“I lost our baby,” she sobbed into his chest.
“Jessie, don’t, please.” His voice wavered.
“I lost our baby,” she wailed, unable to stop the flow of tears. This is what she needed—to share her grief with Cadde. That’s why she hadn’t been able to cry before. And now the floodgates were wide-open.
Her knees gave way and they sank to the floor, both crying, both holding on for dear life. “I’m sorry,” she blubbered.
He cradled her in his arms, bracing his back against a chair. Rosa came into the room and Cadde waved her away. She looked up and wiped the tears from his face. “I’m sorry for everything.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed her lips gently, softly. He tasted of salt. He tasted of love.
“I manipulated you.”
“You didn’t force anything on me that I wasn’t willing to do.” He flung a tear away. “I know I’ve never said it, but I felt it from the moment I made love to you, probably way before that.” Both his hands cupped her face. “I love you. I can’t live without you.”
She rested her face in the warmth of his neck, feeling his love deep in her heart. “I’ve loved you forever and when we lost the baby, I blamed myself. The pain was too strong. I couldn’t even cry…until today.” She kissed his neck. “You’re the only person I can share that grief with.”
“Because we love each other and we share the pain.”
“Mmm.”
Mirry sneaked into her lap. She stroked the little dog. “Oh, Mirry. Mirry.”
“She’s missed you,” he said, stroking Mirry, too.
“I’ve missed her.” She picked up the dog. “What have you been feeding her? She’s fat.”
“Anything she wants.”
“Cadde.”
“Wait until you see Winky.”
“Oh, Cadde, you can never fill that donkey up.”
“Yes. I found that out.”
They laughed for the first time in weeks and Jessie settled into his arms. They talked well into the evening. He told her about his father. She told him about the fever, her trip to Rome, her aunts, Nina and the board meeting.
His hands ran over her body. “Are you okay?”
She moved against him. “I am now.”
“I cringe when I think of you seeing Nina alone.”
“I had to.”
He rubbed her arm. “I was so worried.”
“The fever had my mind messed up and all I wanted to do was get away from everything here and to find some sort of peace and forgiveness.”
“Did you find that?”
“Yes.” She kissed his lips. “I was able to forgive my father and Angela. They were both very manipulative people and they both loved me in their own destructive way. They weren’t perfect, but neither am I.”
He cupped her face. “To me you are.” He kissed her long and deep and she melted into everything that was right in her world. “Please don’t ever leave me again.”
“I won’t,” she promised, and poked a finger into his chest. “You’re going back to work.”
“I don’t know. I don’t have the drive anymore.”
“Excuse me.” She drew back. “Where’s my Cadde? The man who eats, breathes and is consumed with the oil business?”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “He found something more important…love.”
“Oh, Cadde.” She wrapped her arms around him. “But you’re still going back to Shilah. No way is Hooter taking control. We’ll consolidate our shares and the Hardins will own fifty-one percent.” When he tried to speak, she placed her forefinger over his lips. “I’m Roscoe Murdock’s daughter and I always get my way.”
He smiled. She smiled.
“Maybe in a few days, then,” he conceded.
“And now we have to take down this tree, put the decorations and ornament away. At Christmas we’ll look at it and remember the child that brought us together.”
“I just wasn’t taking it down until you came home.”
She caressed his face and marveled at the strong love they shared. Against the odds their bond had survived. “What’s that?” She pointed to the small silver-wrapped box beneath the tree.
“I bought that for you for Christmas.”
She crawled on her hands and knees to get it. Ripping off the paper, she threw it to the side. Mirry sniffed the ribbon just in case it was something to eat. Opening the box, she gasped.
“It’s an…”
“Engagement ring,” he finished for her. “I was going to ask you to marry me for real this time and I thought we’d get remarried in a church.”