Savannah cleared her throat, feeling that it was time for her to start functioning rationally again—something she hadn’t quite been able to do since Kit had said the word “fiancée.”
“We really shouldn’t continue this discussion in a parking lot,” she said. “I think we should go. Mother, would you drive the kids home? Kit and I need to go somewhere to talk in private for a while. We’ll see you at home later, okay?”
Ernestine nodded and reached for Savannah’s car keys.
The twins looked at Savannah anxiously as she waved them to the car.
“He really likes us, Mom,” Miranda said over her shoulder.
“We like him, too,” Michael added.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Savannah told them dryly.
Apparently, her children were letting her know what they thought her answer should be to Kit’s indirect proposal..
But first, Savannah had tò hear Kit tell her exactly why he wanted to marry her.
“By the way, Michael,” Kit called after the boy. “You and I are going to have a long talk later about when fighting is appropriate and when it’s not. And about handling conflict in public places like a gentleman.”
Michael looked warily back at Kit. “Are you going to lecture me?”
Kit nodded, his expression suitably stern. “Yes, I am.”
Michael beamed happily. “Cool.”
Kit chuckled and turned to Savannah. His grin died when he saw her expression. He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet in the dirt, looking a bit like Michael when he was called on the carpet for misbehavior. “Um—I guess I’m in trouble, huh?”
“We need to have a talk,” she replied.
KIT DROVE SQRAIGHT to the cabin. By unspoken agreement, he and Savannah didn’t talk on the way, choosing to listen to the old songs playing from the radio while they contemplated their own thoughts.
Kit ushered her inside and closed the door behind them. He glanced a bit wistfully toward the stairs to the sleeping loft “I don’t suppose you wanted to be alone so we could…er…”
“No,” she answered, her tone still dry. “I wanted to be alone so we could talk.”
At least, that was what she thought they needed to do. What she wanted to do with him was irrelevant at the moment.
He put his hands in his pockets and made a production of steeling himself. “Okay,” he said. “Shoot”
“Didn’t it occur to you that you might talk to me before you announced our engagement to my mother and my children and half the residents of Campbellville?”
“I didn’t plan to make an announcement,” he explained carefully. “It just seemed to pop out But I meant it, Savannah. I wasn’t trying to protect your reputation. I want to marry you.”
She moistened her lips and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Kit, I don’t need a husband.”
His eyebrows dipped into a frown. “Er—”
‘I’ve gotten along perfectly well without one for all this time,” she continued determinedly. “I’ve supported myself, my mother and my children. I’ve weathered the gossip, and can continue to do so if necessary. I don’t need anyone’s help or pity.”
“Savannah, I—”
She drew a deep breath. “If I decide to marry, it will be to a man I am desperately in love with, a man who loves me just as desperately in return. I don’t want to be married because he feels pressured by gossip or family or…I don’t know, guilt or whatever.”
Kit’s expression cleared. He took a step closer to her. “I love you, Savannah,” he said, his voice clear, firm. “Desperately.”
Her heart tripped. “You never said so before.”
He took another step. “I shamelessly harassed a longtime friend and probably broke a couple of privacy laws to find you. I risked humiliation and rejection to show up uninvited on your doorstep. I’ve survived looks from your mother that would have made a less besotted man take to his heels. I’ve left a multimillion-dollar business deal hanging in limbo for the sake of you and your kids. I’ve just paid an inflated price for this lakeside cabin because we first made love here. What more would you like me to do to prove my feelings?”