“Complicated. And simple all at once. Like life is. Like love is.”
“All right.” He acknowledged the rose in his hand. “You gave me one red rose. What does it mean?”
“I couldn’t decide. I thought about giving you three because three roses mean ‘I love you.’ But I wanted to tell you that myself. One rose means love at first sight—”
“Which clearly wasn’t the case here,” he said.
She smirked. “Two is shared and deep love.”
“Why not give me two, then?”
“Because,” she said, simultaneously fluffing her hair and straightening, “I’m throwing symbolism out the window.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Adamantly. I don’t need more of something to tell you what I’m feeling. I don’t need six roses to tell you I want to be yours. I think you already know it, and if you don’t, I mean to show you in whatever way I can. One is enough, because you, Duncan Hawthorne—” She poked his chest. “—are enough for me. I love you, and I want you to love me for the rest of my life.”
“How many roses are required for a marriage proposal?” he asked, sniffing it again.
“One,” she said. “Or none. Diamonds, on the other hand, that’s a completely different discussion. One we can have in the future when we’re ready to take that step.”
The ledge his heart had climbed toward lowered a few notches. He’d been soaring on her admission, ready to tie the knot then and there. He supposed she was right to take things slow. “And you’re not ready?”
She placed her hands on his shoulders and gazed into his eyes. He took the opportunity to rest his hands on her slim waist. “I do love you,” she said. “I’ve thought of marrying you. But we’re going to need a few more dates, and there’s the matter of your parents to discuss. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t approve …”
He closed his hold around her, drawing her closer. “I don’t care if they do or not.”
“And your grandma?”
Soreness closed his throat. He decided now wasn’t the best time to tell Rosabel the news of her death. This was a happy moment. He could fill her in later. “Are you done talking yet? I need to sweep you off your feet and kiss you.”
Rosabel quirked her head to one side, toyed with the hair at his nape, and offered a tantalizing half smile. “What are you waiting for, then?”
Duncan lured her to him and kissed her. Every emotion he’d battled since she’d left came full circle. The empty crevice she’d carved within him flooded with fullness and completion, with determination and desire. With her lips pressed to his, he gave her every unspoken promise he could express. He would be everything he could for her: shoulder to cry on, receiver of frustrated rants, maker of coffee, and disrupter of daily monotony. Whatever she needed.
“I’d give you a thousand roses if it meant I get to spend the next thousand years hearing you say you love me,” he said when they broke apart.
“I’ll say it every day,” she promised.
Epilogue
Rosabel concentrated on the cards in her hand. She’d never had much experience playing Down the River, but once the Hawthornes had explained the rules, the chance game—and the way they had to pound the table and bid by extending their fingers—grew on her.
They were in Duncan’s house on Beaver Lake, sitting beneath the glittering chandelier hanging above his kitchen table, she and Duncan on one side and Duncan’s parents on the other. Dad sat at the table’s head, staring at the day’s newspaper and tracing some of its lines. Happiness swelled inside of her, knowing he was here with them.
“I can’t remember the last time I did this,” Mrs. Hawthorne said. “Just sat and played cards.”
Duncan’s mom had changed so much since the last time Rosabel had seen her. When Duncan suggested staying in Eureka Springs so he could be closer to his family, her head couldn’t shake fast enough. It’d been the most pronounced no she’d ever given.
But he’d begged her to stay with him and help him, to give them a chance, and the kisses he’d employed to convince her had been so befuddling, she’d given in.
Weeks later, here they were. She’d stay as long as they kept appropriate boundaries, and so far, so good. A bowl of popcorn drizzled with butter marked the table’s center, along with some chocolate-covered pretzels.
Rosabel thrilled at the way Duncan found ways to touch her, nudging her with his leg, looping his ankle around hers, until she discovered they were only distractions to get her to let him see her cards. Who was the giraffe-neck now?
Not only were the Hawthornes dressed in jeans and casual shirts, but Rosabel surmised this was probably the most relaxed Duncan had ever seen them before.
After several more rounds, with a lot of laughter and Rosabel even winning a few, his mom lowered her cards. Eyes narrowing, she studied Rosabel.
“You’re good for him,” Mrs. Hawthorne said.
Rosabel and Duncan exchanged a look. Below the table, Duncan’s hand found hers. He squeezed, implying he needed to hear that as much as she did.
“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Duncan said.
“I mean it,” his mom went on, pulling a card from the draw pile near the popcorn bowl. “I owe you an apology. I know some hurtful things were said, and I should never have made any kind of accusations against you the way I did. I’m sorry.”
Rosabel’s skin tingled. That must have taken a lot for her to admit. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she settled for a simple thank-you.
Duncan examined his cards and cleared his throat. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Mom. Because Rosabel and I have an announcement.” Duncan rose to his feet, and, chairs scraping, he guided Rosabel up with him. Their parents each glanced up, and though Rosabel could tell Dad didn’t know what was happening, she was still glad to have him here.
“We thought about waiting until we got to know each other better, or had dated for longer than two months, but we’ve already known each other for so long that getting married was a natural thing to do.”
“Duncan, if you’re saying you deprived me of your wedding …” his mom warned.
Duncan and Rosabel laughed. Rosabel leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Not at all, Mom,” Duncan said. “But I am letting you know I’ve asked Rosie to marry me.”
“And I said yes.” Rosabel lifted her left hand and fluttered her fingers to put the rock there at its best sparkling point.
Duncan’s parents smiled at one another. They were openly holding hands, which was saying something. She knew Duncan hoped they would still be able to make more progress, to repair whatever damages had been done to their relationship over the years.
His romantic proposal hadn’t left her mind since he’d surprised her with the ring the night before. It played anew once more. They’d been standing on the porch, nuzzling in the faint light from the bulb where bugs buzzed.
“Goodbyes are getting harder,” she’d said against his neck.
“Well, we could not say goodbye.” Smirking, Duncan had stepped away from her. He’d bent to one knee, and in his hand, he’d held a small box containing a beautiful ring.
“Just where did that come from?” she’d demanded, unable to withhold her smile.
“I’ve been carrying this around for weeks now,” Duncan had claimed. “Rosabel Smith, I don’t want us to just get married. I want our marriage to thrive. I want the sun to rise and set with you every single day. It’s going to take work, and I know with your feisty nature you’ll keep me on my toes. But I want the goodbyes to stop. Will you marry me?”
She’d been a puddle. He meant every word, and after she’d said an adamant yes, her adrenaline hadn’t un-spiked since. She was over the moon, soaring and unable to settle. The announcement was official.
Later that night, after they’d said yet another painful goodbye and she’d returned to her room, Rosabel had settled onto her bed and stared at her ring. On a whim, she’d zipped a text
to Hazel. They’d become fast friends since Rosabel’s return to Eureka Springs.
You’ll never guess what just happened.
The Beatles have been reincarnated? Hazel had replied.
Rosabel had laughed and thrown herself against her pillow. Ha ha. I wish! Duncan PROPOSED TO ME. We’re getting married!
She’d added a few more details about how things had improved since the last time she and Hazel had seen each other. Rosabel had been giddy just seeing the words.
A lengthy pause followed. Texting was difficult sometimes, especially when people didn’t respond right away. Had her comment bothered Hazel, or was she really as busy as she claimed to be and in the middle of something at the moment? Rosabel had remembered Hazel detailing how someone named Wesley had broken her heart.
You’re marrying your billionaire? Congrats, girl!!!!
Were all those exclamation points code for something else? Rosabel wasn’t quite sure. She’d rolled onto her side and hugged her pillow. Something had told her that Hazel wasn’t the type to overdo that punctuation mark.
Be sure to send me an invite, Hazel had texted.
They had exchanged a few more happy notes before the conversation ended, and Rosabel had snuggled into her blankets and stared at the ring on her finger again. She was going to marry her beast of a boss, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
* * *
The next morning, cuddled beside Duncan on the couch while they talked about their plans to take the tram tour through Eureka Springs later, Rosabel saw the last person she expected to see jogging down the street. Her breath caught.
“You’re kidding me.” Rosabel sat straight up and disrupted the snuggled position. She bolted to her feet, rushing to make sure she saw who she thought she had.
Sure enough, there was her old friend Hannah, running right past Duncan’s house—soon to be her house.
“What? What is it?” Duncan asked.
“Remember the girl we bumped into at your parents’?”
“Your friend from Vermont?”
“Yeah,” Rosabel said, strutting forward for a better glimpse of Hannah jogging along the street. Duncan joined her, resting a hand on the window’s framework. “Her name is Hannah.”
“I met her again here, after you left,” Duncan said. “She’s working with one of our neighbors. Ever heard of Jett Easton?”
Her stomach sizzled at the words our neighbors. This was really happening. She was really going to marry Duncan. She twisted the ring now circling her finger. “I can’t say that I have.”
“He’s this bigshot inventor and YouTube star who lost his leg. He’s turned into a bit of a recluse, I guess, but I bumped into them a few weeks ago. I meant to tell you—in fact, I think it might have been in one of those texts you refused to answer.” He smirked to improve his tone.
Rosabel elbowed him in the ribs. “Ha ha. I wonder what she’s doing here. Is she dating him?”
Duncan slid his arm around her and pulled her to him as the two of them continued staring out at the street. Hannah was long gone by now, making her way through Billionaire Mountain Cove. It was a little late to pose questions to her short of chasing her down the street. Rosabel didn’t even have shoes on.
“I think she’s helping him somehow. Wasn’t she a nurse or something?”
“Yeah, she’s a physical therapist,” Rosabel said, though something still unsettled her. If Hannah and Ryan had broken up, then what had made her move all the way down here in Arkansas? “Maybe I’ll bump into her during one of my morning runs.”
“I’m sure you will,” Duncan said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll be around.”
“I like the sound of that.” Rosabel settled in against his shoulder, smiling at the view of the forest outside. With their wedding a month away, with their plans for settling down here on Beaver Lake, they would definitely be around.
* * *
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Also by Catelyn Meadows
Billionaire Fairy Tales:
Goldie and the Billionaire Bear
Ella and the Billionaire's Ball
Alice and the Billionaire's Wonderland
Aaliyah and the Billionaire’s Lamp
YA Contemporary Romance:
Suddenly in Love
About the Author
Catelyn Meadows is a romantic at heart. A mom of four munchkins, Catelyn married a true blue farm boy who still makes her heart pitter-pat, and she wanted to create stories that do the same. She also writes clean, young adult fantasy romance as USA Today bestselling author, Cortney Pearson.
You can find more about Catelyn on her website, www.catelynmeadows.blogspot.com
Rosabel And The Billionaire Beast (Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Book 6) Page 17
