With his arm secure in a sling, Eric stood with his other arm wrapped around Susan’s shoulders as they looked at the burned shell that had been his house. A crew was there to tear the rest of it down. Nothing had been salvageable.
He was glad that Bethany had taken the advice from the psychologist at the police department to talk to a counselor. After Douglas admitted to having been the person that had been destroying the property of the Walkers and the Morgans, she’d been bombarded with guilt that had made her physically sick.
Tyson’s truck was visible up at the barn. A horse trailer was attached. He’d managed to get three new horses for Eric to board. Thanks to his brother, he was back in business. Russell had agreed to work the horses until Eric was back to full strength.
Pride swelled in his chest. Family was a good thing to have on your side, he thought.
Susan’s shoulders shifted under his arm and he looked down at her. Tears streaked her cheeks as she watched the house come down.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
She looked up at him with those sad, dark eyes. “Why aren’t you crying? This is your home!”
Eric turned her toward him. “My home is wherever you are.” He cupped her cheek with his free hand. “Right now my home is in town where you’re letting me stay. But we’ll rebuild this.”
“And then your home will be here.”
“With you.”
“Eric, I’m not in any hurry.”
“I am. Life is too short not to grab on with both hands. I don’t want to live without you and if that means I live in town, well then that’s what I’ll do. But this is a fresh start,” he said as he brushed his thumb over her lips. “I’ll build you a kitchen of your dreams.”
She was trying hard to control her smile, but it seemed to slip through and that warmed his heart.
“What kind of kitchen?”
“You get to design it.”
“Really?”
“Really. But the stipulation is, you have to live here to use it.”
She stepped closer to him and rested her hands on his chest. “I could live here.”
“You’ll need to change your name too.”
She raised her brows. “You don’t like my name?”
“Your catering company will need to be called Susan Walker catering.”
“Oh,” she let out a long breath.
“I like the sound of it, don’t you?”
For a moment, he was sure she was going to argue it, but he wasn’t going to let her win. He knew what he wanted and Eric Walker always got what he wanted.
“I think it has a very nice ring to it,” she said, her eyes wide and a beaming smile on her lips.
“You’ll marry me?”
“I’ll marry you.”
He quickly sealed her answer with a warm kiss that he felt surge from the tip of his head all the way to his toes. She was going to be his wife. Never in a million years would he have guessed that he’d meet the woman of his dreams at his grandfather’s funeral.
“We have one more thing to settle.”
“What’s that?” She rested her cheek against his chest.
“What the hell does Q stand for?”
Susan pulled back and smiled. “Quick.”
“Quick? That’s not a name.”
“I used to tell people it was the dog’s name.”
“It’s not?”
She shook her head. “Something you should know about my parents. They’re hippies, still are.”
He knew his mouth had fallen open and nothing came out in response.
She raised her arms around his neck. “My mother went into labor three weeks early and I was born in the bathtub within an hour. Quick.”
“That’s where you got the name?”
Susan nodded. “Would it humor you to know my sister’s middle name is Molasses?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “She took longer than an hour to be born?”
“Forty-eight hours longer and she was a week late.”
Eric looked at her with the rose in her cheeks, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, and the thought of her Subaru and her Birkenstocks suddenly flashed into his head.
“You’re a vegetarian that drives a Subaru. How come I didn’t see the hippy parent thing coming?”
“I’m quick and you’re not?”
“That’s funny.” He pulled her in. “Susan Quick Walker. It has a ring to it.”
They turned and started back for his truck.
“Are you open to non-traditional baby names?” She jabbed him with her elbow. “I have a list of some really great names.”
“Are you going to move into my house, use the kitchen, and take my last name?”
“I am.”
“Then we can discuss that. The pride is in the Walker.”
He smiled as he opened the door for her and she climbed into his beat-up red truck. Yes, pride was having a family that stuck together even when things were not the way everyone thought they should be.
We hope you enjoyed the first installment of
THE WALKERS
Here is a sneak peek into the second book in the series
STARGAZING
Please visit us at www.5princebooks.com for updated release information on this and other books in the series.