Their Unfinished Business
Page 14
He stopped walking and turned, his face a study in sincerity. “I enjoy New York. I love you. And I’ve learned something during the past several weeks, something I’ve apparently done a poor job of convincing you of.”
“What’s that?”
“I left here to make something of myself because I didn’t figure I was good enough for you, but I’m good enough now.”
“Oh, Luke. You were good enough before. I never needed convincing.”
“Maybe not, but I did. At the time, I needed to leave. I need to come back now. If you don’t believe that today, that’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to build a house here. A house I plan to turn into a home. And I’m going to wear you down. One day at a time. You know how determined I can be.”
“Pigheaded,” she corrected. But without malice. How could she be angry when he was looking at her like that?
“I don’t belong in New York, Ali. I belong wherever you are. You’re my home.”
He meant it. She could see that now. Because her chin had begun to quiver, she raised it. “Forever?”
One side of his mouth quirked into a smile. “Is that a proposal, Alice?”
Her heart thumped against her ribs. “It might be. Answer the question.”
“Forever.”
Ali was smiling as Luke closed the distance between them. And she was crying when she opened her once shattered heart as wide as the arms that were reaching for him.
“I love you, Ali,” he said fiercely.
“I love you, too.” Just before their mouths met, she whispered, “Welcome home.”
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6693-6
THEIR UNFINISHED BUSINESS
First North American Publication 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by Jackie Braun Fridline.
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*The Conlans of Trillium Island