Know Me, Keep Me (Full Heart Ranch Series Book 3)

by Barbara Gee

  He donned his informal disguise when he took her to the airport, managing to stay incognito the whole time. Before she got in the security line, he tugged her into a secluded corner beyond the ticket counters and held her close.

  “Don’t forget how much I love you, Jo. It doesn’t fade when we’re apart, either. I love you more every day, no matter where we are.”

  She smiled up at him. “I believe you, because it’s the same for me.”

  “I’m glad to know that.” He kissed her. “Guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

  “Hopefully soon. Love you.”

  “Safe travels, baby. Let me know when you’re home safe.”

  * * *

  The Wild lost the first two road games, then won the next two at home. Jolene missed both games, because as luck would have it, Lowell had to take some time off to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Back on the road, the Wild lost a close game five, sending them back to home ice for a must win game six. Jolene wanted to go to that one, but Boone reluctantly told her she should stay put. If they lost, he’d soon be able to head to the ranch. If they won, the team would be on their plane the very next morning, heading out for game seven at their opponent’s arena.

  They somehow squeaked out a game six win, even though their starting goalie was injured in the first period, and their backup guy gave up two quick goals at the beginning of the second. The defense had to play a little tighter in their zone, putting incredible pressure on the forwards to score goals with little offensive support from their d-men. But they were up to the task and won by a goal.

  It was exhausting, though. Must-win games were a hundred times the pressure of regular games, and when Jolene talked to Boone on the phone after the game she could hear it in his voice. And they faced another must-win game in two days. This time on the road.

  “Win or lose you’ve done everything you can possibly do, Boone,” she told him. “Every sportscaster I’ve listened to said you’re the best captain a team could possibly have. I’m so proud of you. St. Paul is proud of you. Just give it your all one more game and see what happens.”

  “I want a win. Getting to the third round is one step closer to the dream. There are a lot of guys on our team who don’t have a Stanley Cup. A couple of them are getting up there, and don’t have a lot of years left. I want them to know what it feels like.”

  His selflessness made Jolene even more proud. Boone himself had two Stanley Cup wins under his belt, from when he played for the Blackhawks, but to win another one for his current team meant everything to him. He truly was a great leader.

  “We’ll be cheering you on here, Boone.”

  “I know you will. I miss you.”

  “If you win, you’ll start the next series at home. I’ll be there for the first two games, and any other home games, too. I’ve already discussed it with Maddy and Libby. They wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “That’s good news. Let’s hope that’s what happens.”

  ***

  It didn’t, though. Boone played another spectacular game, but their backup goalie continued to struggle, and the offense couldn’t overcome the four goals that got past him. Boone scored in the last minute to get within one, but the tying goal eluded them and the season was over.

  After a night of mourning, the fans of St. Paul rallied to acknowledge that their team had gotten much farther than anyone had expected, and the make-up of the team would be little changed going into next year. As hockey fans all over the nation tended to do, they soon forgot about their disappointment and focused on the next season, which they expected to be even better.

  It was harder for the players. Boone called Jolene after the game, exhausted and devastated, and full of “if onlys.” If only that one controversial goal by the other team had been called off. If only he’d taken that late pass from Jax a little more cleanly so his shot wouldn’t have gone just wide.

  Jolene countered with a list of incredibly great plays he had made, and after a few minutes of back and forth he chuckled softly and conceded the point.

  “No one’s going to question the stellar play of my boyfriend,” she said sternly, “not even my boyfriend himself.”

  “Okay, I get it,” he replied, sounding a little less down. “On another note, I rented my house in Tahoe to one of my teammates for the summer.”

  Jolene closed her eyes, hoping that meant what she thought it did. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yep. If it’s okay with you, I’ll be spending the whole off-season in Barlow, North Dakota.”

  She let out a squeal of delight. “The whole off season?” she asked.

  “Yes ma’am. I’ll have some obligations back in St. Paul from time to time, but for the most part I’ll be spending my days on the ice with Donovan, and my evenings and weekends with my girl and the gang.”

  “Your girl is happy to hear that, and the gang, especially Virgil and Kay, will be thrilled. I thought maybe you’d want to split your time between here and Tahoe.”

  “It doesn’t hold the same appeal, for some reason,” he said, his voice low and warm. “It’s going to be close to a week before I can wrap things up in St. Paul, but we’ve made it this long, we can do another six or seven days. Right?”

  “Whatever it takes. Just let me know when to be at the airport to pick you up.”

  “It’ll be just as soon as I can manage. I’m looking forward to a summer of no long goodbyes.”

  “Me, too. I hope you don’t get tired of me.”

  “Not a chance. I have to go get on the plane now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  ***

  Six days later, Jolene was at the airport waiting for flight number 1719 to land. She was wearing her Kendall jersey, just so he’d know when she said she was proud of him she meant it, and she wanted everyone to know.

  He grinned when he saw it, like she’d known he would. His play-off beard was gone and he was back to the dark scruff she loved. She had just enough time to decide once again he was the most handsome man on the face of the earth, and then his arms were around her and everything was right with the world.

  Kay had planned a huge “welcome back” party for him, with the retreat staff, the volunteers, and their families, all invited. It was a real western barbeque in the back yard of the ranch house, and Boone couldn’t wipe the smile off his face the entire evening.

  In addition to the regular staff, he was surprised to see Andi and Charlie Janson there. Jolene told him that they had asked to serve as volunteers for a retreat, and Donovan had been excited about having Charlie work with the other vets as they learned to use the sleds. Charlie’s attitude had done a one-eighty since his success on the ice and his part in saving Jolene and helping to catch her would be abductors. His life had purpose again, and Jolene knew that volunteering would only make him stronger.

  Boone shook the man’s hand and thanked him for what he’d done. He told Charlie it would be a pleasure to work with him at the rink over the next two weeks, and when Charlie turned away, Jolene was pretty sure the man blinked back a few tears. Andi gave her a smile of pure joy before hugging Boone and then following her husband over to the fire pit to mingle.

  “You’re a wonderful man,” Jolene said softly, going up on her toes to kiss Boone. “I love you so much.”

  “Hold that thought,” he said, sneaking another kiss. “I’m going to want to hear it again when we’re alone later.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll hear it a lot. You might even get tired of it.”

  “Impossible,” he said, his teeth flashing white in the glow from the lanterns strung across the yard.

  * * *

  It was another couple hours before they could get away. By then it was almost midnight, but they were too wired to even think about sleep.

  “Where are we going?” Jolene asked when they got in her car, Boone in the driver’s seat.

  “You’ll see.” He drove toward the retreat center, taking a rear access road that took them to a small parking area beh
ind the ice rink. He got out and went around to open her door. “Come with me,” he said.

  He took her hand and they walked up to the building, where he unlocked a back door with the key Donovan had slipped him at the party.

  “Are we going to skate?” she asked warily. “Because I don’t skate, Boone. I tried it once in college, and although I usually pick up new sports pretty easily, I couldn’t control my ankles. I was horrible.”

  “But now you have me to teach you,” he said. He flipped on the lights and the ice glowed as the fluorescent bulbs built intensity. There were two pairs of skates waiting on the players’ bench, again courtesy of Donovan in response to Boone’s phone call the day before.

  “You had this planned,” she accused with a smile, obediently putting her skates on and letting Boone lace them up. He looked so handsome kneeling before her, his big hands nimbly adjusting the ties.

  “Feel good?” he asked, his green eyes meeting hers, glittering in the bright light.

  “I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like,” she admitted.

  He smiled. “You’ll have to trust me, then.”

  “I do.”

  He kissed her quickly, then stood up and held out his hands. “Come here, Jo. Let me teach you to skate.”

  She put her hands in his and he skated slowly backwards, pulling her with him, giving her instructions as they went. Before long they’d gone all the way around the ice, and she was feeling a little more confident. For almost an hour they worked at it, until her ankles felt like noodles and Boone agreed she’d had enough for her first time.

  “You did great. Why’d you think you couldn’t skate?”

  “Believe me, this was way better than before. I spent most of the time on my rear and it was so awful I never got the nerve to try it again.” She squeezed his hand as they reached the bench. “I just needed you.”

  “Will you do it again?”

  “Yes. Gladly. I think I might grow to like it.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  He helped her take off the skates, and when she was safely back in her shoes, he took her hand again. “Come with me one more time,” he said.

  They walked up the steps and around to the end of the rink, leaning against the rail overlooking the ice.

  “Wait here for a second,” he said. He walked to a light panel and turned off the bright lights over the ice, leaving only the lights along the aisles in the stands burning. It made for a warm, soft, golden light, and Jolene smiled approvingly.

  Boone returned, a small bag in his hand. “Sit,” he said, folding down a seat on the front row. She obliged and watched as he took a small candle from the bag and placed it carefully on top of the wide railing.

  “This is where it all started, remember?” he asked softly, placing another candle a foot from the first. “That first day I came to the ranch, when Libby asked you to show me the rink.” He added a third candle.

  “I remember,” Jolene said, watching him curiously.

  Two more candles, then he pulled out a lighter. “We stood right here and looked out over the ice, and then you started asking me questions about being a professional athlete, and I told you more than I’ve ever told anyone other than Jax and my mentor, Pete. And I’d only met you twenty minutes before.”

  “I get a little carried away with my questions sometimes,” she said sheepishly.

  “It was more than that. It was like I knew right away that I could trust you, that you were going to be important to me, and I might as well start baring my soul to you right from the beginning, because I’d end up doing it soon enough anyway.”

  “I think I might have started falling in love with you that very first day,” she said quietly.

  He set the empty bag aside and leaned over her, grabbing a much larger bag from where it had been sitting out of sight a few rows back. He opened the drawstring at the top and tipped it, spilling a fragrant mixture of flowers out onto the concrete floor, roses, tulips, daisies, carnations, and more. Jolene’s eyes widened with delight.

  “It started for me then, too, but I had no idea how hard I’d fall. I didn’t know what it was like to love a woman. Didn’t know what I was in for.”

  He lifted another bag just like the first, adding more blossoms, more color and fragrance, until the whole floor between her and the railing was several inches deep in flowers. Then he took out his phone and made soft music come from speakers somewhere behind them. It was an instrumental piece, one she didn’t recognize, but it was beautiful.

  She raised her brows. “You’re being very romantic, Boone. I haven’t see this side of you before. Maybe that old saying ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is true in your case.”

  “I don’t need absence for that to happen,” he said, smiling. He reached out his hands and she took them, letting him pull her to her feet and into his arms. He held her against his warm body and she melted against him, her ear pressed against his chest, hearing the thudding of his heart. He began to move slowly to the music, the first time they’d danced together.

  She smiled happily. “I love that you remember this spot, and what we talked about right when we met.”

  “You didn’t know it then, but I was in pretty bad shape. My career was screwed up because of my head, and my personal life was screwed up because of what my dad had done. Before I came here, I felt like everything I knew and counted on had blown up, and I didn’t know what came next.” He pulled away a few inches and looked down at her, his gaze intense. “Then I met you. Within a few weeks you had me all sorted out and on the right path. And you were with me the whole way. Always cheering me on, always giving me strength when I needed it. Nothing seemed to deter you, not even being hurt and almost abducted. Not even the paparazzi. You’ve stayed by my side, and I love you that much more because of it.”

  “You’d do the same for me.”

  He nodded. “I would.”

  She inhaled the scent of the flowers and looked over at the flickering candles. “I love you, Boone. I love that you did this for me.”

  His lips curved into a smile. “You haven’t guessed what I’m up to, have you?” he asked. He raised a brow when she looked confused. “Candles? Flowers? Music? A speech about the first time we met? Come on, babe, I’m doing it all by the book, with the bonus of being in an ice rink.” His smile widened and he reached into the right front pocket of his jeans. “How about this? Now do you know what I’m leading up to?”

  Jolene looked at what he held, a black velvet box, and then her eyes flew to his, her jaw dropping as she realized what she should have seen coming. If she’d known it was even a remote possibility, she would have guessed the reason for the candles and flowers, but although her dreams involved marriage and kids and a happily ever after with him, they had never specifically talked about it, and she’d had no idea he was ready for that step.

  His eyes held hers, crinkling at the corners when he saw she finally comprehended what came next. He put the velvet box back in his pocket and took both of her hands in his. He took a knee, right there in the flowers, and looked up at her, his eyes reflecting the candlelight behind her.

  “I love you with all my heart, Jolene, and I always will,” he said simply. “Will you marry me?”

  She forced herself to breathe slowly in and out, memorizing the smell of the flowers, the warmth in his eyes, the feel of his big hands around hers, shaking ever so slightly, which told her how much it mattered. How much he wanted her to say yes.

  “What are you thinking,” he asked softly, and she realized she’d breathed in and out again, savoring the moment too long, making him uneasy.

  “That all my dreams just came true,” she whispered, her hands tightening on his. And then she was the one trembling, because it hit her that he was really there on one knee, asking her to spend the rest of her life as his wife, and she wanted nothing more than to be Mrs. Boone Kendall. Her eyes welled up and he stood, pulling her into his arms.

  “Does that mean
you’re going to say yes?” he asked, cupping the back of her head in his hand and tilting her face up to his.

  “Of course I’m going to say yes, Boone. I love you. I love you so much. And I can’t wait to marry you.”

  He chuckled. “I hope you mean that literally, because I’m not looking for a long engagement here.” He kissed her then, his touch making her heart pound with instant desire, just as it always did.

  Long minutes later they came up for air, smiling into each other’s eyes. It had been their first kiss as the future Mr. and Mrs. Boone Kendall, and if that kiss was any indication of what was to come, the future was very bright indeed.

  “Seriously, Jo, how long do we have to wait?”

  She swallowed and tried to get her brain functioning again. “Um, well, first you have to go to Arizona with me to meet my family.”

  “I’ll be glad to. By the way, your dad and I had a long talk on the phone yesterday.”

  Her forehead creased. “You talked to my dad?”

  “I had to ask his permission to propose to his little girl. I would have preferred to do it face to face, but it worked out okay. He asked me a lot of questions, but in the end he said he had no problem giving me permission, because ultimately you were the one who got to say yes or no.”

  “Ah, Boone, that was so sweet of you.”

  “So, back to our timeline,” he prompted.

  “Oh. Right. Well, after we visit my family, I guess it just depends on how soon everyone can arrange to get here. Because if it’s okay with you, I want to get married here on the ranch. Like Maddy and Libby.”

  “I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else. And I already asked my mom if she’ll come here for it, and she didn’t hesitate. Of course Aunt Carol and Uncle Richard will come along, which will make her a little braver about it.”

  Jolene brought her hands up to her face. “I can’t believe I’m planning my wedding. Oh my word, Boone, are we really going to get married?”

  He chuckled. “Yes ma’am.” He reached into his pocket once again. “I guess I should give you this now.”