Ian pulled away from the post, took a step forward before he stopped. He looked up at Selena, sitting there, her back straight, her cheeks already pink from the cold, sparkling air, and thanked God that she was back. Even if it was only for a second.
Elliot set the reins down and climbed out of the wagon. Crossing behind it, he went to Selena and helped her down, then he led her back toward the house. The crowd parted wordlessly, leaving Ian alone at the top of the stairs.
Elliot led Selena up the steps and came to a stop in front of Ian.
Elliot drew in a deep breath, then, very slowly, he took Selena's cold hand and placed it in Ian's.
"Ian," he said in a soft, steady voice. "I give you my wife to be yours. All I ask ..." Tears filled his eyes, fell in streaks down his face. "All I ask is that you love her and make her happy. I cannot do it anymore."
Ian felt a rush of emotion so powerful, so intense, that his knees went weak. He squeezed her hand tightly, too tightly. He looked down at Selena. She was crying quietly, but she hadn't looked at him.
"Elliot-" Selena whispered, a stricken look on her face.
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Elliot gave her a heartbreakingly tender smile. "We are not truly husband and wife, Selena. We never were."
"But ..." Her voice broke. She looked at Ian, her eyes filled with a mixture of tears and love and awe.
Elliot leaned down, kissed her cheek. "Be happy, Selena."
He pulled his hand away from Selena's and left it in Ian's, then started down the stairs.
For a second, Ian was too stunned to react. Then he pulled her into his arms, crushed her in his embrace. She clung to him, whispering his name over and over again, as if she couldn't believe they were together.
Finally they drew apart, and he stared down at her. "I love you so much," he said in a cracked voice. Such little words, so small, to express the pounding, aching emotion in his chest.
Tears puddled in her eyes, slid down her pink cheeks. She gave him a trembling smile, then cast a sad look at the old man walking away from them. "It is not right," she whispered, and another tear fell.
Ian looked at Elliot, watched the man crunch through the new snow toward the wagon, his whole body hunched in defeat.
And suddenly Ian understood. All of it made sense. God had demanded the best from all of them-Selena, Elliot, Ian. Each of them had to dig deep in his or her soul and find the honor, the love, the truth.
In finding the goodness in themselves, they'd been redeemed.
"You're right," he said softly. Squeezing her hand, he led her down the steps and across the snowy yard. "Elliot!" he called.
The big man paused just before boarding the wagon and turned back. His eyes widened in surprise as Ian and Selena moved closer. He pulled the floppy hat from his head and crushed it to his chest. "What is it?"
It took Ian a moment to find the words. He wanted
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just the right ones, but in the end, he couldn't find them. So he simply said, "Stay."
Selena gasped, smiled up at Ian-so painfully beautiful, it took all his willpower not to crush her against him.
Back on the porch, Maeve let out a scream and came running down the steps.
Elliot looked from face to face in obvious confusion. "You're just being polite."
"No," Ian said.
Selena squeezed his hand, then let go, moving toward Elliot. "I told you once that you were my family, Elliot. I believe this is what families do. They grow. One person at a time, one day at a time, they grow and change and stay wondrously the same."
Elliot touched her face, a fleeting, emotional gesture. "There's no Agnes anymore," he said quietly. Tears filled his eyes again, and he seemed unashamed of them. His mouth curved in a tender smile. "You're offering me a family."
Family. Ian heard the reverence in the word, and it moved him. This big, scarred man had wanted what they all wanted, what they'd all found when only they'd opened their hearts.