She felt her mouth drop open.
“I don’t expect you to answer me right now,” he told her. “I suspect I’ll have to do some crawling first, but that’s okay. I’m not afraid of proving myself to you. In fact, I look forward to it. I want you to know without a doubt how much you mean to me.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“I can keep saying it,” he told her with a smile. “I love you. Remember, before when we were married, you complained that I never said it enough? That’s because I was holding back. I was afraid of opening up to you. Not anymore. I’m never holding back. You’re my world and I love you.”
The pain faded as if it had never been. Penny stared into his eyes and saw down to his soul. The truth was there—shining so bright it nearly blinded her.
“Say yes,” he pleaded. “Marry me and have babies with me. You know we’re great together.”
She felt tears fill her eyes, but these had nothing to do with being alone and everything to do with finally finding her heart’s desire.
“I’ll still want to open my own place,” she said.
“Of course you will. You’re a great chef. But you’re more than that. You’re the woman I love.”
She threw herself at him and let the tears escape. “Yes,” she whispered. “Always yes. I never stopped loving you.”
He held her tight. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
She sniffed and straightened. “I could say the same about you.”
He touched her cheeks. “Hormones?”
She nodded. “And I’m happy.”
“Good. So you want to get married?”
She laughed. “I do.”