epilogue

Lisa pulled her car into Dave’s driveway, killed the engine, and sat in blessed silence for a moment. She’d spent the past two days flying a group of rowdy beer company executives to an island in the Bahamas for a two-day blowout, and she was quite certain that if she heard one more round of “Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” she was going to go completely off her rocker. About the time the third guy lost his lunch on the return trip, she decided it was time to back off on the charter schedule so she could stay in town more often, which was where she wanted to be more and more. After all, in a few weeks she would be a married woman. And a mother.

As soon as she’d arrived in Tolosa she’d applied with an aviation company, and on the strength of her references from Blue Diamond in San Antonio they hired her immediately. It fulfilled everything she’d ever wanted to do as a pilot, but strangely, she found that every moment she was in the clouds she was looking forward to getting back to earth.

She took an apartment midway between Dave’s house and the airfield. She spent her days flying, and when she was in town she spent her evenings with Dave and Ashley. Dave never rushed her, never took more than she was willing to give. And that made her want to give him everything.

She unlocked the front door of the house and went inside. Dave’s car was out front, but he wasn’t in the living room. She checked the kitchen and didn’t find him there, either.

Then she went into his bedroom, surprised to find him propped up on pillows, leaning against the headboard of his bed. On the nightstand sat a plate of fudge beside a big bowl of popcorn. She looked at the television. A movie was on pause.

Cinderella?

The entire scenario could lead to one conclusion only. The man she loved was a dreadful liar.

“See, I told you!” she said, pointing an accusing finger at Dave. “I told you that you spoil Ashley just as much as John and Renee do!”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Lisa looked around the room. “Where is she?”

“With John and Renee.”

Lisa blinked with confusion. “So what’s all this?”

Dave gave her a warm, inviting smile and patted the bed beside him. “Come here, little girl.”

She stared at him, but it was at least ten seconds before his meaning struck her. When it did, all the breath left her body.

She walked slowly to the bed and climbed up next to him. He fluffed the pillows behind her back, then slipped his arm around her and pulled her close. He put the plate of fudge beside her and the bowl of popcorn right into her lap. He handed her the remote.

“You can replay the good parts all you want to.”

Lisa stared at the remote hanging loosely in her hand. No matter how hard she gritted her teeth, her jaw started to tremble and tears filled her eyes. She blinked, and a couple of them ran down her face.

“Now, we still have some rules,” Dave said admonishingly. “No tears in the popcorn.”

She sat up suddenly, dropped the remote and slid her arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely, her face buried against his shoulder. And she cried. God, how she cried, because she loved him so much that if she didn’t she was going to burst with it.

“And if you’re a very good girl,” Dave said, “tomorrow I’ll take you clothes shopping.”

Lisa laughed through her tears and melted against him, then turned to stare into those deep, dark eyes, remembering a time when she’d prayed that a thousand more tomorrows would be filled with the sight of him. The fact that she was going to have ten thousand more was beyond her comprehension.

Dave held her, rocking her gently, enclosing her in a shelter of warmth and caring for the first time in her life. He was giving her the family she’d never had and the love she would cherish forever.

In the end, it was everything she’d ever dreamed of.