It suddenly struck her, what he’d been asking her all the time. “You kept asking me to talk to the leadership of the companies,” she said with growing wonder.
“Exactly. And I wanted you to see the person behind the company. Statistics don’t run businesses, Rachel. People work in the factories producing the product, human beings set the quotas, run the machines, make the decisions.” He paused to let that sink in. “If the company isn’t a good place to work, if management isn’t good at their jobs, if they don’t treat the people right and the people believe in what they’re producing, the company isn’t going to be successful.”
She heard his words and, as he explained his point of view, the tension slowly left her body. “So what you’re saying is that I should find something I love doing and I’ll eventually be successful.”
He gripped her arms, shaking her slightly. “No, Rachel. I want you to re-examine your definition of successful. I want you to consider just being happy as the goal.”
She suddenly realized how happy she’d been in that tiny cottage with him, how secure she’d felt just lying in his arms, waking up to his kisses on her shoulder or his rough beard against her cheek. She looked into his dark eyes and it felt like something exploded inside of her. “I felt happy with you,” she whispered, almost afraid to say the words.
Emerson couldn’t believe what she’d just said. He’d thought it would take several more days of arguing with her before she finally admitted that. He was so stunned, he didn’t react for several heartbeats. When her declaration finally hit him, he grabbed her into his arms and lifted her up, his hands diving into her hair so he could kiss her. Really kiss her!
Rachel clung to his large frame, wanting to show him how much she loved him, how astonished she was that she felt so free, so liberated! “I love you,” she finally said when he finally lifted his head. She’d said it with her eyes closed, not really intending to say that, but the words just slipped out accidentally. When she realized what she’d said, her eyes popped open and she was looking directly into his own, her heart racing as she waited for his reaction.
“Finally!” he replied. He buried his face in her hair, kissing her neck and running his hands up and down her back. “Rachel, I’ve been waiting so long to hear you say that,” he told her.
Leaning back, he dug into his pocket. “I love you too,” he told her. “I know we have a lot of things to work out, one of them being what you want to do with the rest of your life, but while you wonder and consider the details, would you marry me? Would you do me the honor of being by your side, helping you, loving you and living with you for the rest of our lives?” He took her hand while he said those lovely words and slipped a beautiful diamond ring onto her finger. It wasn’t the biggest or the flashiest diamond ring she’d ever seen, but it was gorgeous!
She stared at the ring, then at Emerson, not sure what to think. “You want to marry me? With all my crazy, messed up baggage?”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “Definitely!” he groaned.
She looked down at the ring, her heart melting not because of the diamond, but because of his sincerity. “Why?”
He laughed and nuzzled her neck again. “Because you make me happy. Despite your assertion that all you want in life is power and money, you find joy in the simplest things and it thrills me when I wake up in the morning and find you still in my arms.”
What was a woman supposed to say to a proposal like that? “Yes,” she sighed. Then she screamed as he lifted her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and started striding across the large wooden expanse of his great room. Laughing, her hair falling over her face, she held onto his back. “What are you doing?” she gasped out.
“I’m taking you to my bed. And I’m not letting you up until you can’t speak any longer and neither of us can move.”
She laughed even harder at that, thinking about all the beds the man actually owned. But she didn’t disagree with that plan. Not at all.
A long time later, Rachel sighed, stretching now-tender muscles and smiling when his arms tightened around her waist.
“What are you thinking about?” Emerson prompted.
She rolled over, looking up at him in the dim light of his stunning bedroom that looked out over the ocean with skylights that allowed her to see the twinkling stars above in the night sky. She had no idea what time it was, and she probably should be exhausted, but she was afraid to fall asleep. “I’m happy,” she replied finally. Her fingers dove into his dark hair and she smiled up at him. “You really do make me happy,” she whispered.
He bent down and gently kissed her lips. “Then I guess I finally succeeded,” he replied back.
Epilogue
[Rachel smiled as she listened to what sounded like a herd of wild animals coming down the stairs. It was only her children, but she still cringed at the noise.
“Brace yourself,” Molly groaned beside her.
Rachel chuckled but turned to see her two sons and two daughters stampede down the wooden stairs, all of them dressed with their hair at least brushed, although not necessarily well. “Jonas, button your shirt properly,” she told her oldest. “You’re ten years old so there’s no excuse for the buttons to be askew like that.” She surveyed her eight year old daughter. “Liza, did your father do your braids this morning?”
She plunked her bottom down at the breakfast bar and looked at both Molly and her mother as if her braids were perfect instead of one being several inches higher than the other. “Jonas helped me,” she replied proudly.
Both Rachel and Molly looked over at Jonas who was trying to smother a mischievous smile. “What?” he asked when they continued to glare at him.
Rachel stuffed the last peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the lunch bag then moved around so she could fix Liza’s braids. “Lilly, you can’t have ice cream for breakfast,” she called out, relieved when her six year old simply closed the freezer without an argument. Rachel still lost more arguments to that child than she won. Lilly had the most amazing logic. It wasn’t always accurate, but it made enough sense that Rachel allowed her to win. It was hard to argue about some things, especially when she was laughing too hard at the arguments that child came up with.
Molly picked the little girl up and plunked her down on one of the breakfast bar chairs, then pushed a bowl of freshly picked blueberries and organic yogurt in front of her.