“It’s about you and I, Bella.” The voice reached to her core and she turned toward the figure who walked up behind her brothers.
“Holden!” Confusion and a tiny flicker of something else—hope—rained on her. “What are you doing here?”
Spencer and Jarvis stepped aside to allow Holden a clear path to her. He wore a pale blue dress shirt, black jeans, cowboy boots. With one hand behind his back, he looked everything and nothing like the FBI agent she’d fallen for.
She’d fallen in love with. Tears began to spill down her cheeks and she sniffed.
“I wanted your brothers to be here, because I know how important they are to you.” Holden pulled his arm around and handed her a huge bouquet of multicolor flowers, with a single spiky creamy bloom in the center.
“Thank you.” She touched the center pale yellow flower, smiled. “An angel cactus. Just like—”
“The ones in Carr Canyon.” He looked over his shoulder at Spencer, who stepped forward and took the bouquet from her hands so that Holden could grasp them.
“Holden, I—”
“Bella, it’s my turn to talk. I’m hoping we’ll have all the time in the world to work out the details of where we’ll live, how we’ll handle two careers—congratulations on your new job, by the way, I couldn’t be prouder—but right now, I have one question to ask you.”
Holden bent down on one knee, still holding her hands. She was vaguely aware of her brothers standing behind him, giving their silent blessing to the event. But all she could see were Holden’s dark, dear eyes, looking up at her with complete trust. And the truth.
“I love you, Bella Colton. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, Holden St. Clair. I will marry you—I will!” She tugged him up, and to the applause of her brothers she met her fiancé’s mouth and let herself fall into the most delicious kiss of her life.
* * *