her voice fierce.
“You didn’t tell the whole truth.”
She lifted her chin. “I saved your sorry butt, though, didn’t I?”
Zach offered her a warm smile. “So I understand, Deputy. So I understand.”
The room fell silent as Zach took some time to think. Throughout, his thumb continued to stroke Savannah’s hand. They had never had that talk that had been due the day of the shooting. She didn’t think it mattered anymore. Everything that needed to be said had been said with those three oh-so-important words.
“You’ve been quiet, Peach.”
“I’m listening to you think out loud.”
His lips flirted with a smile. “What am I saying?”
“That despite it all, the most important thing is that you’ve been offered a gift—a family. Whether you choose to accept it, though, is your call. Only you can make the choice.”
She had no doubt about what he would decide. She’d told Gabi as much when Gabi had confessed the whole story in Savannah’s hospital room. And yet Zach deserved the opportunity to make the decision. Savannah had demanded as much during one of those horrible, touch-and-go days when Gabi had been a mess and wanted to summon her mother back from Europe to be at her eldest son’s side “while she still can.”
Savannah forgave Gabi that comment due to extenuating circumstances, but she’d banished her from the hospital until she rid herself of every last negative thought. Irish and Italian. No wonder Gabi’s emotions ran the gamut!
“You all need to understand that I had parents. Great parents. I loved them very much. And I have a family—brothers and sisters of my heart—in my friends in Eternity Springs.”
“You are a lucky man,” Lucca said.
“Believe me, I know that. Because I also have two extraordinary women in my life whom I love. Savannah, soon to be my wife, who threw herself in front of a bullet for me, and—”
Savannah jerked up straight. “What? Excuse me? Did I miss something here? I don’t recall receiving or accepting a marriage proposal.”
Zach just grinned and continued, “And Gabriella, my calm, cool, collected sister, who had my back when it counted.”
Calm, cool, collected Gabriella burst into tears.
The Romano men—all four of them—smiled. Zach said, “So how do you want to do this? Do you want me to go to her? Do you want to bring her to me? I don’t want the shock to kill her. Can she handle this?”
“Mom needs to come to Eternity Springs,” Gabi said through her tears. “It’s special. What we heard about it at first … it’s true. Actually …” She gave Zach a bravely sassy smile. “Eternity Springs will probably heal her heart all on its own. She doesn’t need you.”
Zach rolled his eyes in mock disgust and met his brothers’ gazes. “Sisters.”
God’s paintbrush set the mountains aglow with wide swaths of gold, orange, and crimson as autumn settled on Eternity Springs. The promise of snow was in the air as Zach pulled his Range Rover to a stop at the parking area for Lover’s Leap.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Savannah told him. “It’s a rough trail. What if you slip and fall?”
“No one is going to slip and fall, Peach. We have each other to lean on, don’t we?”
She let out a huff. “You are impossible. It’s too soon.”
“If we wait another week, it’ll be too late. The snows are coming. I need to see the season off from up here. It will fortify me for what’s ahead. Now, come along with me, Savannah, and quit your fretting. I’m the one who gets to be nervous. I’m the one meeting my mother this afternoon.”
Savannah took his hand and squeezed it. “It’ll be okay, Zach. No matter what.”
“I know. I’m nervous, but excited, too. I’ve thought about it a lot. I don’t resent her or her decisions. I think it all happened the way it was meant to happen. I had a great childhood. Mom always said I was hers and Dad’s greatest joy. Mrs. Romano did that for them. For us.”
“Mrs. Romano?”
He shrugged. “She may be my mother, but she’s not my mom. I didn’t even ask what her name is.”
“Maggie,” Savannah said.
“Oh.” Zach drew in a deep breath, then sighed. “It’s a little overwhelming. To go from having no family to having a mother, the Three Stooges, and Gabi.”
Savannah laughed. “Three stooges, huh? Now there’s a brotherly sentiment.”
He grinned and changed the subject. “Let’s go. I didn’t drive up here to sit in the car and talk. Although, if you wanted to sit