The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(100)

He looked around uncomfortably. They stood on a sidewalk under a restaurant’s neon sign. The surf was audible, but so was passing traffic. He grunted, reaching into his shirt pocket. “This isn’t what I planned. Man. I’m no great romantic, but I thought I could do better than this. And I don’t know if it will help your decision or just make it harder, but...” He produced a ring. Not a box, just a ring. But he thought it a damned beautiful ring. “I’ve been carrying this around for a while now, but you were so bitchy. Sorry to say that, but really...” He held it out, in his palm. “Please don’t make me get down on my knees,” he said. “The ground is wet.”

A laugh sputtered out of her through her tears. “You’re not kneeling?”

“On a wet, cracked sidewalk, in the mist, on a busy street? Only if it’s the difference between yes and no. I’ll kneel for you later.... Sarah, I want to marry you. I want to bind you up and take you off the market. I want you to trust me with your problems. I want to be your other half. I want us to share the same life, whatever that means. The only caveat is that I will always visit Austin, wherever he lives. But you? You, I want to be with every day. And I will never ask you to give up anything for me—just say you’ll be my wife.” He picked up the ring and slid it onto her finger so she could look at it.

“Is it real?” she asked.

“Of course it’s real! It’s not a custom design or anything, so you can exchange it for something you like better. It’s damn hard to pick a ring for a woman who never wears jewelry and who goes to work in combat boots, so I can be flexible here. But you have to say yes first.”

She looked up at him. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

“I know you are,” he said softly. “Plus, you hold a grudge. It takes a lot to piss you off, but man, when you get there... Look, I know you’re scared, but I’m not. For the first time in my life, I’m not nervous about commitment like this. And eventually you’re going to stop being scared because there’s not one thing about us that’s suspicious or scary or risky. Everything works with us. We’re solid. And you know it. You should take a chance on us. We can be happy, I know we can.”

She blinked and a tear escaped. “Then...yes,” she said in a whisper.

He lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her, at first lightly, then with hunger. His arms went around her waist while hers went around his back, molding her to him. Their mouths fit perfectly, searching and caressing and devouring, the taste of her tears on his lips.

A horn honked and someone yelled, “Get a room!”

They broke apart on a laugh. “Let’s get a room,” he suggested.

“Let’s go home,” she said.

He kissed her again. “Home,” he repeated. “Sounds good to me.”

* * *

It was hard for Gina to say goodbye to an idyllic weekend at Joe’s little cabin on the lake, but Mac said, “He promises that any time we can get away and it’s not in use, it’s ours.”

They headed home, as man and wife, all ready for a new adventure in Thunder Point. They would have dinner with Carrie and Ashley, at which time Gina would pack up what was left of her toiletries and a few other personal items and bring them over to Mac’s place. School might be out for the summer, but Gina and Mac both had to get back to work on Monday morning.

As they pulled onto Main Street sawhorses had been set up with detour signs hanging from them. “What’s this?” Mac said. “I wasn’t told about this. I wonder if there’s trouble in town.”

“Why would they close the street through town?”

He put the truck in Park. “I couldn’t tell you. Broken water main? Fire? Maybe they’re moving a wide load through town? Let’s go have a look, Mrs. McCain.”

They walked the rest of the way into town and as they got closer they spotted the Sheriff’s Department SUV, lights flashing, blocking the street in front of the diner. There were people everywhere, milling around the closed off street.

“Oh, Mac, this doesn’t look good....”

They took a dozen more steps when someone yelled, “It’s them! They’re here!” And a surge of people moved toward the police vehicle. Behind the crowd a banner was raised between the diner and Carrie’s Deli that said, Congratulations Gina and Mac! Suddenly they were being embraced into hugs, slapped on the back by laughing, smiling, happy friends and neighbors. Since neither of them could move, they were pulled into the center of town. There were long tables full of food, wide grills steaming, a Sno-Kone machine, an ice cream truck. Wayland had a bar set up outside his bar and Cliff, wearing an apron, waved from behind one of the grills. And music floated toward them—“Here Comes the Bride” rang out on electric piano and guitar. There was a band set up on a platform at the end of the street! And right in front of Carrie’s deli, on a special table, was a very large wedding cake. Large enough for a town.

Ashley pushed through the people. She was grinning. “Told you we could throw a wedding together in a week or two.”

Gina looked up at Mac and the only thing she could think of to say was, “I’m wearing jeans.”

He grinned at her and said, “I like you in jeans.” And then to the pleasure of a cheering crowd, he grabbed his wife and kissed her senseless.