“No!” she blasted out. “Just hush and let me speak, okay?”
Stunned by her outburst, he stared at her and nodded.
Kerry nervously moistened her lips and tried again. “First of all, I want you to know I was about to drive over to your house to see you.”
He continued to stare at her as if he couldn’t quite believe he was hearing her right. “You were? Why?”
“To apologize to you. To ask you to forgive me.”
He let out a huge groan and then she suddenly found herself crushed against his chest. While his lips pressed kisses all over her face, he whispered, “Oh Kerry! Kerry! I love you so much, darling. Surely you know I could never tell you goodbye.”
By now tears were streaming down her cheeks. Jared kissed them away while he waited for her to explain this sudden switch in her attitude.
“I wasn’t sure,” Kerry said tearfully. “I’ve been so stubborn and blind. I was afraid you might have already given up and turned your back on me.”
He shook his head. “If that’s the way you feel, why wouldn’t you talk to me. I’ve called every evening this week!”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “So sorry, Jared. But I was so hurt. And I kept thinking if I gave in to you, I’d be giving up everything I ever wanted. But now I understand that giving you up would be losing everything I ever wanted.”
He buried his face in her hair and held her tight for long moments before he lifted his head and looked into her soft brown eyes. “And what made you change your mind?” he asked. “You seemed so adamant in the café the other evening. Especially when you spoke of your job. And all this week I’ve been asking myself if I was being selfish and that maybe I didn’t have a right to ask you to go with me anywhere.”
“Oh Jared, forget all I said about my job,” she pleaded. “Maybe at the time I thought I meant all that. But I didn’t. I can find a job anywhere. I was just holding on to that excuse because I was afraid…afraid to give in to you.”
“I still don’t understand what’s made you change your mind,” he said with a perplexed shake of his head.
Kerry smiled because she knew how much her next words were going to shock him. “My mother. Only a few minutes before you came we had a long talk and she made me see I wasn’t looking at things from all sides. She urged me to go to you.”
His low chuckle was full of disbelief. “I came over here this evening thinking I was going to have one hell of a fight on my hands. Instead, I find you telling me you still love me. You do, don’t you?”
“Yes! Oh yes! I’ve been sick this past week without you, Jared. I didn’t know how I was going to keep on living once you were gone.”
His head shook back and forth in wonder. “You said your mother changed your mind. How? I thought she thoroughly disliked me.”
She reached up to frame his face with her hands. “It wasn’t you personally. Mom had been so hurt for so long that she looked at every man in a bad light. But…something about you…about us falling in love has opened her eyes, too. You know what she said to me, Jared? She said she couldn’t let me make the same mistake that she made with my father. And for the first time in my life I understand that he wasn’t always the pitiful man he was when he died.”
He took her hands from his face and kissed both her palms. “Kerry, I promise with all my heart that I’ll never roam or wander away from you for a job or any other reason. And when Peggy reaches school age, I promise we’ll come back here to Black Arrow and make a permanent home.”
She looked at him, her heart shining in her eyes. “Do you really mean that?”
Grinning, he nodded. “Every word. And in the meantime, I want us to have more children to go with Peggy. I want us to be a real family.” He smiled delightedly. “A month ago those words would have never passed my mouth. But you’ve changed me, Kerry.”
Her soft laughter filled his heart with joy. He wanted to make this woman happy, keep her happy for the rest of her life.
“Jared Colton, once playboy of Black Arrow wants to be a family man. I can’t believe I’m hearing you say it.”
Still smiling, he stroked her hair and then her cheek. “Falling in love with you has made me see things differently, too, Kerry. And this nutcase lurking in the shadows and threatening the Coltons has made me realize how special my family is to me.”
“Me, too,” she agreed. “The night of the fire…just the thought of you being hurt or killed made me see I was falling in love with you.”
He groaned with pure happiness, then brought his lips next to hers in a kiss that promised passion and a lifetime of love.
After they’d both caught their breath, Jared let out a husky laugh. “Maybe I’d better tell you where we’re going to be headed next week.”
“Next week? We’re getting married and leaving that soon?”
The smile on her face told him tomorrow wouldn’t be soon enough and thrill in his heart swelled his chest.
“That’s right. And we’re going to the Texas hill country, Kerry. Down near Kerrville. It’s so beautiful there, honey. It’s just like heaven.”
With all her love, she pressed her cheek against his and whispered, “As long as I’m with you, my darling, any place is heaven.”
Suddenly he jumped to his feet and pulled her from the swing. “Come on, let’s go tell Enola and our daughter the good news.”
Nodding, Kerry clasped his hand and Jared took his first step into the WindWalker home.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Stella Bagwell for her contribution to THE COLTONS series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8727-7
WHITE DOVE’S PROMISE
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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†Twins on the Doorstep
*Heartland Holidays
White Dove's Promise Page 21
