Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(110)

George grinned. “I take it you have that relationship ironed out now….”

Noah laughed again. “God had to send me four boats, two helicopters and several flotation devices. But I don’t feel so bad—Ellie hasn’t found it much easier.”

“I hope you proposed. At least told her you’d be a worthless failure without her….”

“I told her—” Noah stopped. He looked at George in silence for a moment. “I told her I’d made a commitment to love her forever and would never let her down. She said she thought I was real ethical.”

George smirked and shook his head. “Why, Noah, I bet that just swept her off her feet. She must be out shopping for a trousseau as we speak.”

“Crap,” Noah muttered. “I’ll get that straightened out tonight. I’ll steal her away from the rehearsal party and make sure—”

He was cut off at the sound of people entering the church, laughter accompanying them. The Booth and Riordan parties entered from the front of the church, just those partaking in the ceremony, to keep things simple. The group included Walt, Vanni and Shelby; Luke, Sean, Maureen and two ushers—Tom Booth and Aiden Riordan. Noah shook hands, bussed the lady’s cheeks and made introductions. The bride and groom and their attendants wandered to the front of the church, murmuring in awe at how beautiful it finished up, Shelby pointing out where the flowers would go.

“Let’s get this over with,” Walt blustered to Noah. “They’re setting up some mighty fine-looking food back at the house and those Riordans are circling like starving dogs. I’d like to get back there while they’re still sober enough to make the toasts.”

Noah looked at his watch yet again. “Let’s give Ellie another minute—she’s helping with the music tonight. Tomorrow is a no-brainer, she can just start the CD and—”

“You sure she’s coming, Noah?” Walt asked. “I saw her wrangling a couple of big suitcases down the stairs…”

“You saw her what?”

“When we were driving into town, past the Fitch house. She was on the stairs with a big suitcase—one still on top, one already sitting behind her car. I thought maybe she was…”

“Oh, God, no,” Noah said. “George, handle this for a few minutes. Lucy, stay!” And then he bolted out the side door and ran down the street like the seat of his pants was on fire. Or like he might be losing the love of his life.

When he got to the Fitch house, he saw exactly what Walt had described—a big suitcase sitting beside the open hatch of her PT Cruiser and the door to her apartment standing open. He took the steps two at a time. When he got to the top of the stairs and looked inside, his heart stopped. There she stood, beside her bed, an open suitcase sitting amidst several neatly folded piles of clothing ready to be packed.

“Ellie! No!” He rushed to her. “God, no! You can’t be leaving me! Don’t!” He grabbed her face and covered her mouth in a hard, desperate kiss. Her eyes flew open in stunned disbelief; she stopped breathing. He released her mouth but not her face, which he held in his hands, his fingers threaded into her hair. “You can’t go, Ellie, you can’t. Don’t you know how much I love you? God, I’d be nothing without you. I never thought I’d get to feel like this again, but you brought me back to life. You took the loneliness away and brought laughter back into my life. Ellie, you’re everything to me—I can’t make it without you. If you leave, I don’t know what I’ll—”

She just stared at him, a slight smile on her face. “Really? You don’t say.”

“Listen, I know I’m not a good romantic, I know that. I realized just a little while ago that I—Oh, hell, I told you how responsible I was, not how much you light up my life. I told you about my vow and how I could stick to it, not how life without you would be all gray and sad and awful. I didn’t tell you everything you mean to me. I promised myself I’d take care of that tonight, for sure. I was almost too late.”

“Tell me now,” she said.

“Now?” he asked, dropping his hands from her face.

“Right now,” she insisted.

“But I haven’t prepared!”

“I know. That’s the whole idea,” she said. “I’m listening.”

He cleared his throat. “Ellie. Dammit, you saved my life. I was a wallowing, pathetic, self-pitying—” He stopped talking at the sound of her soft laughter. “You’re not supposed to laugh at my attempts to be romantic.”

“Noah, that wasn’t romantic. That made me wonder what I ever saw in you. Start over.”

He grabbed her face in his hands again. “I want to be with you forever. I want to lie beside you every night, holding you close, whispering to you that I love you more than anything in the world, that you turned my whole world upside down just when it needed to be turned upside down. I want to make forever promises to you out loud, in front of God, and I want you to promise to be my woman, my wife, my one and only love, my best friend and my conscience. You’re never easy, Ellie, but you’re sure never boring…”

“I don’t know about that last part,” she commented.

“God, I love you so much. If I lost you, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d go after you, that’s what I’d do. I’d find a way to get you back. You know we’re perfect together. I know you feel it because I can feel you feel it.” He grinned roguishly. “We sure fit together perfect, don’t you think? You told me you loved me—tell me again.”