“You son of a bitch.” Her voice was low and filled with the tears clogging her throat. “How could you do that?”
“What?” Confusion settled on his features but his eyes looked suddenly worried.
More furious than she’d ever been, Ivy couldn’t believe that only yesterday she’d been defending him to the town. “I told you before, Tanner. I don’t give a damn about your money. You can’t buy me. Not with a watch. And not with a paid off loan.”
“I’m not trying to—”
“Who gave you the right to stick your nose into my business?” she demanded and threw the loan papers at him. They hit him square in the chest, bounced off and landed unnoticed on the floor. “You don’t own me. You never will.”
She turned and sprinted down the steps and across the yard. Ivy heard Hairy behind her, yipping excitedly as he chased her.
Tanner was just a step or two behind the dog. Damn it, he’d been up all night, waiting for her and trying to find the words he wanted to say to Ivy. But he hadn’t come up with a thing. Instead, he’d just handed her the loan papers, hoping she’d understand.
Clearly, that was a mistake.
“Ivy, wait!”
She didn’t even slow down, but his legs were longer than hers and desperation fueled his every step. He caught up with her at the base of an ancient oak tree. Hairy raced in delighted circles around them while Tanner grabbed her arm and spun her to face him.
“Let me go,” she demanded as one tear tracked down her cheek.
That silent slide of sorrow punched Tanner dead in the chest. He’d brought this strong woman to tears and he wanted to kick himself for it. Which he would find a way to do. Later.
“Just listen, all right?” He blew out a frustrated breath and stared down into pale blue eyes that haunted him every moment. “I’ve screwed this all up royally,” he muttered. “I’m not trying to buy you, I’m trying to tell you I love you.”
She went perfectly still in his arms and Tanner took a relieved breath. At least he had her attention.
Meeting his gaze with her tear-filled eyes, she asked quietly, “And do you always say love with your checkbook?”
He winced, then shook his head. “I’ve never said love at all,” he admitted. “Maybe that’s why I’m so bad at it. But I do love you, Ivy.”
A brief smile curved her mouth and was gone again an instant later. Hope awakened and then died inside him just as quickly.
Irritated with himself, he released her and stalked off a few paces. “I don’t even know how to say all of this. I’ve been awake all night trying to figure it out.”
“You have?”
He glanced at her. “This is all your fault, you know.”
“Really?”
“I heard the sarcasm there, but yeah, it is. You’re the one who challenged me. Made me put my past behind me to look to the present and maybe even a future. You’re the one who convinced me that Christmas isn’t about misery, but about family.”
She smiled again, but Tanner was too wound up to react to it. He felt as though he’d been waiting his whole life to get these words out and by damn, she was going to listen to him.
His gaze locked with hers across a distance of four or five feet. “You walked out on me, but you kept walking my dog.”
“Yes,” she said, voice soft and eyes shining.
He took a step toward her. “You’re the one who wouldn’t speak to me, but defended me in public.”
“That’s me,” she agreed, her delectable mouth curving into a knowing smile.
He moved closer and his voice dropped, becoming a low throb of want and need. “You’re the one who made me believe in happy endings, Ivy. You. It was always you.”
“Tanner…” she sighed as he closed the last of the distance separating them.
“So now, you’re just going to have to love me back,” he said, “because I’m not going to let you go.”
She lifted one hand to cover her mouth and made no attempt to stop the rush of tears coursing down her cheeks. Tanner pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, finally feeling his life slide into place. He kissed the top of her head and held on to her for both their sakes.
“Don’t cry, Ivy,” he whispered. “It kills me to see you cry. If you don’t stop, I swear I’m going to go shopping for you again and then we’ll have a big fight and—”
She lifted her head and stared up into his eyes. Laughing, she shook her head and said, “What could you possibly buy me, Tanner? You already gave me my home.”
He used his thumbs to tenderly brush her tears from her cheeks as love settled into his heart and his soul, warming him thoroughly for the first time in his life. “The only thing I want to buy you is a ring, Ivy. One you’ll wear forever.”
“Oh, Tanner. Is that a proposal?”
“No, this is. Marry me, Ivy,” he said, smiling. “Make me crazy for the rest of our lives.”
She grinned up at him and threw her arms around his neck. Snuggling tightly to him, she said, “I love you so much, Tanner. Of course I’ll marry you.” She pulled her head back to look into his eyes as she gave him a stern warning. “But, you’ll have to get used to working with noise because I want at least six kids and they’ll all want to play in the Christmas tree fields.”
“That sounds just right to me,” he told her, resting his forehead on hers. “In the last few days, I discovered I can’t work in the quiet anymore. An empty house is no way for a man to live.”
“I guarantee you’ll never be alone again, Tanner,” she said, going up on her toes to meet his kiss.
In the early morning light, in the shade of an oak, with a dog leaping against them excitedly, Tanner held his future securely in his arms.
And it was a deep summer Christmas.
Epilogue
It was the best wedding ever to be held at Angel Christmas Tree Farm.
The entire town of Cabot Valley had turned out to celebrate with one of their own.
Tanner stood to one side, with Hairy beside him, decked out in a brand-new collar with flowers threaded through it. The dog was humiliated, of course, but he—just like Tanner, would do anything for Ivy.
Watching his bride dance with the four-year-old son of the town florist, Carol, Tanner smiled. The little boy laughed with delight as Ivy spun in circles, moving to the rhythm of the music piped out on the overhead speakers.