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.You won’t find better people to be your neighbors and friends and, yes, stand before you in court.“And you will never find a man who will love you the way I do!” he roared, then stormed out of the room, slamming the door.Chapter NineteenShe couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe.Had Will said he loved her?No one, apart from Nicolas, had ever told her that.Not her parents.Not her ex-husband.Yet Will had said it and with such passion.Something akin to joy bloomed in her chest, then was quickly replaced by panic.Oh, God, what have I done? she railed at herself as she pulled on her clothes, raced downstairs and tore open the front door.The world outside looked like a Christmas card.Snow covered everything in a pure white blanket.You won’t find a better place anywhere to live and raise a child.Will was right, she thought as she glanced across the street to the tiny Episcopalian church, painted a cheery yellow and trimmed in white, its steeple reaching to the sky.Next to that was a Victorian cottage, painted in a soft blue and trimmed in salmon, and next to that, a run-down relic of the mining years, all rusted corrugated tin and bare timber slab walls brimming with rustic character and charm.Her neighbors on either side of her dwelled in homes filled with warmth and love.The neighborhood was quiet, peaceful.Safe.It was like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting.About to throw on her coat and go in search of Will, she noticed that the snow on her front path hadn’t been disturbed.He must still be in the house.“Will!” she cried, closing the front door and heading for kitchen.He was leaning against the countertop, glaring at her.It had all become so clear—he was hurting and she loved him and that was all that mattered.She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck.“I love you.Please don’t go.I’m sorry for everything I said.I was so wrong.Please forgive me.”His hands clasped hers to release her stranglehold and for one dreadful moment she thought he’d thrust her away, tell her it was too late, that she’d had her one and only chance and blown it.His dark eyes raked her face.She probably looked terrible, but she didn’t care.Will was about to walk out the door and out of her life and she was going to do everything she could to make him stay.“What did you say?” he demanded, his look no less severe, his hands gripping hers, hard and unyielding.“I’m sorry.”“Before that,” he said through clenched teeth.She studied his face, unable to remember everything she’d blubbered, but she did remember one thing.“I love you.”His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as he considered her words.“Do you mean it?”“Yes!” she answered without hesitation.“You’re right.This is the perfect town to raise a child.I was so focused on my career, on my need to secure a well-paid job to ensure my son’s future, that I couldn’t see what’s been staring me in the face all along.” She paused and took a deep breath, then said, “I don’t ever want to be without you, Will.”The side of his mouth turned up.“Do I need to ask you to swear to that in a court of law?”Her heart soared.He wasn’t going to leave! He didn’t hate her for what she’d said.Such careless, stupid, insensitive words! “I’ll swear it to the entire audience of the courthouse come tomorrow if you like.”“You would?”“Yes, absolut—”Becky’s declaration was cut off when he covered her mouth in a searing kiss that had every nerve in her body singing with joy.His big hands clasped her face so tenderly and she returned his passion, gasping as Will nuzzled the side of her throat.The scratchiness of his morning whiskers sent heat licking through her body.When his mouth moved lower to bite gently at the swell of her breast through the fabric of her sweater, the sensations were exquisite.Carnal.“Make love to me,” she said, but Will stepped back and took her hands.“I don’t need to remind you what happened this morning.”“It won’t happen again.”“It might.” He released her hands and strode to the other side of the kitchen before turning toward her.“It kills me to say this, but I think we need to cool it for a bit.”“What?”HER EYES GLOWED with green spears of anger, and Will couldn’t help grinning at her indignant expression and her petulant pout.He felt warmed by the knowledge she wanted him so badly.Much as he wished he could drag Becky back upstairs, now wasn’t the time.One of them needed to keep a cool head about this, and she had to get ready for work.A HALF HOUR LATER she was back downstairs, dressed immaculately, not a hair out of place and with no trace of the night’s lovemaking.She pulled on her gloves and said, “Please explain what you meant by ‘cool it for a bit.’”“I think we should step back for a while—at least until Nick returns to school.”“What difference does that make?”He could hear the frustration in her voice.It mirrored his own.The scene in her bedroom earlier had cut him to the quick.Becky might want to protect her heart from ever being hurt again.But he needed to protect his heart, too.“When Nick goes back to school, I’ll no longer be his full-time caregiver, and therefore not your employee.Then our relationship will be on a more even footing.”“But I’ll still need you to collect him from school and help with his homework.I can’t do this on my own, Will.I need you! Nicolas needs you.”He helped her into her coat.“I’ll be there for you.I won’t let you down.But I won’t be your employee anymore.”“I don’t understand.Either you work for me looking after Nick—or what?”“I do it for free.I do it as a friend.”“Seems to be a very one-sided friendship to me.What do you get out of it? I can’t return the favor.”“You can let me date you.”Becky gave a snort of disbelief.“I think after last night we’ve moved past needing to date.”“I don’t agree.The fact that you felt you’d put your reputation at risk is all the more reason for us to cool it.I don’t ever again want to wake up and see the look in your eyes I saw this morning.I’m in this relationship for the long-term, Becky.Not a one-night stand.”“I can’t believe you’re even speaking to me.I’ve treated you abominably.” Her face was flushed.“I’m sorry.”“I aim to prove to you that you can be good at relationships—fulfilling ones that will last a lifetime.”“Look, just because I admitted I love you doesn’t mean I want to marry you!”“You will,” he said with utter conviction.Chapter Twenty“Have you seen today’s paper?” Those were his mother’s first words once Will had snatched up the insistently ringing phone the following morning.“Mom?” He sat up groggily and rubbed his face.“What’s up?”“Get yourself out of bed and find a paper,” Sarah said, her voice holding uncharacteristic panic.“Becky’s in trouble!”Will scrambled out of bed, hauled on his jeans and sweater and went downstairs to the free newsstand outside Mrs.C.’s shop.He flipped through it and there on page seven, for all the world to see, was a photograph of him and Becky and the headline blaring Judge Shows Bias Toward Lover’s Protest Movement.Will felt as though he’d been hit in the chest.The photographer had caught them in an intimate moment at the Christmas carol ceremony.Becky had wrapped a scarf around his neck, and for a moment their eyes had held.He’d been tempted to kiss her, but she’d blushed and looked away
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