“Not half as good as I’m going to have it,” he told her and drew her into his arms. A few minutes later he yelled for Mike to eat without them.
JOSH TOOK A DEEP BREATH as they pulled up in front of the Wells family home. He knew relations between Rebecca and her father were strained. They had been for years. And he had no idea how this latest development might change things. He hoped he wouldn’t have to tell Doyle Wells exactly what he thought of the way he talked to and about his daughter. But Josh knew he didn’t have the forbearance to put up with more of what he’d seen in the past. Rebecca was going to be his wife now. That gave him the right to protect her, even from her father.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she eyed the cars around them. Randy and Greta’s blue minivan was parked behind Doyle and Fiona’s Lincoln Towncar in the drive. Delia and Brad’s red minivan was parked at a sloppy angle right at the curb, along with Carey and Hillary’s truck.
“The whole gang’s here,” Rebecca said, giving him a smile that didn’t look nearly as self-assured as she probably thought it did.
“They’re just your family,” he told her. “No big deal, right?”
“Of course.”
“You ready?”
“Sure.” She scrambled out of the Suburban and marched decisively toward the house.
“Whoa, what’s the hurry?” Josh asked, breaking into a jog to catch up with her.
“I want to get this over with, that’s all.”
“Not a real positive slant, Becky. What’s going on?” he asked.
“They’re not going to believe it, you know. Especially my father.”
“We’ve got proof.” He held up her hand, on which sparkled a much bigger diamond than any she’d initially picked out. She’d lived on a shoestring for so long, she didn’t seem to understand that ten thousand dollars to him wasn’t the same as it was to her. During their shopping, she’d told him several times that she felt too guilty about his Excursion to let him buy her anything very expensive, that a simple gold band would do. Which made it all the more fun for him to insist she have a full carat marquis with the best clarity they could find. He’d never forget the look on her face when the salesperson slid the ring he wanted her to have on her finger. Her eyes went wide. She stared at it. Then she turned to him. “This is obscene,” she whispered, but she laughed as though obscene wasn’t a bad thing at all, and he’d known then that it was perfect—just as flamboyant and beautiful as she was. Any woman who occasionally dyed her hair some wild color, sported a butterfly tattoo on her belly, and mentioned having his name tattooed on her hip (okay, maybe he’d suggested that in the throes of passion last night, but she hadn’t disagreed), had to have something flashier than a simple band.
“They might try to talk us out of it,” she said. “They’re not going to think we have a chance in hell of staying together.”
“Fortunately, they’re not the ones who get to decide.”
She bit her bottom lip. Josh bent and kissed her, his movements quick because he could hear the front door opening and knew they wouldn’t be alone much longer.
“I love you,” he whispered, because it was true. For the first time in his life he felt he could offer his whole heart. Rebecca wouldn’t be the easiest woman in the world to live with. He already knew that. But he knew something else—he couldn’t live without her.
A tentative smile crossed Rebecca’s face as she looked from her ring to him. “I love you, too.”
Josh could tell by the stilted way she said it that she wasn’t comfortable expressing her feelings so openly—at least to him. She preferred to avoid that kind of self-exposure. But he knew she meant what she said and that eventually she’d learn to trust him. After twenty-four years, he’d finally won the girl who’d always thumbed her nose at him. And his obsession with her wasn’t about challenge or conquest, as he’d once believed. It was about something far simpler—it was about falling in love.
“I thought you said you’d never tell me that,” he taunted.
Her smile turned into a devilish grin. “It’s okay. You said it first.”
“Rebecca?” her father called, stepping out onto the front stoop. “Is that Josh Hill you’ve got with you?”
“Unless Buddy’s grown a foot since we’ve seen him last, that’s not the guy from Nebraska,” Randy said as he and the rest of the family gathered behind Doyle.
“It is Josh,” someone else marveled.
“God, now I’ve seen everything!” Randy said.
Rebecca slipped her hand inside Josh’s and pulled him forward. He could tell she was much more settled than she’d been just a moment before. It made him proud to think he had such a bolstering effect on her. He’d be good for her. He’d love her and take care of her his whole life. And she’d be good—er…keep things exciting for him.
“I want to introduce you to my fiancé,” she said to her family. Then she flashed her ring and let her sisters and mother “Ooh” and “ahh.”
“What happened to Buddy?” Doyle asked above the melee of voices.
Josh shrugged. “You were right. He wasn’t the man for her.”
Doyle chewed on a toothpick while he considered them for a few seconds. Then he moved the toothpick back to the corner of his mouth so he could speak. “You think you can handle her?”
“Do you know of anyone who’d have a better chance?”
Doyle scratched his head. “Now that you mention it, I guess I don’t.” He chewed on his toothpick some more. “What’re your parents going to say?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He accepted this without comment, but Josh got the impression his answer had somehow been the right one. “It’ll take a strong hand.”
“I know.”
Doyle’s eyes lighted on Rebecca and seemed to soften. “But I’ll admit one thing.”
“What’s that?” Josh asked.
“She’s worth the trouble.”
Rebecca must have been listening because she looked up at her father and something passed between them, the depth of which Josh could only guess at. Stepping through the cluster of women surrounding her, Doyle embraced his youngest daughter. It was about the roughest hug Josh had ever witnessed, but it was a start. And it made Rebecca smile.