Her legs shook, and she leaned against the front bumper of the cab. Shane soloed again with words of completion and home and her heart swelled so much she thought it would burst through her ribcage. When the next chorus mentioned angels dancing, the girls wearing angel wings gently pulled her away from the taxi and danced around her, their little bodies lifting her up without her feet leaving the ground. Emotion choked her.
Back in New York, Kagan hated being the center of attention, but this? This filled her with gratitude and hope and love.
As soon as the music stopped and the song ended, the crowd scattered. Well, everyone except Sela, Luke, Meg, and Henry, who lurked by the nearest tree. Kagan was pretty sure she’d just experienced her first flash mob and a ridiculous smile bloomed across her face. All because of Shane.
With no more boards in his hands he stepped closer. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to leave and keep him far from her father and any unfriendliness. But how could she walk away from this man without giving him the truth and letting him decide what to do with it?
She had more faith in Shane than anyone else.
Instead of reaching for her, though, he turned to her dad. “Mr. Donaldson,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Shane Sullivan.”
Kagan watched her father take Shane’s hand with a mixture of awe and indifference. Charlotte backed away, her lips pulled in tight.
“I’d hoped to meet you on different terms and spend some time getting to know you before I asked this, but given the circumstances, I had to skip ahead.” He flashed a quick peek at her and her legs went wobbly again.
“You see sir, I’m in love with your daughter. I didn’t think love like this was in the cards for me, but Kagan helped me overcome my fears. She took our friendship and without trying, turned my feelings for her into a love affair that I’d go to the ends of the earth to keep. Being with her makes me dizzy every time I stand up. Just looking at her fills me with admiration and gratitude. She’s the best accident to ever happen to me, and I’d like your permission to ask for her hand in marriage. Sir.”
The ground shook under Kagan’s feet. Those tiny dots that blurred a person’s vision in the sunshine danced in front of her. Shane wanted to marry her? He wanted to marry her!
She wanted to marry him.
But she needed to protect him. And in front of her father, tell him why she was leaving. She had to prove to her dad she wouldn’t cower anymore. Blinking away the light spots, she refocused on Shane and her dad. “Shane,” she said. “I can’t. If I don’t go back to New York right now my dad is going to put your job in jeopardy.”
“What are you talking about?” Shane said.
“He’s good friends with Levi Roach and threatened to—”
“Your leaving all of a sudden is for me?” A grin so handsome stretched across his delectable mouth, she almost grabbed him and kissed him.
“Yes.”
“But you’d rather stay.”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Then trust me and let me finish what I started, Jelly Belly.”
“Dad?” Kagan said. No one had ever taken a public stance like this for her. Her dad may be overbearing and unbending, but he respected men with enough guts to stand up to him. Hopefully he respected the man who loved his daughter unconditionally. She couldn’t read the look on his face now, but his eyes? Something in them startled her and hurled her back to the time when he’d taught her to ride a two-wheel bicycle and softness and pride had shone in their depths. It was that look that had kept her at it and made her determined to ride without training wheels.
“You’ve got some moxie, kid,” her dad said.
Shane smiled. “My mom thinks so too.”
“I meant my daughter.”
“Oh,” Shane said.
Her father glanced over Shane’s shoulder and Kagan turned. Much of her “mob” had returned, but was trying to look nonchalant. Then her dad looked at her, really looked at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time. She stepped closer. “Looks like more than this young man loves you,” he said, his voice more tender, more tolerant.
Emotion clogged the back of her throat so she just nodded.
“Mr. Donaldson?” Shane said.
“Something tells me with or without my permission, you’ll ask your question.”
“True. But it would mean a lot to Kagan to have your blessing.”
Again her dad gazed at her. For several long beats they studied each other and with each passing second, the pieces that kept them apart were chipped away. She’d spent five months hiding from him, and it had taken a grand gesture from a small town and a straightforward and magnificent man to show him the error of his ways.