Jeremy didn’t want to rush this. For two days he’d been thinking about what he’d say. He’d thought about it when he put his place in Tulsa up for sale. He’d thought about it when he bought the townhouse that would be his place to crash when he checked on his business in Tulsa.
He’d thought about it when he went shopping.
Now he had it all in his head, and even in his heart, but he didn’t want to rush it. What if he was wrong and she wasn’t interested? What if he was thinking that his bachelor days were over and she had no intention of settling down with a guy like him? A thousand “what-ifs” played through his mind, scaring the daylights out of him.
All of a sudden his plans were tossed out the window when one of his surprises came wobbling into the church, fat-bellied and short-legged. He knew it was there before he saw it because Beth’s gaze dropped and her mouth opened and then turned to a smile.
“Aw,” she cooed.
He looked back and he was right. There it was, wobbling down the aisle. He reached to grab the German shepherd pup before it peed on the newly polished floors of the church. It struggled a little and then went to town licking his face.
“It’s adorable.”
He handed the puppy over to her. “I saw him in a pet store window and he looked like a guy that needed a bigger home.”
She took the puppy that looked like a bear cub and held him close. His licking went into overdrive. Jeremy watched, and he felt as if he’d done at least one thing right. Who needed a bouquet of flowers when they had a puppy? He’d actually thought about the flowers, but the ones at the convenience store in Dawson were pretty wilted and brown.
So now what? He’d stalled for at least three minutes. Beth looked up and her eyes sparkled a little. Was she glad to see him, or was it the puppy that put that smile on her face? For a guy who had dated his fair share of women he realized he really knew very little about them.
“Beth, can we talk?”
She raised her face. The puppy squirmed in her arms, still trying to zero in on her cheeks.
“Of course we can.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Jeremy, you haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
“My mind?”
“About the church. I mean, you left the letter and I ran with it. There were kids here every day, playing basketball, riding skateboards. I realized that there are churches in Dawson, but nowhere for the kids to hang out. People complain the teenagers in town are causing problems. I just thought if they had somewhere to go…”
He took her free hand and lead her out of the building. “Beth, I’m not taking the church from you. I gave it to you. It’s yours to do whatever you wanted with.”
“Thank you.”
“I have other unfinished business.” He led her down the steps. He didn’t know where they were going, but somewhere.
“Unfinished business?”
He kept walking. There was a bench under one of the big trees in the front lawn of the church. He led her there but they didn’t sit down. Beth put the puppy down and it walked around the bench and then plopped down in the grass.
Unfinished business. She was far more than that. He held up the Bible that had been her mother’s. Her gaze drifted from his face to the book he held. She shook her head.
“I don’t understand. You didn’t have to bring it back.”
He smiled, and he could no longer resist touching her. He touched her cheek and then slid his hand back. His fingers tangled in the silky strands of dark hair. Beth’s eyes lowered and she moved closer.
“I missed you,” he whispered, and he couldn’t imagine ever being away from her again.
Beth opened her eyes to those words. Her hands rested on his arms, as if they had a mind of their own. He had backed away, though.
She had missed him, too. But she didn’t want to say it, not yet. She didn’t want to go where she might get hurt. Living near the lake, she’d always been taught not to jump into the water unless you knew what was beneath the surface. It was good advice. And in this case, she didn’t know, not yet.
Jeremy held up her mother’s Bible. He flipped through the pages and handed it to her, open to the back section.
“I’ve been reading and I found something that I think might be a problem.” Jeremy pointed to the page he’d opened to.
She shook her head because she didn’t get it. This wasn’t what she wanted, a discussion about her mother’s Bible. She wanted to know that he was back to stay. She wanted to hear him say something about them.
“Jeremy, I don’t understand.”
He grinned, his eyes sparkling with that old mischief and humor that she’d known since childhood.
“Look at this page, Beth. The page where weddings and births are recorded.”
“Right?”
“It isn’t filled out.”
She looked down, wanting to understand because he obviously wanted her to get it.
“No, it isn’t.” She sighed and touched the pages. She should write Jason and Alyson’s wedding details on these pages.
And then she saw what he was trying to point out to her. The page was marked with the blue ribbon that her mother had used to keep the place where she was reading. Tied to the end of the ribbon was a ring.
Beth’s breath caught and she didn’t know what to do. Crying seemed good, or the laughter that bubbled up. Her heart couldn’t catch up with Jeremy.
“Beth, your mother never got the chance to record weddings.” He grinned. “Or the births of new children. I think we should take care of that for her. I think we should put our names on this page. Jeremy Hightree and Bethlehem Bradshaw, married…” He touched her cheek again and this time his lips touched hers and he held her close, as if he never meant to let her go. “I don’t know, what day do you think we should write on the date line? It’s getting close to the end of June. Maybe August. Or September?”
Her words refused to spill out in a way that made sense. She had an answer, she really did. He was smiling at her.
“Beth, I’m putting my heart on the line here.” He spoke softly, his mouth close to hers. “Do I need to kiss you again?”
That made perfect sense. She nodded and he captured her mouth with his, a persuasive kiss that explored what her heart had been trying to tell her for weeks. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She wanted this, forever. She pulled him closer and he kissed her more. And then he stepped back. He took off his hat and sighed.
“Bethlehem Bradshaw, will you please marry me?”
She nodded and tears flowed down her cheeks. “I will marry you, Jeremy. Today, if you want.”
He smiled that big cowboy smile of his and he lifted her up off the ground and twirled her. The puppy barked a fierce puppy bark and Jeremy set her back on the ground.
“I love you.” He kissed her again and she tried to whisper that she loved him back. She had always loved him and she always would.