto than a guy who’d been up all night driving should have in him. But he was fueled by the desperate need to see the woman he loved. To take her into his arms and make promises he hadn’t thought possible.
To reclaim her, once and for all.
“Rose!” He spotted her by the luggage counter, a mountain of bags in tow. Good God, she was actually going to do it, wasn’t she? “Rosie!” He called again and, this time, she turned, a confused expression on her face. Until she saw him. Then those big, beautiful brown eyes went wide and bright.
“Ryan?” She stepped away from the counter, leaving her suitcases behind. “What are you doing here?”
He slowed to a stop before her, breathing hard. He didn’t care. Nothing mattered more than being near her again.
“I’ve got something to talk to you about, remember?” He moved in close, brushing her hair from her still-startled face. “I thought it’d be best if I did it in person.”
“You…you drove here?” She blinked up at him, mouth agape.
“All night long, princess. For you.”
Her bottom lip began to quiver, so he dipped down and kissed those pretty lips, long and slow and deep, until he she relaxed in his arms.
“Mmm, so sweet,” he murmured, tangling their fingers. “Like candy.”
She gave a soft, but uncertain laugh. “Ryan, what’s going on? What’s so important that you had to come all the way here?”
He nodded toward the ticket counter, where the clerk still waited, a curious grin on her face. “What was so important you thought you should come to River Bend?”
“I love you,” she said easily, her eyes searching his. “I still love you. I never got to tell you that before you left.”
Thank you, God.
“Well…” He lifted their enjoined hands to his lips. “It just so happens that I love you, too. Have for all these years.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, so…”
“So I’m here to tell you that John Roberts has offered me his share of Sweetgrass Contracting, pending a one-year trial at the helm. During that time, I have to operate the company to his standards and make a permanent home in Sweetgrass. With you.”
Rose’s big brown eyes went dinner-plate wide. “What? Are you kidding me? I thought John wanted a family member in that role?”
He nodded. “He did, but Will’s intentions weren’t in the right place. Vaughn knew that, but he was desperate to keep the business above water. It took a heart-to-heart with Blake for him to finally admit his fear, mostly of letting John down.”
“So…John’s just handing the company over to you? That’s…quite a gift.”
“Not a gift, babe. I’m buying into the company. So is Blake.”
“Blake?” Her lip began to shake again and he swiped his thumb across it.
“It’s a risk for both of us, but it turns out we have a common interest at the heart of it all.” She frowned and he smiled. “You, babe. I want to be with you and he doesn’t want to see you leave Sweetgrass.”
For several long seconds, they stared at each other. Then she gave a disbelieving laugh. “Are you for real right now?”
“Real about loving you? Hell yes.”
A hopeful smile twitched at her lips. “And you’re going to move to Sweetgrass to, what, date me?”
Crazy woman. “Not quite what I had in mind.”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
God, she was adorable when she was clueless. But she positively radiated when she was happy and that’s what he wanted right now. Rosie filling up his life with more sunshine than he knew what to do with.
“I want to marry you, Rosemary Shaw. I wanted to make you mine forever nine years ago and I want it even more today.” He pulled a black box from his jacket pocket and gave her a nervous, yet hopeful smile. “You left before I could give this to you.”
For a second, her face pinched in confusion, but then her hands flew to her mouth, covering a cry. “You…you…” A wave of watery emotion overcame her and she melted right there in the middle of the airport. “You bought me a ring? And you…you saved it all this time?”
“I guess I never really gave up on us.” He flipped open the lid, revealing the modest solitaire diamond ring he’d spent his entire senior year saving for. “I’m afraid it’s nothing fancy. In fact, if you’ll have me, we can upgrade. Get you something more—”
“No.” She stuck a finger to his mouth. “You hush, Ryan Croft, because there is no way I would want to wear anything else.”
Was there a yes buried somewhere in that statement? “You wouldn’t?”
“Not a chance.” She shook her head and smiled down at the princess-cut stone. “This ring symbolizes everything we’ve been through and, more importantly, how true love can endure anything.” Biting her lip, she glanced up at him, tears glistening. “It’s almost perfect.”
Almost? Well, shit.
Her laugh filled the air around them, then she slugged him gently in the arm. “It’ll be perfect once it’s on my finger, you goofball.”
“Oh.” Yeah. That. Hand shaking, he pulled the ring from the box and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I had this planned out years ago. It’s been a while since I practiced.”
Another knowing smile. “Just ask me already.”
That he could do. Dropping to a knee, while the early morning airport staffers and travelers watched on, he stared up at the woman who’d woven a permanent place in his heart. “I love you, Rosemary Shaw. Since we were fifteen years old, you are all I’ve ever wanted in my life. I wasn’t sure I’d see you again, let alone fall so hard for you twice, but here we are, getting a second chance. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is.”
She laughed again. “Who are we to argue with destiny?”
“Exactly.” He poised the ring at the tip of her finger. “We’ve spent too much time apart, Rosie. How about we spend the rest of our lives together?”
“I can’t think of anything I want more, so yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Grinning from ear to ear, he slid the ring onto her finger, then swept her off the ground, spinning them both in circles in front of the crowd of onlookers. The small group clapped and cheered, and Rose squealed her excitement.
“You don’t how many times I’ve dreamed of this very moment!”
He laughed, pressing his lips to hers. “Nah, princess, I have a pretty good idea.”