After the Storm (KGI #8)(126)

“I’ll never forgive myself for that,” Donovan whispered. “For what you endured. For making you doubt me even for a moment. I should have told you I loved you. I should have told you I wanted forever with you instead of being vague and talking about being a family. It’s little wonder you were so willing to believe the worst because I didn’t give you reason to expect anything else from me. But Eve, you’re my life. My world. Yes, I love Travis and Cammie, and yes, I want us to be a family. But not without you. You are the heart and soul of this family—our family. Without you, none of us are whole. Not me, not Travis and not Cammie. I want those kids, Eve. Don’t ever doubt it. But I want you. Heart and soul. Body and mind. I want to have children with you. To provide brothers and sisters for Travis and Cammie. I want us to be a family.”

“Oh Donovan,” she whispered, so overcome that his name was all she could say.

His mouth found hers in the most tender of kisses. So gentle and reverent. And so very loving. How could she have doubted him? How could she not have known? Had she been so insecure that she’d been just waiting for the cards to fall and for the bottom to fall out? Had she been so unwilling to believe that such goodness and love existed that she’d just bided her time, believing all the while that it couldn’t possibly be real?

The answer to all of those questions was yes.

“I’m so sorry,” she choked out.

He lifted his head to frame her face in his palms. His eyes were fierce, blazing with intensity.

“You will never apologize to me, Eve. Never. I won’t have it. I should be on my knees begging you for forgiveness, and if you’ll give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that no one will ever love you more than I do. No one will ever cherish you more than I. And I will never give you cause to regret placing your trust in me.”

She couldn’t even form a coherent response. There was so much she wanted to say but knew she didn’t have a prayer of getting it all out. Tears coursed down her cheeks, colliding with his hands.

“Please tell me those are tears of joy or even relief,” Donovan begged. “Anything but sadness, Eve. You’ve had far too much sadness in your life and I only want you to be happy from now on. And I want to be the person who makes you happy. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you smile again.”

She smiled back at him, shaky, but she poured every ounce of the joy welling in her soul into her smile so he would know, so he would have no doubt.

He caressed her face with both hands, back and forth, wiping away the tears as his expression grew even more serious.

“Can you ever love me, Eve? Do I have a chance at making you love me even half as much as I love you?”

“Oh God, Donovan,” she said raggedly. “I do love you. So very much. I have loved you. Almost from the start. I knew the night we made love, that very first time, but I was so very afraid to hope. I worried that it was too soon, that I was too caught up in the moment and I was afraid to tell you because I wasn’t sure of your feelings. And then when I heard . . .”

“Shhh,” he said, warmth and answering joy lighting his eyes. “We’ve already covered what you heard and I want you to forget it. I realize you won’t just forget it and that it will still hurt you when you think about it, but when you do I want you to remember one thing. That I love you and that I want us to have a long life together filled with love, laughter and happiness. And that I want Travis and Cammie to be a part of that and any other children you and I have down the road. But for now, I’m perfectly content with the family we have. More children can wait until both Travis and Cammie are secure enough in our love for them and each other.”

“Will you hold me?” Eve asked. “I’m so very tired, but I’m so afraid that I’ll wake up and this will have all been a dream. I’m afraid to go to sleep because I don’t want to lose you and Travis and Cammie.”

Donovan turned sideways so he was nestled against her on the bed. He reached down and pulled the covers over both of them, and then he enfolded her tenderly in his embrace. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then whispered something that Eve could swear was a prayer. A thank-you to God for giving him back his family.

“Sleep, my darling Eve,” he said, his voice filled with love. “I’ll be here when you wake and every other time you wake. You’ll never be alone again.”

EPILOGUE

IT was Friday night, and the entire Kelly family was gathered in the football stadium of the local high school. A cool breeze blew through the stands, and Donovan curled his arm more tightly around Eve to shield her from the chill.

A cool front had burst through, dropping the temperatures from warm to unseasonably cold. Though it was only the second weekend in September, already fall was forcing its way through, beating back the sultry temperatures of summer. A welcome relief from the hotter than normal weather this summer had brought. A summer that had changed Donovan’s life forever.

“There’s Trav!”

Cammie’s excited squeal made the entire Kelly clan focus their attention on the field where the home team had just burst through the blow-up tunnel in the end zone. The cheerleaders lined each side of the tunnel as the football players ran for the sidelines.

Donovan smiled as Travis—his son—loped toward the bench and then wound up in the middle of a pile of players as they jumped on each other’s backs, hooping and hollering. Eve grabbed his hand and squeezed.