In a wobbly voice she read:I know that everything seems bleak now and you’re blaming yourself for all of this, but Sky, the person who is responsible for what happened to you and your family is going away for a long time. Justice has prevailed. It’s time to heal. Forgive yourself. Not for your family or for me. Just forgive yourself for you. I am here where you’ve made your home. I will always be here for you. Love, Jake.
“You’re right. This is my home now and I know without a doubt that you are always here for me. I’m going to hold my family in my heart and build something amazing with you. Our way. I don’t want to be anywhere else except with you, here, in this beautiful place. I love you, Jake. So, will you marry me?”
Unlike Anna Kate’s demand for a ring, this was so profound it touched me deeply. When it was right, those words didn’t seem like a death sentence, or incite fear and resistance. There was only one answer to her offer.
I looked away, the muscles in my throat convulsing, and I nearly lost it before I could get the words out. “Oh, fucking, yeah. Fuck.” She opened her arms, the card fluttering to the dock, but in her hands, she gripped those coyotes.
“I love you, Skylar Bransom. You have to know you’re all I want.”
“Ah, God, Jake,” she whispered, her face contorting with raw emotion as I reached for her.
Catching her by the back of the head, I closed my eyes and hung on to her, barely believing this monumental day. Unable to check her tears, they flowed freely as she pulled me to her, my hand tangling in her silky hair.
I dragged my hand up her back, molding her to me. I took her lips with a hoarse sound, and she responded, her savage kiss tasting of tears and surrender. My mouth turned hot, hungry and ravaging. Locking my arms around her, she yielded everything to me—her mouth, her body, her strength—driven by the same need that burned to my very soul.
“Hey you two,” Chase yelled from the shop. “Let’s go back to the folks. Sky, looks like now that you’re back, it’s time for your initiation into becoming one of the Sutton women.”
She groaned. “Oh, damn,” she said softly. “Another initiation. What do I have to memorize? Do I have to wear a corset and hoop skirt, work a fan, parasol, gloves and a big freaking straw hat?”
“Uh, no,” I said wryly with a dry laugh. “You’ll just wish that’s all you had to do.”
Epilogue
JAKE
I turned the knob and opened the door, the faint illumination from the hallway spilling into the room and lightly touching Sky’s face. Undoing the buttons on my shirt and unsnapping my jeans, I watched her sleep, remembering the night I’d first made love to her in this bed, still reeling from my discovery. Now I was content.
Bare-chested, I settled into the comfy chair on her side of the bed. She had kicked the covers off and was lying on her stomach, her mouth-watering body, a cornucopia of curves and delicious plumpness beneath a little see-through number that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Her face was toward me and my eyes travelled over her delicate beauty, stirring in me a tenderness I’d never known. She made me strong and weak at the same time.
Things continued to fall into place. Jordan Summers bought the Blue Coyote. The facades and landscaping Sky had suggested were all completed. Boone had outdone himself. The town looked so inviting and so damn cute. After a unanimous vote, a gazebo had been approved with a plaque commemorating Duel Outlaw and his contributions to the town. Outlaw Park emerged bit by bit. It was already halfway complete. Benches and Boone’s landscaping touch would bring the whole thing together. Our speeches would then be delivered from that pretty white and wood platform. But, more importantly, instead of a cold, bronze statue of a man whose genes were part of me, who had, not only betrayed every moral code he’d once possessed, but had lost his legacy, we could all enjoy this small oasis. But, now, holding this beautiful woman, I was certain we would make our own legacy with the fullness and happiness both of us deserved.
Sky let the business go, knowing that she was going to be busy with me and our businesses, two weddings, as well. Brax was even pushing her to manage his Huckleberry Café franchise since she had scads of experience and was a crack former business owner. She said she’d think about it. She really wanted to start an online business for her beauty products, stock the store with them and her baked goods. Partner with me in the Orchard, but I suspected she really just wanted to drive the tractor.
She opened her eyes and shifted to her side, the rounded globes of her breasts, peeking from the filmy material, topped with dark nipples that called for my mouth and hands.
“Oh, no,” she said mock testy and drowsy. “It’s that annoying tenet. Didn’t I evict you?”
Experiencing a nearly suffocating surge of love, I somehow managed to keep from jumping her bones. “Nope,” I said with regret, then winced. “You’re not expecting that back rent, are you?”
She laughed, the sound of it full and rich in the dim room.
“Oh, I’m afraid I am.”
“That’s too bad. I’m flat broke.”
Her eyes lit from within, and she gave me that sunshiny smile. “Oh, I’m sure we can come up with a way to work it off.”
Oh, yeah, my dick responded in a very predictable way. “Is that so?” I said, rising.
“Yeah, sure. I’ve got a project for you.”
“I like the sound of that.”
She grinned, reaching out and clawing my abdomen all the way to the tab of my jeans. “I think you and your dad should think about building kayaks. You love them, and you do now have a ship-building business.?”
“What?” I was ready to get out of my clothes, changing gears at that intriguing thought. I was going to get physical, but it didn’t involve paddling and water. “The only wet I’m interested in right now is yours and getting it all over me.” Then I smiled. “But, it’s a tantalizing idea, so I think that could be negotiated.”
