anything. “Your dad has enough for both of you,” she assured him. “And I’m not in any of his.”
His full lips pressed into a thin line. “Dad and I had a meeting of the minds this morning. I’m never going to be the kind of man he wants me to be, thank God. I’ve got some changing to do, but Dad’s got more if he wants to remain in my life—and in his grandchild’s life.”
Kyndal’s heart softened at the mention of the baby. Chance must have sensed the weakness because he stepped near enough to brush a finger down her arm, leaving a tremor of emotion in its wake.
“I want us to be a family, Kyn. You, me and the baby.”
Kyndal squeezed her eyes closed. She wanted to believe him, but she’d believed him before. She opened her eyes and looked at him through her blurred vision. He’d been brutally honest; she could be, too. “I’m tired of trying to be what other people want and always falling short. I can only be who I am.” She tapped her chest with the tip of her finger. “I have fears, too, Chance. Fears of not fitting into your life. Fears of trusting you. And fears of driving you away.” He reached out to her, but she moved out of his reach, far enough away to not be swayed his touch. “I don’t know how to love without clinging,” she admitted. “And when I cling—and I would if we were together—you wouldn’t be able to breathe, and then you’d leave just like before. Nothing’s changed, Chance. It’s never going to work.”
She understood Chance’s feelings of suffocation then because suddenly she was in a vacuum, and all the air in the room was being sucked out. She needed air. She pushed past him, through the door, and out into the front of the store.
“Kyndal! Stop right there.” His authoritative voice boomed out behind her. “We’re not finished. Don’t you dare take another step away from me.”
She stopped and turned to face him. In fact, everyone in the store stopped and turned to face him. The lines at the cash registers went silent. The only sound was the combined voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks singing “The Christmas Song.”
Chance’s voice grew loud as if he wanted everyone to hear him. “It’s true, Kyndal. I left you when I was eighteen years old. But I only left you physically. My heart never left. It’s been with you—and only you—since the day we met. That’s clinging. Love is clinging. Clinging together forever. Never letting go. Never leaving. And you don’t have to worry about fitting into my world. You are my world.”
Kyndal could swear she heard a collective sigh move through the crowd of onlookers.
His eyes pinned her to the spot as he closed the space between them, grasping her arms in a firm hold. The touch broke through her control, smashing her resolve into tiny pieces and scattering them about her feet.
“I’ve got to know, Kyndal.” He leaned down to look in her eyes, his warm breath catching on her lashes. “Do you love me?”
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, dropping her eyes from the gaze that held so much love she could hardly bear to look. Her heart swelled as his warm hands cupped her cheeks and raised her face.
“Do you love me, Kyndal?” he repeated.
She gazed into the espresso depths that had melted her heart at first glance. “You know I do,” she answered. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“Do you want to be with me?” He paused, and she saw him swallow. “Think about it, because I’m talking about forever.”
She swallowed, too, and nodded. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
He smiled, and his dark eyes flashed with emotion. “Then I have one more question.”
When Chance dropped to one knee in front of her, a sob exploded from her lungs, and she started to tremble. Could this really be happening? She watched in wonder as he took a small box from his pocket and out of the box he produced a ring with a diamond that sparkled more brightly than any of the surrounding holiday lights.
She swayed, but he took her hand, and she knew then that this was Chance in the flesh—no dream, but he was about to make every dream she’d ever had a reality.
“Kyndal Elizabeth Rawlings—” his deep voice suffused her, became a part of her “—I love you and the child you’re carrying with the most perfect love I’ve