"You also have a bad concussion, which must explain why I thought I heard you talking about marriage when I walked in the room. The Toby Danforth I know vowed he would never get married again, and made me promise to knock some sense into his head if he ever so much as mentioned it."
Toby's smile lit up the entire hospital wing. "That won't be necessary. I knocked some sense into my own head the hard way."
He turned his attention away from the doctor and focused his entire being on Heather. "Like I was saying, I love you. And I want to marry you. For all the right reasons."
The glow on Heather's face erased all doubts Toby might have had. She wasn't the kind of woman who needed roses and exotic settings and romantic music in the background to accept a man's heartfelt proposal. She just needed to hear the right words. He thanked God that he had found them in time to turn his life around. A future brimming with promise need not be overshadowed by the mistakes of the past.
"I'd be honored to be your wife."
There was no false fluttering of eyelashes or Southern belle pretense in Heather's words. Just joyful acceptance. And a shimmer of passion glowing in her eyes.
Doc Cameron cleared his throat. Truth be told, he was jealous as could be. And a little uncomfortable being present at such a private moment. "I'd shake your hand if it weren't busted all to hell. What d'ya say I leave you two lovebirds alone to set a date?"
"If it were up to me, I'd have the minister who arrived to give me last rites marry us before he leaves the building. Barring that, you can expect an invitation any day," Toby informed him.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," the doctor said. With that, he took his leave, promising to return momentarily with Dylan.
Toby felt his heart swell as he looked at his lovely wife-to-be. Moved by her courage and beauty, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure you're not the one with the concussion?"
"As positive as I am that I intend to take advantage of you all wrapped up tight in your blanket, helpless to resist my advances."
"Good thing I didn't crush that part of my anatomy," Toby whispered, glancing down at the prominent protrusion beneath his hospital covers.
Heather simultaneously blushed, laughed and agreed with him as he proceeded to let her know he was already well on the road to recuperation. Despite his weakened state, Toby managed to free his good arm from under the covers. He wrapped that arm around her waist and dragged her close. Leaning over his bed, Heather kissed him tenderly, as if afraid of hurting him further. Toby would have none of it. He parted her lips with his tongue and intensified that kiss. When Heather made a move to draw away, he nuzzled the swell of her breasts straining against the buttons of her shirt and refused to let her go. She could scarcely breathe for the tightness surrounding her heart. Her knees grew so weak that she had to support herself by leaning a hand against his thigh.
"I do believe there's just enough room in this narrow little bed for two people if they were of a mind to consummate their upcoming wedding vows," Toby told her with glint in his eyes.
"Behave yourself," Heather warned as Dylan skipped into the room, clutching the hand of a cute high school candy striper who dropped him off at the door.
She had to restrain the boy from climbing up on the bed and accidentally injuring his father in his haste to give him a hug. He stood next to the bed as proud as could be and asked, "I did good, huh, Dad?"
Toby's eyes widened. The expression on his face said it all. He looked to Heather for confirmation that he wasn't imagining things. Running a hand through Dylan's unruly hair, she nodded her head.
"Your son saved your life. He was the one who came and got me. He told me you were hurt and led me to your side."
"He told you?" Toby repeated in disbelief. Was it possible God was so generous that He would grant a man more than one miracle a day?
"And, according to the nurses, he's been bragging to everyone in the hospital about what a big hero he is."
It took a moment for her words to sink into Toby's fractured skull. When they finally did, he almost jumped out of bed, forgetting that he wasn't up to a doing a jig just yet. Heather accommodated him by lifting Dylan up and setting him on the edge of the bed so they could share a group hug. That joyful embrace marked the beginning of their life as a family together.
A life that gave voice to all of their dreams.
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COWBOY CRESCENDO Page 13
