Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold #12.5)(70)

He started the car and drove out of the rest stop and back onto I-5. This time he was going south, following the signs to Sacramento. From there he would go east into Fool’s Gold. He’d already missed the live nativity, but there was still the Dance of the Winter King and then a wedding. More important...most important...was Noelle. Sweet, beautiful, brave Noelle, who loved cats and was overly competitive about window decorations and who sold gourd nativities. Noelle, who was the strongest person he knew and for reasons he couldn’t ever understand, loved him. She loved him.

The realization of what he’d nearly missed, nearly lost, swept through him. He clutched the steering wheel, knowing the folly of driving too quickly, but unable to grasp what an idiot he’d been.

He glanced at the clock. He would be there in time. He had to be.

* * *

Noelle zipped up the wedding gown that had once belonged to her grandmother. She turned back and forth, pleased the dress nearly fit perfectly. She still had a few pounds to put on, but that would come with time. The strength she’d drawn on to survive her illness was still with her. As were her friends and her store and this town. She belonged.

Loving Gabriel wasn’t a bad thing, she told herself. Giving her heart had been the last part of her healing process. She’d been willing to risk it all and she would again, one day. She would find the right man and they would be happy together. Until then, she would save her grandmother’s dress.

She undid the zipper and slipped on her robe. She folded the dress carefully, using lots of tissue. She had a little time until she needed to get ready for the Dance of the Winter King and the weddings to follow.

She thought of how surprised everyone would be and was pleased she got to be a part of it all. Talk about memories.

Someone pounded on her front door. The noise was determined and insistent.

She hurried to the front of the house and pulled open the door. “What’s...”

The rest of her sentence got caught in her throat as she stared at Gabriel. He looked exhausted—nearly as gray as he had been the first time she’d seen him. There were dark circles under his eyes and she wondered if he’d slept at all over the past couple of days. She would guess he hadn’t been eating. Signs of his suffering should have pleased her, but they didn’t. She wanted him to be well.

He didn’t speak. Instead, he walked into her house, slammed the door shut behind him and then pulled her close. He held on to her so tightly, she could barely breathe. A shudder raced through him.

“I could have lost you,” he said. “I could have lost us.” Then he let her go and dropped to his knees.

He took both her hands in his and stared into her eyes. “Noelle, I’m sorry. I was wrong about everything. Not in wanting to take care of you, but in believing that would be enough. I want to give you everything I have, everything I am. Whatever it takes to convince you, I’ll do it. I swear. I love you. I want to be with you, always. I want to be by your side for however long we have. Six weeks or sixty years. I’m sorry I left. I have no excuse except that every soldier has to face fear and some do it with more grace than others. I won’t run again. I’ll stand and fight. For you. For us. If you’ll have me.”

There were too many words, she thought, unable to take them all in. Except right in the middle, she would have sworn he said he loved her.

He must have read the question in her eyes because he held on tighter and repeated, “I love you. I’ve loved you from the first, but I didn’t want to admit it. I want to marry you, if you’ll have me.”

Somehow she managed to pull him to his feet. Then they were holding on to each other and he was kissing her and she was kissing him.

He drew back. “Am I too late?”

She smiled. “It’s been two days. Did you think I’d forget so fast?”

His expression turned hopeful. “You’ll marry me?”

She smiled. “You know about the cats, right?”

He laughed and pulled her into his arms. Then he swung her around until she was dizzy and slowly lowered her to the ground.

“I stopped at Jenel’s store in town. The longest few minutes of my life, for many reasons.” He pulled a diamond ring from his pocket and slid it onto her left hand.

“I love you, Noelle,” he said, staring into her eyes.

“I love you, too.”

“So about the wedding tonight.”

She gasped, then looked at the clock by the TV. “I have to start getting ready. I’m the bridesmaid.”

“Are you sure? Because I talked to Dellina on my way here and if you want to make it a quadruple wedding, she says she can handle it.”

Noelle couldn’t believe what was happening. Gabriel was back and he loved her. That was enough. But to get married tonight?

“You’ve been busy! Are you sure?” she asked.

He smiled. “You think now that I’ve finally figured out what I have with you that I’m going to be stupid enough to let you get away?” He chuckled. “Don’t answer that. Yes, I’m sure. I want to start our life together. I’m going to leave the army and live here in Fool’s Gold. I hear there’s a new hospital that needs a trauma specialist.”

She flung her arms around him, knowing she would never let go. “The wedding is supposed to be a surprise,” she murmured.