The front door opened, and Laurel’s call cut off anything Mark was going to say. “One more load to grab, Mom. You got everything under control here?”
Mark took a step toward the front hall.
Dear God, don’t let Mark say anything in front of her daughter-in-law. Not until—
Dana all but sprinted to cut him off, slowing the instant she was past him. “I’m good. This won’t take long.”
Laurel took another inquisitive glance between her and Mark before reluctantly disappearing outside the door one last time.
Moving as quickly as she could, Dana unloaded the next two bags of groceries before Mark stepped closer. “Dana. Tell me I can turn back the hands of the clock. Tell me how to make up for not being here all those years.”
Dana looked at him. Really looked.
He was handsome, but sadness also marked his face, something that had rarely been there when they’d been friends so long ago. He’d been full of laughter and excitement during the years they’d shared at school.
But it had been years, and he had left—and while he’d been gone, the Coleman family had dealt with many things. So much sadness, so much loss.
Dana choked back the pain swirling inside and stuck to the basics. “You’re family. You should’ve been here, but you weren’t. That was your choice. But if you want to be here now, I suppose you’ll have to put in the time. Eventually people will get used to you being around again. I don’t know for sure.”
Her own heart had been broken more than once, and to have this reminder from her past waltzing in—
She was simultaneously curious and angry and sad and flustered, and none of it made sense.
She must’ve been staring, because he was suddenly there, right in her space. He tucked his fingers under her chin and lifted until her eyes met his. “Tell me I have a chance.”
Confusion swept in. “A chance…at what?”
“Forever. With the woman I love.”
What? A sharp laugh burst from her. “Love? What are you talking about? Who?”
“You, Dana. I want to be with you. I’ve loved you forever.”
Never in a million years could she have imagined this. Speaking instead of simply sputtering was almost impossible. “We were never more than friends. It’s been ages since we’ve even seen each other. I was married! You can’t just go tossing off words like that—”
“It’s what I feel, and I refuse to call it anything else.” Mark stepped back, his hand falling to his side. “I took the coward’s way once, walking away because it was the only option I had. But I won’t leave again. And you can correct my words all you want, but you can’t change what’s inside my heart.”
“Mark.” Dana hadn’t felt this conflicted in forever.
She’d loved Ben, and then she’d hated what life had turned him into. But even during the toughest times toward the end, she’d still felt deep emotion for the man he had once been.
Maybe Mark did feel something, in spite of it having been so long since they’d even seen each other. But for him to come marching in and toss around a word like love—
It was too much, and too soon, and way too unexpected. She shook her head. “I can’t deal with this. I need time. I need to think, and I need to—”
“Of course, you do,” Mark agreed. “I’ll give it to you. Time, at least a bit more. But I am back in Rocky, Dana. I’ve come to rejoin the family. I know that’s going to take more than a little work, but I’m ready for it.”
Incredible.
His smile grew, and her heart began pounding.
He spoke again, and there was laughter in his words. “I learned a lot during my years away about working hard and being successful. Just so you know, I totally plan to find a way to win you to my side.”
It was his amusement that got her back up. “If I decide I want to see you as anything other than a distant family member, I’ll tell you.” Her shock was bubbling now into a nice hot rage. “I can’t believe you expected to come in here and order me around. I’m not some submissive little thing. I’m still figuring out exactly what I want—”
“That’s going to be me,” Mark promised. “The what you want part.”
Her cheeks had to be bright red, they were so flaming hot. “That’s pretty cocky talk.”
“Confidence. I seem to remember you liked that in a man.”