for some reason they seemed to take her by surprise. She studied him with bemusement. “Is this your peculiar idea of a proposal, then?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
“What you intend to do with that hammer.” He gestured toward the tool she was thumping repeatedly into the palm of her hand.
“This?” She paused thoughtfully. “I’m tempted to use it to get your attention.”
“How about kissing me instead?” he suggested with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Before she could respond, he leaned over and took her mouth with an urgency that left her breathless and reeling. She clasped his shoulders to steady herself. That was a mistake, because his skin burned beneath her touch, sending shock waves of desire cascading through her.
She sighed when he released her. “Harlan Patrick, that’s never been the problem between us. That’s what muddies the waters.”
He gazed into her eyes. “Be honest with me, Laurie. Can you do that?”
Something told her that she didn’t have a choice. Whatever she said now was going to make all the difference in how the future turned out.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” she agreed.
“How do you feel right now?”
“Besides panicked?”
His smile was grim. “Besides that. Being back here, how does it make you feel?”
“I love it here. You know that. I just can’t stay here.”
“Could you stay here some of the time, say, between concert tours and recording sessions?”
Her gaze locked with his, and her heart began to pound. “What are you suggesting?”
“Something I should have insisted on long ago. It’s a genuine compromise, darlin’. It’s hardly any wonder that neither of us recognize it. Bottom line, we make this our home. You go to Nashville when you need to, go on tour when you have to, but you come back here. Amy Lynn and I’ll be waiting and maybe a few more kids when we can fit the baby-making into your busy schedule.”
She searched his face, desperate to see if he could truly live with this solution. “Are you sure? Can you really accept having a part-time wife?”
“As long as it’s you,” he assured her. “It took me long enough to grasp the truth, but I figure having you half the time will be better than having a poor substitute all the time.”
She grinned at him. “Harlan Patrick, you do have a romantic way with words.”
“I’m not the wordsmith in the family. You are.”
“You know,” she said slyly, “you can carry a tune pretty good for a cowboy. Maybe you could come along and sing with me once in a while.”
“No way, darlin’. The bright lights and glamour are all yours.”
Suddenly it all fell into place for her. She had no idea why she’d fought him so long. This was where she belonged, right here, in Harlan Patrick’s arms. He’d been steadfast in his love practically forever. Unlike her father, he knew his own heart and was willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to keep her in his life.
As for her singing, the acclaim, well, it was all just icing on the cake. He was offering her the chance to have that cake and eat it, too. How could she possibly say no to that when it was what she’d dreamed of practically forever.
“This room you’re building, is it going to be a nursery?”
He shook his head. “A whole new master-bedroom suite with a music room right alongside it, so you can write your songs and rehearse right here at home.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You see, I’ve been counting on you coming home.”
“Just how far along is this room?”
He grinned. “Not far enough along for what you’ve got in mind, but it will be by the time we say I do.”
Laurie looked into his eyes and saw the love there, understood finally the risk he had taken to bring her back from despair. He knew her inside and out and he wanted her.
“I love you, Harlan Patrick Adams.”
“I know that.”
“I always have.”
“I know that, too.”
“And you?”
“Darlin’, you and our family and White Pines are all I’ll ever need to make me a happy man.”
She threw her arms around him then, recklessly wrapped her legs around his waist, regardless of their precarious perch on the roof. After all, she was a woman who liked to live dangerously.
“Then prepare yourself to be ecstatic, cowboy,” she said, her gaze locked with his. “I’m coming home.”