“I’ve talked to your dad. He’s a very smart man who loves you very much. He insisted I call your mom, too, because apparently she would make my balls into earmuffs if I didn’t let her get her own threats in before I set foot on Malone land.” He grinned at her. “You might think you spent the past decade living in your brother’s shadow, but they made it clear to me that they never felt that way. They love you because you’re you, Mac.”
The sound that escaped her was far closer to a sob than she cared to admit, but it was all too much.
Reaching out, he took the letter from her limp fingers and dropped it at her feet. “I think I remember what the rest of it says.”
“Okay,” she whispered, terrified to hope. Despite the fear, despite the negative voices that told her she was a fool to lay her heart in this man’s hands, she set her hurt aside, silenced her pride and listened with her heart.
Ty took both her hands in his and stared at her. “This is harder than I expected it to be.”
“The easy road is for cowards and barrel racers.”
He grinned. “That’s my girl.”
Her eyes widened even as her heart tripped and her breath caught. The way he looked at her, the way his eyes softened at the sight of her panic, overrode her urge to run.
“That’s my girl,” he repeated, softer this time. “And that phrase says it all. It sums up all my hopes, my dreams, my desires, wants and needs. It’s more than I ever thought to find in this life. If only I’d been smart enough, brave enough, to open my eyes sooner, we could have had all this time together, and I never would have had to listen to you talk about city boy. What was his name? Nashville...Seattle...Buffalo...” He gently pulled her into his embrace.
And she went. Her heart, so broken less than an hour before, had never been so full of love for this man. “Dallas. His name was Dallas.”
“Give me a chance to make you forget him, Mac. Give me a chance to wipe out every man who came before and to wipe the floor with any man who believes he has a chance after.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?” she asked. “My memory’s pretty good.”
“God willing, darlin’, it’ll take a lifetime. Just say the word.” He lowered his lips to hers, and then waited.
“Yes,” she said. “My answer to you will always be yes.”