“Permanently? Marriage and all that?”
“Marriage and everything.”
Still he held her away from him, looking into her eyes as though to ascertain if she was telling the truth. “What made you see reason? What made you see what an idiot you’ve been?”
She smiled. “I talked to an expert on love.”
“Oh? A clergyman or a psychiatrist or an exotic dancer?”
“None of those. I talked to someone who has given and received enormous amounts of love, and she made me realize that nothing else in life matters.” Jackie’s head came up. “William, I love you more than I love airplanes.”
William blinked at her a moment, then pulled her into his arms and nearly crushed her to him. “Now I know you’re serious.”
Jackie giggled and began to fiddle with his belt buckle.
“No you don’t,” he said, standing and pulling her up with him. “There may be a Beasley lurking in the bushes. We’re going right now to get married.”
“Now? But, William, I need a bath and—”
“I’ll give you one later.”
“Oh?” she said, with a great deal of interest in her voice. “And what else do I get if I marry you?”
He pulled her into his arms. “A lifetime of love,” he answered softly.
She caressed his temple with her fingertips. “And that’s all I want.”
She started to kiss him, but he turned his head away.
“Nope. You get nothing until you’ve made an honest man of me.” Taking her hand, he began to lead her back toward the road so fast she was tripping over plants and rocks. “Did you know that if you’re married to the sponsor, you don’t have to pay a fee to enter the Taggie?”
“Is that so?”
“So maybe you’d like to enter the race.”
“No,” she said happily.
“You want to tell me why not?”
“William, I have a confession to make. I am terrified of heights. Can’t bear them.”
He opened the door of the car she had driven and helped her into the seat. “Jackie, you are going to be the death of me.”
“No, William, my darling, I am going to be the life of you,” she said softly.
He bent forward to kiss her but drew back. “No. I’m not kissing you until you have Montgomery attached to your name.”
“Along with everyone else in town,” she said, leaning back in the seat and smiling as she watched him walk around the car to get into the driver’s seat. For a moment she closed her eyes, and in that instant she could see the joy that was their future. Nellie had said that only love mattered, and she was right. Nothing in her life had given so much deep satisfaction as had knowing that this man loved her and she loved him.
William s
hut the door, released the brake, and started driving. They didn’t say anything, but he picked up her hand and kissed it, and that kiss said everything.
She had made the right decision.
Epilogue
Terri’s husband ran off with a traveling stripper, taking their eldest son with him. Edward Browne consoled her for her loss, and they were married a few months after Terri’s divorce. Edward decided that the challenge of straightening out Terri’s remaining sons was more interesting than spending months aboard a cruise ship, so he dedicated himself to them. The younger boys turned out not to be as stupid as they seemed and, when encouraged, found that they rather liked using their heads instead of their fists. Both of them graduated from college and led productive lives. As for Edward and Terri, they thanked heaven every day of their lives for having found each other.