Dede woke Christmas morning to find Lantry sleeping in a chair next to her bed.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, opening his eyes.
She couldn’t believe this cowboy. After the doctor told him that her gunshot wound wasn’t serious, he’d hired a nurse and brought her back to the ranch.
“It’s Christmas. I’m not having you spend it in a hospital,” he’d told her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked now.
After waking up to find him next to her bed? Wonderful. “A little sore, but other than that, pretty good.”
He smiled. He really did have a great smile. “Ready for Christmas?” He sounded like a kid, anxious to see what Santa Claus had left him under the tree.
“Ready,” Dede whispered as Lantry carried her into the living room. All the family was gathered around the tree.
Dede smelled hot apple cider. It mingled with the scent of evergreen. Outside it was one of those amazing Montana days. All blue sky and sunshine, making last night’s fresh snowfall glitter like diamonds.
For just a moment she couldn’t help but think of Frank. She felt nothing of the old pain, only a twinge of sadness. Her heart didn’t ache. It felt like a helium balloon allowed to fly free again, she thought as she looked over at Lantry.
All around her there was laughter mingling with the sound of happy chatter. These Corbetts, Dede thought, shaking her head. What a big, boisterous family. The kind she’d always dreamed of being a part of.
She wiped at a tear, caught Lantry looking over at her with concern.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” he whispered, leaning close.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” She smiled at him and hastily brushed away the moisture at the corner of her eye.
For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.
The room seemed to have gone quiet, everything stopping in midmotion. All she could hear was her heart in her chest banging like a drum as she looked into Lantry’s blue eyes and remembered the tickle of his mustache, the feel of his lips on hers.
“Better open this one,” someone said, handing her a present. The room came alive again as Lantry leaned back, the moment lost.
Dede watched as the family tore into the presents spilling out from around the tree. There were ohhs and ahhs and laughter and hugs as the pile of paper and ribbons grew.
Kate had been kind enough to do some shopping for Dede since she couldn’t leave the ranch with her monitoring device. The older woman smiled over at her now as family members opened the presents she’d bought from Dede. Kate had great taste, and Dede smiled back her thanks.
“Well, is that it?” Grayson asked as the frenzy slowed down. The family was sprawled around the tree, many sporting their presents of new slippers or sweaters. “Then let’s have breakfast.”
Everyone started getting up to head into the large dining room. The talk turned to Juanita’s Christmas Day breakfast. It sounded like quite a spread.
Lantry didn’t move until everyone else had left but he and Dede. “That’s not quite it,” he said as he got to his feet and went to the tree. From deep in the thick green boughs he took out a small velvet box.
Dede felt her heart set off at a gallop as Lantry came back over to the chair where she sat and knelt down in front of her. She was already shaking her head.
“Dede, there are some things I have to say. I used to figure if two people were stupid enough to get married, then they deserved whatever happened to them.”
“Like me and Frank.”
He shook his head. “Frank loved you. I believe that. He wouldn’t have changed his name and tried to make a new life with you if he hadn’t. You made him want to be a better person. It wasn’t your fault that his family had such a hold over him.”
“That whole ‘blood is thicker than water’ thing?”
He nodded. “I can’t go back to what I used to do. I’m not cynical enough about love and marriage anymore. It’s not a requirement for being a divorce lawyer, but it helps.”
She let out a nervous laugh. For a while she’d been so afraid to dream that Lantry might feel the same way about her that she felt about him.
He pulled her close. “I’d never known what falling in love felt like. I had no idea the crazy thoughts that come into your head. It’s no wonder people get married. Wait, I’m not saying this right.”
He took her hand. Behind him, the lights of the Christmas tree glittered brightly. Somewhere in the house, “Silent Night” was playing. The room seemed magical, something out of a fairy tale.
“Lantry, what are you doing?” she asked, scared.
“I’m trying to ask you to marry me,” he said, his voice breaking. “This is just our first Christmas together. But I want to spend the rest of them with you. I love you, Dede. I want to marry you.”
She couldn’t believe this. “Marriage?” Had he really said the M word?
“I’m as surprised as you are. I never thought this day would come. But then, I’d never met anyone like you. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”
“Aren’t you worried about the odds of us making it?” she had to ask, fearing this couldn’t be real.
He shook his head. “You and I are going to be in that fifty percent who spend our lives together and die within days of each other when we are old because we can’t stand to live without the other.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds awfully romantic, cowboy.”
He grinned and placed the small velvet box in the palm of her hand. “I know it’s too soon. I know you’re going to need time. But I can’t let you just walk out of my life.”
“This is happening too fast,” she said, unable to trust this moment. Hadn’t her heart wanted this? Ached for this from the moment she’d fallen in love with this man?
“I know. That’s why I’m suggesting a long engagement. Not for me,” he added quickly, with a laugh. “If you’d have me, I’d marry you this afternoon right here in front of this Christmas tree.”
She touched his handsome face. “This is so not like you.”
“I know, but, Dede, I want to be that couple who wears out their wedding bands from years of marriage. I want that with you. I believe you and I can have that kind of marriage, or I wouldn’t ask you. Just say you’ll think about it and that you won’t go back to Texas.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you’re staying on here at the ranch?”
“My father is expanding the ranch. He’s offered me a job and some land south of here for a house.”
Dede wanted to pinch herself. Being here on the Trails West Ranch had reminded her how much she’d missed the ranch she’d grown up on. How much she’d missed this country and the lifestyle. She might even get over her fear of horses—with Lantry’s help.
With his love, she knew there was nothing she couldn’t do.
* * *
“DON’T MAKE UP your mind right now,” Lantry said, his heart in his throat. He knew it was too early. He also knew she’d been hurt too badly by her first marriage. She would be afraid to trust.
But he couldn’t just let her walk out of his life.
She looked down at the box in her palm.
“You can open it if you’d like. Or you can wait until you’re ready.” He wanted her to open it. Hell, he wanted her to accept his proposal and wear the ring.
Slowly, she opened the box and let out a small gasp.
“The ring belonged to my grandmother. She and my grandfather were married sixty-three years. I figured if it worked for them…” He shrugged.
Dede leaned down and kissed him. “It is perfect.”
“Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“One day, I will, yes.”