Early Dawn (48 page)

Eden held her cup aside to lean forward and kiss him. “I
am
happy. It’ll be a lovely house. I just don’t want you to think you have to build it.”

“I know I don’t have to, honey. I
want
to.” He tapped the drawing. “Study the layout. Put your own stamp on it. I want it to be a house that suits you in every way.”

Eden set her cup on the blanket to better peruse the plans. “Oh, Matthew, it’s perfect just as it is.” She glanced up at him, imagining their children growing up within those walls, Olivia and several brothers and sisters. She wanted a large family and so did Matthew. “I love it.”

“Not as much as you love me, I hope.”

“Never. I love you more than anyone or anything.”

He smiled and lightly touched their daughter’s curly dark hair. “In my special corner of your heart?” His smile deepened. “I finally get that, you know. I love our baby so much that it almost hurts.” His gaze shifted to Eden’s. “And yet I love you more than life itself. It’s a mystery, isn’t it, how limitless our capacity for love can be?”

Eden cupped a palm to his scarred cheek. “It
is
a mystery,” she agreed. “A profound mystery.”

He dipped his head to kiss her. Corn whiskey slopped over the edge of his cup. They broke apart and laughed. Then their smiles faded as they looked deeply into each other’s eyes as only lovers do.

“Meeting you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he whispered.

“Same for me.”

“No, I mean it. You gave me a reason to want to live again.”

He set his cup beside hers. The spirits forgotten, they lay back, wrapped in each other’s arms. Dappled sunlight played over them. The creek sang in the background. The music of the birds played through Eden’s mind. Breathing deeply of the flower-scented air, she could think of nowhere on earth she’d rather be. Even lovelier, she could think of no better way to spend the rest of her life.