Page 95 of Gone Country

“But youarementioned plenty,” she added, and rolled over onto her side to face me.

“Yeah?” I grinned and she nodded. “What’s the last thing you wrote about me?”

Silence fell between us as her eyes dipped from mine, only for a second or two. Our eyes met again, and she said, “I wrote to my parents about you.”

Well…shit. I wasn’t expecting that, or for her to reach over into her nightstand and come back with her journal. “Andi…I can’t…”

“Nothing between us,” she said, and opened it up to the last entry.

I sighed and made a face as I propped myself up onto my elbow and took the open journal from her hand, reluctantly reading the pretty script covering the page…

Dear Diary,

Dear Mom and Dad,

It’s hard to believe how much has changed since you’ve been gone. I know I’ve made some choices that probably broke your hearts. Trust me, they broke mine, too…

A minute or so later, I finished reading the words and traced my fingertip over the page. “Can I see your pen?”

She narrowed her eyes curiously but reached back over to the nightstand and came back with a blue clicky pen. I took it gently from her outstretched hand and clicked it before touching it to the paper.

“What are you doing?” Andi asked, craning her neck to get a look but I blocked the book with my arm.

“Gimme a sec,” I said, writing as legibly as I could (my handwriting was no better than chicken scratch). “And…done.”I grinned as I handed her back the pen and then twisted the journal so the words faced her.

She eyed me suspiciously but then picked up the journal and read my words out loud.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Ford,

Andi is…something else.

You raised a beautiful woman who is kind, and courageous, and—thanks to my sister—knows how to throw one hell of a right hook. It’s a shame I never got to meet you, and that my family never got to meet you…and vice versa. But I just want you to know that Andi was right with everything she said. I am and will always be there to catch her, hold her, and put her back together when she feels like she’s falling apart. I love your daughter, and I know it’s a ways down the road, but when I do get around to asking her to spend the rest of her life with me…I hope I have your blessing.

Mr. Ford…thanks for leaving her your Camaro. And Mrs. Ford…thank you for sending her to me. She’s in good hands…my hands…and I will protect her and cherish her for the rest of my days.

Completely smitten with your daughter,

Zane McKade

Andi closed the journal and looked at me with watery eyes. “You want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

I reached up to touch her cheek before tucking her hair behind her ear. “That’s the plan, princess. Would you like that?”

A tear slipped down her cheek as she nodded.

I chuckled. “Words, princess.”

She expelled a teary laugh and met me down on the bed, laying her body over mine. “Yes, I think I would love spending the rest of my life with you, cowboy. In fact, I think it sounds just like…”

“Heaven,” we both said at the same time.

And it was.