EPILOGUE
She had been standing by the fence watching him for a long time. Well, maybe not so long, but it felt like forever.
Watching everything about him. His hands on the ball. His smile. His hair, catching in the breeze. His eyes, when he glanced her way. His midriff, sleek and taut beneath the tattered edge of his sweatshirt.
Kelly had come to watch him quite specifically. Of course, she couldn’t possibly have missed him. He was six-foot-three—a standout in any crowd. Striking, handsome—young, she thought with pride. He was absolutely beautiful.
Yet none of those superficial things was what had drawn her. Not from the beginning, and not now. It had been his smile, and his passion, and all the things inside him. Oh, he was far from perfect. He was temperamental, with his ego and his stubborn streak and his impatience. But he was always able to step back in the end; he saw his mistakes, and he was always quick to apologize. He didn’t promise to be perfect in the future, because, of course, no one could. But she knew that always, through thick and thin, they could talk, and he would always be there for her.
It had begun the first time she saw him: love at first sight. And that love had deepened and broadened and grown with every step they took together.
Now she felt anxious, and her fingers curled into the fencing. She willed him to look her way, and at last he did.
She smiled.
He stood still, tossing the football up in the air, then catching it. At last he came toward her.
He stood by the fence, and they were just inches apart. She was in love. Head over heels in love. She felt as if she would never love again as she did at the moment.
“Hi,” she said, emotion making her almost shy.
“Hi.”
“Want to go for a ride?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
“I love you….” His voice trailed away, his heart catching at the sight of her smile. “You’re the most beautiful creature ever to walk this earth. A fantasy creation yourself…”
She laughed, a husky sound that caught in her throat. Warmth raced through her. She was breathless, barely able to speak in return.
“You’re a liar. I look like a blimp! But I…oh, I love you. I love you, and I need you, and I want you….”
It wasn’t meant to seduce; it wasn’t even meant to be sexy. They were honest words, meant for a lifetime.
The breeze picked up, and a shadow, rich with dark warmth and promise, fell over the valley. He dropped the football, and his fingers curled over hers where they clung to the fence.
Finally he let go of her hand and walked through the gate to stand in front of her. A slow smile lit his face, and he raised his hand, palm flat, toward her. She put her own hand against his, and he watched her eyes as their fingers entwined.
“Do you have your car?” he asked her.
“Yes. Where do you want to go?”
“I know this wonderful place. It’s a cabin, up in the hills.”
She laughed, and they linked arms as they walked toward the car. In no time at all, it seemed, they were at the cabin.
While it was still light they wandered down to the stream, where they wound up laughing and showering each other with the cold mountain water. Naturally he built a fire as soon as they went back inside.
As they sat beside it, he touched her cheek, and in the gentle fire light they gazed into each other’s eyes. Finally their clothes were shed.
He’d never seen anyone more beautiful. She had wonderful hair, and it seemed to be a part of the fire, cascading in lustrous curls over her breasts, glowing against the ivory of her flesh. Her breasts were beautiful and perfect and full, and when he looked at her, he could barely speak. Yet when she was in his arms he did, telling her how much he loved her. Each time he touched her body he murmured of her beauty, and she laughed, and then the told her that it was true: she was more beautiful than ever.
Finally their laughter faded. Love led the way for her, a gentle, tender path to ecstasy, sweet and torrid. She felt dazzled, as if he were the sun and the air and the earth all in one.
She belonged to him, with all her heart.
No one had ever loved so well. And no one had ever made love as they did. So deeply, so completely. Heart and body and soul…
Love.
He wanted to run out of the cabin, stark naked. She made him feel so male and strong and wonderful. He wanted to proclaim to the world that she was his, his beloved, his forever.
She lay with her cheek against his chest, his fingers wound into her hair, and together they watched the flames playing softly in the hearth.
“Sometimes I still can’t believe it,” she murmured suddenly, turning to stare down at him.
“Believe what?”
“How happy we are. From such a beginning! All of us, really.”
He held her face tenderly between his hands and looked at her with a rueful grin. “Sometimes, just sometimes, life can be just a little like a fantasy. There can be magic. We’ve found that magic. At least, I have. It’s in your eyes.”
“Oh, that’s so nice.”
He grinned again. “Yes, I thought so. Rather good for a grim old historian, don’t you think?”
“Humph!” She would have said more, but her phone started ringing. They looked at each other with surprise, because no one should have known where they were.
Jarod. Of course! Jarod had seen them leave, and he must have guessed where they were going. Except that he wouldn’t have interrupted them—unless…
“Sandy!” they exclaimed simultaneously, staring wide-eyed at each other and jumping up, then colliding in their efforts to reach the phone.
Dan won the race, but he held the receiver away from his ear so they both could hear.
“Dan?”
“Jarod?”
“It’s a boy!”
“A boy! It’s a boy!” Dan repeated for Kelly.
“I heard!”
“Eight pounds, two ounces.”
“Congratulations! We’ll be right there.”
“Good.” Jarod hesitated just a second. “Put your clothes on first, will you, please?”
Kelly grabbed the phone from Dan. “I heard that, young man!”
“Sorry! Get here quickly. Mom, he’s beautiful!”
“Of course he’s beautiful. He’s my grandchild!”
She dropped the receiver and stared at her husband. “Oh, Dan! It’s true! We’re grandparents.”
He kissed her lips quickly. “Yes, it’s true.” He drew her against him. “And,” he whispered very softly to her, “thank God for those darling little procreationists! We might never have met without them.”
“Never loved.”
“Never married.”
She was able to smile up at him at last. “Let’s go see the baby.”
“Only if you calm down. Ours isn’t due for another two months, and I’d like it to wait until then.”
She made a face at him. “I am calm. Oh! My God! We’re grandparents!”
“I’ll go see that baby without you, Kelly,” he teased.
“You will not!”
She smiled sweetly, showing him how calm she was, while he helped her back into her clothes.
“Actually,” he told her, “you do look like a blimp.”
“You wouldn’t dare say that if I weren’t a grandparent!” she said reproachfully.
He laughed and told her that she was the most beautiful grandmother he had ever seen, and the sexiest. “Definitely the most beautiful pregnant grandmother ever,” he assured her.
And so, naturally, being sophisticated and mature this time around, she stuck out her tongue at him and preceded him out the door.
* * * * *