She glanced down at her screen. Her exact location showed as a tiny dot. She could see the most direct route back to her car and immediately headed that way.
* * *
MEN HAD BEEN making fools of themselves over women for centuries, Kipling thought cheerfully. He was just one in a long line. If he was going to lose Destiny, he was going to do it in style. With everything on the table.
In the past hour he’d had a call from five of his business partners asking to be a part of The Man Cave again, and a text from Nick saying he was expecting a big crowd. Felicia Boylan, Carter’s mother, had found him and hugged him, all the while telling him how happy she was that he’d shown Carter the complete cycle of a male exchange, from misunderstanding to threatened violence, to apology and resolution. When he’d tried to explain that hadn’t been his intent, she’d brushed off his comments.
He stood there, in the center of the festival, surrounded by people, and all he could think was that he wanted to tell Destiny all about it. Not just tell her, but have her share in it. He wanted to laugh with her and touch her and take care of her.
But the telling was important, too. Talking to her. Words. It came back to those damn words.
He got that actions were significant. Promising to be faithful was meaningless if you went out and cheated. His father hitting Shelby had a whole lot more meaning than the times he’d sworn he loved her. But maybe, just maybe, he’d taken the lesson he’d learned just a little too far. Maybe he’d dismissed the words too quickly. And if that were the case, he just might have a chance at winning Destiny back.
In the time it took him to jog home and grab the keys to his Jeep, he came to several more realizations. He realized that just because he’d never been in love before didn’t mean he was necessarily flawed. He hadn’t been holding back because he didn’t believe saying he loved someone made a difference—he’d been waiting. For the right woman. The only woman.
Destiny had said she loved him, and now all he wanted was to say it back to her. Then convince her, because action was always going to be his thing. But he would say it, too.
Destiny loved him, he loved her, and there was no way he was going to let her go. Not without a fight. And if he made a fool of himself because of it, so be it.
He headed out of town. A quick call to Cassidy gave him the starting point. He had his tracking equipment and working knowledge of the STORMS program. He was supposed to be some kind of search and rescue expert. It was time he put that title to the test.
He pulled off into the rest area parking lot and pulled up next to Destiny’s car. After getting out, he checked his equipment then started entering data. She was an experienced hiker, on a day trip. He knew the grid she would cover, just not which part she would be in right now.
“Looking for someone?”
He glanced up and saw Destiny heading toward him. He opened his driver’s door, flung in his tablet then walked toward her.There were so many things to say, he thought, but none of them mattered right this second. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and hung on as if she was never going to let go.
“I love you,” he said when they came up for air.
“I had no right to say I wanted a divorce— What?” Her green eyes widened. “What did you say?”
“I love you. A lot. I have for a while. We’re not getting a divorce without talking about it first. Once you agree to that, I’m going to convince you to stay with me for always.”
“I do love a man with a plan.” Her lips trembled. “Real love?”
“The forever kind.” He kissed her again. “The kind that means I’m not leaving, so you should consider sticking around, too.”
“I will. I am. I’ve been running away from what scared me for so long that I forgot what it was like to run to something. To you.”
He held her close and breathed in the scent of her.
“Marry me,” he whispered. “Not because you’re pregnant or because it’s the right thing to do. Marry me because you can’t imagine spending another day without me. Marry me because we’re a family. You, me, Starr, the baby. Marry me so we can be together always.”
She looked into his eyes. “I already did, Kipling.” She leaned against him. “I already did.”
Kipling led her to his Jeep. She climbed inside. They would deal with her car later. They would deal with a lot of things. But the decisions would be easy, because they were together.
It wasn’t flying down a mountain at seventy miles an hour, he thought as he started down the highway. It was better.
She took his hand in hers. “I’m going to write a song about this.” She grinned. “After we have sex.”
He was still laughing when they drove into town.