Finding Zoe (Atlantic Divide) (20 page)

Jesus, he really was a liability. The man was the clumsiest person she’d ever known. Who the hell was going to look after him if she didn’t? She pressed her fingers against her lips to stop them from trembling.

He pulled himself up; his hand slipped in the slime of the jetty, and he shot back under the water again. A splash of cold water hit her in the face. Laughter rumbled up inside her chest, rattled in her belly, filled her lungs, and spewed forth until tears flowed from her eyes. She kneeled, exhausted and speechless, as he heaved his way onto the jetty with Ryan anxiously looking from one to the other.

“For the love of God, Zoe, if you do that once more, I swear I will divorce you.”

“We’re not married yet, you moron.” She chuckled, pulled a broken head off one of the roses, threw it at him, and delighted in the little flinch he gave as it struck him below his eye.

Ryan sank to his knees and stared at them speechless as Mac heaved in oxygen, water gushing from his tuxedo.

“You ruined another set of clothes.”

“You ruined my life.”

“I never did. You almost ruined it yourself with your damned pride. Here.” He thrust out his huge fist, and her emerald ring glinted from between his fingers. “How the hell I didn’t lose it in the water, I don’t know, but you’d better put it on.”

She couldn’t speak. Emotionally wrangled as she was, tears welled in her eyes again as she stared at the emeralds, winking bright in the sunshine. Her breath hitched in, and she tried desperately to hold it back, but a sob burbled out of her mouth as her helpless gaze traced over his handsome features.

Ryan threw himself at her.

“Stop, Dad. Stop. You’re hurting her.”

She held her son in her arms, soothed him as he sobbed, and felt his pain and heartache tenfold. It took a split second for Mac to throw himself at them, saturating them both with water as he hauled them across his knees into his arms, squelching them tight against his huge chest while he rained kisses across the top of her head.

“No, son. I’m not hurting her. I love your mum.” He rocked them, smothered her face with his kisses, scrubbed his fingers through Ryan’s hair. “Zoe, I love you. Please take the goddamn ring before I lose it.”

His voice desperate, eyes pleading, he stared at her as she looked into his wonderful face. She raised her hand to his cheek and caressed it, smoothing his cold, wet skin with the warmth of her palm.

His dark, familiar eyes gazed into hers as she smiled.

“I knew you’d fuck up, cowboy.”

They all looked up as Flynn stomped along the jetty toward them, the boards creaking.

“You were supposed to
jump
out the helicopter,
grab
the girl.” He leaned down, picked up the harness and rope, and started to wind it up. “
Ask
her to marry you.
Run
to the Jeep.
Drive
to the helicopter.
Fly
to your wedding venue.” He hefted the gear over his shoulder. “All before the photographers arrive.” Hands on hips, he stared down at them all in disgust. “How difficult was it to remember?”

He pointed a long finger at Mac. “Your continuity’s shit.”

He pinned Ryan with a quick, assessing glance, flicked his fingers in a come-here motion. “Kid, you’re with me. You two follow. I have a spare tuxedo for you”—he gave a brisk nod at Mac—“at the venue. Personally, I thought you’d rip it, but you exceeded all expectations, Mac. You drowned it. Now, move.”

He strode away.

As Ryan leaped to his feet, she barely had time to stroke her hand over his hair before he flew along the jetty, legs pumping in hot pursuit of Flynn. Zoe’s eyes rose beyond them, up the track to where the Jeep was parked and her father stood, patiently waiting.

Still kneeling, she turned so she was face-to-face with Mac as the soft, golden sunlight bounced from the water and reflected off his dark eyes in a glinting promise. He smiled long and slow and made her heart swell. He slipped the ring onto her finger and gazed deep into her eyes. It was quite simple.

“Marry me, Zoe.”

“Okay.”

The End

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Characters have always been in a corner of Diane’s mind, securely tied down while she worked long hours in a serious job. In January 2011, Diane gave up her job, started to let those characters develop, seep out of her head, and onto the keyboard. Now she finds, having been hidden all too long and no longer shy, they are bursting out of her brain and demanding plot-lines of their own. Contemporary Romance author, Diane Saxon, is letting them have their own way. http://www.dianesaxon.com