He tilted her chin. “You stole my heart the day we brought Sophie into this world. And every day since then I’ve fallen more in love than I ever dreamed possible.”
More tears gushed from her eyes, down her cheeks and into the corners of her mouth. It was all he could do not to kiss them away.
“What would a beautiful angel like you want with me? But I don’t regret one moment we spent together. And if I could have one wish in this world—” He stopped, too emotional to go on.
Still weeping softly, Jenna turned her face into his palm and kissed him. The sweetness of that act nearly brought him to his knees.
“Tell me your wish.”
He shook his head. “No. I won’t put any more guilt on you. Go home with your family and be happy, Jenna. That’s what I wish for you.”
The baby had grown restless while the adults talked and let out a whimper. Thinking this was the last time he’d get to hold her, Dax took Sophie and rested her against his shoulder. She settled instantly and if possible Dax’s heart broke a little more. He’d fallen for this baby girl as surely as he’d fallen for the mother.
Jenna smiled through her tears and gripped the lapel of his work coat.
“I am home with my family, Dax.”
He wasn’t sure he understood. “Aren’t you going back East with your mother?”
Her face crumpled again. “Do you want me to?”
“No!” he shouted.
Sophie jumped and started to cry. Dax patted her back and made a shushing sound until she settled again.
“I mean,” he said more quietly, “I want you to do what’s best for you. I won’t stand in your way.” Even if it killed him. “But tell me one thing, why weren’t honest with me from the start?”
“I’m sorry. I wish I had been.” So did he. “But I was so very afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Yes, and of my own inadequacies. Mostly I feared being found by my family and having Sophie taken away.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t. Unless you’ve lived in a gilded cage, you can’t imagine what it’s like. All my life, I’ve been nothing but a trust fund baby, controlled, overprotected, and only accepted for my fortune. The one time I tried to break away, I chose a man who claimed to love me until he had his hands on my money. And then I was nothing. Nothing.”
“You thought I’d care about your blasted fortune!” The idea infuriated him.
“Derek did.”
“I’m not him.”
“Exactly. You didn’t know and you loved me anyway. You saw me and accepted me for who I am in here.” She tapped her chest. “Do you know what that means to me? For the first time in my life, I’m a normal person, living a free, happy life. That’s what I want. That’s what Sophie deserves. Don’t you see? I could never subject my daughter to that smothering lifestyle where she never really knows someone else’s motives. I want her to have confidence that she can do things for herself, that she can earn her own way, that she’s beautiful and special for herself, not her money. I want her to grow up where she was born, surrounded by the simple life and good people of Saddleback.”
Wonder and hope began to warm his frozen blood. “You want to go on as my housekeeper? You? A woman who could buy this place and hire a dozen servants?”
Her eyes flashed fire. If he’d been kindling, she would have incinerated him.
Hands on hips, she said, “For a smart man, you can sure act dumb. If that’s all you want from me, tell me now and I will leave. Because I don’t want to be your housekeeper.”
“What do you want?”
She slashed at the tears that had begun again. “I want to love you every day of my life. I want to be your partner and your friend and—”
Before she could finish, he used his free hand to yank her against him. His heart banged against his rib cage like hail on a tin roof. “And my lover and my wife?”
She raised her face to his, eyes red-rimmed but glowing with joy. “Yes!”
With a fierce groan of relief, he kissed the lips he craved. For the rest of his life, he’d remember the feel of the December chill seeping through his clothes, the smell of wood smoke in the air, and the taste of her salty tears…mingling with his.
EPILOGUE
CARS LINED THE YARD and driveway of the Southpaw Cattle Company. Jenna’s Christmas Eve party was in full swing and she was so excited and happy she could hardly think straight.
The house was full of friends and Dax’s family, who’d driven up from Austin for the holiday. She’d been a little nervous about meeting them, but they seemed to like her and were taken captive by Sophie. Even now, the baby, dressed in a red velvet Mrs. Santa suit, was being passed from person to person.