The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,89
challenged. “Because Sammy, I want you. I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine. I want to marry you and bring you to this house to live with me, and have kids with you, and those people are not going anywhere. If you choose me, you’ll be dealing with them forever.”
Sammy’s own love for him swelled with every word he said. He hadn’t said, “I love you,” but “I want you,” was so much better.
“Okay,” she said.
Bear opened his mouth to say something but stalled. “Okay?” came out.
She grinned and closed the distance between them. She put her hands on his chest and moved them up to his shoulders. “Okay, Bear. I want you too. I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine. I want to marry you, and bring Lincoln to come live with us in this house, and have kids with you.” Feeling wild and reckless and like her words weren’t her own, she added, “I choose you.”
Bear blinked, his shock palpable. Then he leaned down and kissed her. Sammy loved the feel of him next to her, and the taste of him. She wanted to kiss him for a lot longer, but a cheer filled the air and surged to the forefront of her mind.
He broke the kiss and kept her tucked safely against his chest as he faced the swelling crowd that was spilling from the homestead. Every single Glover was clapping and cheering. A few of the cowboys whistled through their teeth, and every man and woman was grinning from ear to ear.
“All right,” Bear said gruffly, but he wore a smile that stretched across his whole face too. He looked down at her. “You might want to reconsider.”
She giggled and shook her head. “Nope.” She’d already overthought everything, and she wasn’t going to fall into that trap again. She faced the Glover family. “If they’re willing to have me as part of their family, I’d be the luckiest woman in the world.”
That set off a new round of explosive cheering, and she got swept away from Bear by Bishop and Judge, who both hugged her and said how happy they were that she’d come back.
Bear’s family was congratulating him too, and Sammy saw him hugging his mother and talking to her quietly. She fell in love all over again with the big, tough cowboy with a heart of gold and a section of that heart reserved specifically for his mother.
He eventually made his way back to her side, and the family went back into the foyer. He held her hand as they stood back and looked at the tree.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“I hung an ornament for my father and my grandmother,” he said. “You could put a couple on for Heather and Patrick.”
Hope swelled within her. “Could I?”
“Sure.” He indicated the boxes lining the wall by the door. “Pick two and put them on. We’ll honor them along with our family members who’ve passed on.”
“Thank you, Bear.” She stepped over to the boxes and started looking through the remaining ornaments. She found a rocking horse, and her breath caught. Patrick had made a rocking horse for Lincoln before he was born. He’d loved riding it as a toddler, and Sammy still had it in her attic.
A minute later, she found a bird that was probably a cardinal. Heather had loved birds and birdwatching, and together, the two ornaments felt like God Himself had put them there for her. She thought of Bear’s grandmother crocheting them and wondered if she’d perhaps been prompted to make these exact two ornaments at some point in the past, because the Lord knew of His future plans for Bear—and for Sammy.
He’d known she’d be here this year, decorating this tree, and that she’d need these specific ornaments to honor her family members. She hung them on the tree and returned to Bear’s side, whispering again, “Thank you, Bear.”
Her gratitude for him was about more than the tree and the ornaments. It was for forgiving her, though he’d been resistant to it at first. It was for loving her and Lincoln. It was for being Bear Glover.
“I love you, Sammy,” he whispered back, and she’d been wrong. I love you was definitely better than I want you.
“I love you too,” she said, now knowing the power of those words. He kissed her again, right there in front of everyone, and she didn’t even mind.