She blinked rapidly, refusing to allow threatening tears to escape her eyes. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted in a choked whisper.
He nodded, as if he’d expected that. “Do you believe me?”
She bit her lower lip before reluctantly confessing, “I want to.”
Holding both her hands in his left, he raised his right hand to caress her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “It’s hard for you to trust again, isn’t it? You’ve heard all these promises before.”
The tears pushed harder, but she forced them back. “Yes.”
“You said you didn’t want to marry again for the wrong reasons. I’ve just given you my reasons for asking. Now maybe you should ask yourself those same questions before you give me a final decision,” he suggested. “I can take no for an answer if that’s your ultimate choice. And I won’t rush you. Take all the time you need to be sure. I just wanted you to know that I’m aware of how badly I mishandled my proposal before. I’ve been kicking myself ever since for not telling you that I love you.”
She couldn’t believe she was hearing these words tonight. That he was even here to say them. Her mind spun with emotions. Shock. Hope. Fear.
He wasn’t Wade, she reminded herself. No two men could possibly be more different. Words like these did not come easily to Andrew, as they had to glib Wade. She couldn’t imagine Andrew using them for any reason other than because he meant them.
She drew a deep breath and asked shakily, “What were those questions again?”
She felt his fingers tighten a little around hers, but he kept his tone gentle when he replied, “Do you want to marry me?”
It had taken a great deal of courage for Hannah to concede defeat in her marriage, to look beyond infatuation and wishful thinking and face reality. She’d called on all her strength to tell Wade that she wanted out. Now she had to call on that inner fortitude again to take what could well prove to be the biggest risk of her life when it came to her happiness.
“Yes,” she said, the one syllable deceptively simple.
Andrew’s hand twitched again, as if he’d started to tremble just a little. Just the possibility that she could make Andrew tremble made her throat tighten almost unbearably. Yet his gaze held hers without blinking. “Why?”
Her voice emerged sounding a little choked but steady. “Because I love you. And I want to make a life with you.”
His face very close to hers now, he asked the final question. “Would you still want to marry me even if we weren’t having a baby?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “If it’s for the right reason, then yes. I would still want to marry you. Very much.”
Pulling her nearer, he asked huskily, “Is loving you more than my own life the right reason?”
“Yes, Andrew,” she whispered against his lips. “That’s exactly the right reason.”
Looking pleased that he’d finally gotten it right, he covered her mouth with his.
Epilogue
Four-week-old Claire Elizabeth Walker looked perfectly content to be passed from one adoring relative to another, graciously accep
ting their admiration as her due. Considering the size and closeness of both the child’s maternal and paternal extended families, Hannah figured it was a good thing her daughter enjoyed attention.
This latest get-together was being held on the first Sunday afternoon in October at Mimi and Pop’s house. The heavy rush of summer resort business was behind them now that school had started again, though they still had a steady stream of guests to keep them busy, especially on weekends. Her cousin Steven was the guest of honor for this gathering. Fully recovered from his broken leg and in the best shape of his life, he was leaving tomorrow to begin his training as a firefighter and emergency medical technician. The family would miss having him here at the resort every day, but they’d learned to adapt to the new changes life continued to bring them.
Absently twisting the two-month-old wedding band on her left hand, she looked around this group of people she loved so dearly. A glittering new diamond on her own left ring finger, Shelby held Claire, cooing down at the sleepy baby while Aaron hovered nearby. Still quite happy in his job with the resort, and fully accepted now as both an important part of the business and the family, he smiled besottedly at both his fiancée and his niece. Hannah figured it wouldn’t be long before another new Bell-Walker was announced. Her parents hovered nearby, eager to get their hands on their granddaughter again, while Mimi called out instructions from the other side of the room for Shelby to be sure and support the baby’s head and not to let her get too warm or too cold or too wet or too tired.
Her uncle C.J. and aunt Sarah were remaining close to Steven, spending as much time with him as possible before he left for his training. She knew it would be hard for them to see him off tomorrow. It was difficult enough for them that Lori had moved to California with the new husband everyone was still trying to get to know. Lori insisted she was deliriously happy in her marriage to footloose musician Zach. Her family was doing all they could to support her despite the distance she’d put between them. Still, they missed her deeply and hoped she would someday be close to them again, emotionally if not physically.
In another corner of the room, Pop was telling tall tales to Andrew, who listened patiently and with apparent interest to stories he’d probably heard before. Her heart warming as it always did when she looked at the kind, loving, generous man who was her husband and the devoted father of her child, Hannah thought again of how very fortunate she was to have him in her life. Her trust had been well-placed this time. He was totally committed to her and to Claire, putting them before everything else in his life, even the career to which he’d devoted so much of his adult life.
They lived in Dallas most of the time, but made the drive to the resort often to see her family and his brother. Hannah was getting back to work now that she’d fully recovered from childbirth, figuring out ways to handle her responsibilities through telecommuting while the baby slept nearby. Her mother-in-law, an advertising professional who was a senior partner in her own firm, had been quite beneficial in helping her set up. Hannah was already very fond of her in-laws, and was slowly learning the names of Andrew’s many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Seeing her watching him, Andrew excused himself from her grandfather and crossed the room to her. He slipped an arm around her waist, which was much smaller than it had been a month before. She had a little way to go yet before she was back to her pre-pregnancy size, but she was being faithful to her exercises, wanting to be in good shape to chase a toddler around when Claire learned to walk.
“You think we’ll ever get our hands on our daughter again?” Andrew asked, watching with a chuckle when Maggie swooped in to steal the baby from Shelby.
Hannah smiled. “When she gets hungry, they’ll return her quickly enough.” Their usually contented child was not one to suffer hunger quietly—at any hour of the day or night.