Midnight in Montana - Chapter 20

Emilio With every fiber of his being, Emilio knew this was the right path for him. He’d known the moment Cass got the call to return home to Minnesota that he couldn’t bear to be apart from her. Not after the incredible time they’d spent together so far. Sitting on the couch with her, two of her kittens twining around his feet, he knew he had to convince her that he would give everything for the chance to make her happy. “Cass, please, consider it. You don’t have to say yes right now, but I want you to know I’m serious. Committed.” She shook her head, blond curls brushing her cheek as she stroked the gray kitten’s furry head. “I don’t understand. How can you possibly know that when we’ve only been together such a short while?” “I know because we built on a bond we shared eight years ago, expanding it to encompass the adults we’ve become. Only now I’ve got the maturity to understand you don’t just turn your back on a connection like that.” He reached to cup her jaw, cradling her face. “You fight for it with everything you have.” * Cass Could she trust this? Trust him? “I told myself that I shouldn’t get caught up in what I feel for you—” Even as she said it, the truth rattled her from the inside out. She loved this man. And she’d been prepared to stuff down her feelings for him for fear of being hurt again. Since when was she such a coward? She’d ended up back in Silent Spring because she wasn’t the kind of person to back down when someone needed her help. Maybe it was time to start fighting for herself. “Cass, I understand if you need time. And I can give you as long as you need.” Emilio’s gaze was earnest. His voice more serious than she’d ever heard him be. “I’ll go with you to St. Paul if you’d rather be there than here. Just don’t give up on something so real and so special. Not yet.” Releasing the kitty she’d been stroking, Cass laid her hand on his wrist where he still cupped her face. “You’d really do that? Move to St. Paul after you built your dream home here?” She knew how much it meant to him to make a success of Wild Horses Ranch. That he would give that up for her sake brought home exactly how much she meant to him. And the realization floored her. Filled her heart with so much joy she couldn’t see straight. Or maybe that was the happy tears that sprang to her eyes. “The night I brought you back to my place—even before we walked into my front door—I knew I’d trade everything I had for you, Cass. I love you.” Her heart overflowed at the knowledge that he felt all the same things she’d been feeling this week. “I love you too, Emilio,” she confessed, not caring if a few tears fell as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “And you can come with me to St. Paul, but only long enough for me to pack my things.” There would be girls’ hockey in Montana. She could make it work here, especially since she already had Lauryn in town. Plus, she knew Hope would be glad to have the help in her new veterinarian practice. But for right now, Cass simply kissed Emilio for all she was worth. When she came up for air, she was dizzy with the happiness of knowing she was in exactly the right place with the person she was meant to be with. “I’m going to work hard every day to make sure you never regret it,” he promised her, kissing her eyes so sweetly that another happy tear threatened to fall. “I’ll even be your assistant coach if you start a new hockey team here.” “Oh really? We’ll have to see how well you can skate first.” She loved that he offered. Loved him. “Tonight, I’m going to work hard to remind you why being with me is a good decision,” she promised him right back. And then proceeded to be as good as her word.