“Oh, my goodness,” she whispered. “What a beautiful sight.”
“Roy just came in to tell me the mare had foaled before he went off to take a shower.” Billy’s chuckle warmed the back of her neck. “Luckily for us we also have a vet in the family, and Jenna was right here on the spot. She’s probably taking a shower, too.”
Bella turned in Billy’s arms to face him as he secured the top door again.
“Thank you for showing me such beautiful things.”
He angled his head and looked down at her. “You’re welcome.”
“All of them give me hope,” Bella said. “Jay finding himself again and falling in love, Erin, you . . .”
His smile was beautiful. “I give you hope?”
“Yes, that it’s possible to find two wonderful men in one lifetime, and fall in love with them.”
He kissed her very slowly and carefully. “I can’t argue with that.” He hesitated and looked down at her. “I’d like to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
He grimaced. “But I’m finding it hard to come up with the right words because I don’t want to offend you, or presume too much, or—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “How about you just ask?”
“You know that I love you, and—”
“I do?” Bella blinked up at him. “I don’t think you’ve actually said it out loud to me before, although I’d kind of assumed that was where we were at—”
It was Billy’s turn to stop her talking by kissing her. When he finally drew back they were both breathless.
“Will you marry me?” Billy asked. “I know we have some issues here, like where we would live, and whether we’d both be able to keep working if we wanted to, and all that other stuff. Not even to mention Jay’s reaction, and Maria’s, and the rest of my incredibly supportive, but nosy as hell family.”
He ran out of breath and just stared down at her shocked face.
“Did you hear what I said?”
Bella nodded and bit her lip. “I’m just trying to process the first part.”
“My proposal of marriage?” Billy asked.
“Yes, that.”
“Am I being stupid here?” Billy asked. “Would we be better off staying as we are? I’m happy, you’re happy, and we’re old enough not to worry about what anyone else thinks about us being together and not actually married.”
Bella was still staring at him as if he’d grown another head, and he felt like a complete idiot. “Okay, then maybe we should shelve this discussion until after the holidays when things have calmed down a bit, and we know where we stand.”
“Billy.”
“Yeah?”
“Could you stop talking for a minute?” Bella asked.
He pressed his lips together and just looked pleadingly down at her. Around them the horses and cattle slumbered in their stalls and the snow continued to fall.
“Yes.”
Billy cleared his throat. “Yes, you’d like to marry me?”
She nodded.
A wave of happiness so profound that it consumed his whole body swept over him, and he framed her face in his hands. “Thank God.”
Her smile was so beautiful, and so full of trust that he fought back the urge to cry.
“You’ll never regret that decision, Bella.” His voice trembled with emotion. “I swear that I will do my best to never let you down, and I’ll always be there for you.”
“I know you will.” She used her thumb to gently wipe at the corner of his eye. “It’s okay. We can work out the details later, or stay engaged until one of us decides to retire. We’ll work it out. I know we will.”
Billy kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“Oh, jeez, not again.”
That was Chase’s horrified voice. Billy buried his face in Bella’s shoulder and shook with laughter.
“Grandpa . . .”
And that was Maria. Bella pushed on his chest and he turned around to see his oldest son and granddaughter staring at him with matching expressions of horror on their faces.
“We came out to see the new foal,” Maria explained.