It wasn’t the way he’d pictured it, asking her with two weepy children looking on. But it was going to have to do.
“No one’s ever going to love you the way I do, Cassie. No one’s ever going to love these children more or work harder to give them a good life. The fact is, I can’t live without you, without all of you. You’re my heart. For God’s sake, Cassie, marry me.”
He couldn’t know what it meant to her, to hear those words, to have him say them, so simply, so plainly, while he held the children as if they were already his.
Of course, they were. How foolish she’d been to ever think otherwise.
How foolish she’d been to think about doing what Abigail had done, turning away love.
She walked up the steps, took one of Connor’s hands, one of Emma’s. “You are the most remarkable man I’ve ever known, and I love you. If you have a fault, it’s that you’re too patient, Devin.”
“I’m running low right now.”
“Then I’ll make this simple. We’ve kept you waiting long enough.”
She released Connor’s hand only long enough to pin the badge back on Devin’s shirt. Then, linked again, she lifted to her toes and kissed the man she loved in front of her children.
“We’d love to marry you, Devin. Soon.” She laid her head on his heart. “I think all of us have waited long enough. Very, very soon.”