Marriage On The Cards: Marry Me, Mackenzie! / A Proposal Worth Millions / Heart Surgeon, Hero...Husband?. Susan Carlisle

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СКАЧАТЬ seen Hope at the barn and he recounted his recent conversation with Mackenzie. Like a confession, he didn’t leave anything out. Not even the fact that he hadn’t been sober the night Hope had been conceived or the fact that he had never dated Mackenzie. And when he was done, he felt as if a weight had been lifted. Now that Aunt Gerri knew about Hope, it was real. No matter what happened, no matter how tough it got, there was no going back.

      When he had said his piece, Aunt Gerri thought a bit before she spoke. She rocked back and forth, mulling things over.

      “Now that I think about it, I remember Mackenzie. She was a heavyset girl, wasn’t she? But she had beautiful blue eyes.”

      Dylan nodded. “She still does.”

       Violet eyes.

      “She was such a sweet little girl,” his aunt said. “But so serious.”

      “She still is.”

      “Well...what does she want from you, Dylan? What does she expect?”

      “She wants me to spend time with Hope. That’s all. She doesn’t want money...”

      “Not even for the medical bills? Good gracious, cancer treatment can’t be cheap.” Aunt Gerri had always held the purse strings for the farm.

      “I know,” Dylan responded to his aunt’s skeptical expression. “I thought it was strange, too. But she was adamant about the money. More than that, she doesn’t want me to be a parent to Hope, either.”

      Aunt Gerri frowned. “But is that what you want? You’re the child’s father.”

      “Honestly, Aunt Gerri? I have no idea what I want.”

      “Well...I suppose that’s where you need to start then, don’t you? If you don’t know what you want, how in the world can you figure out what you’re going to do?”

      * * *

      Hope had picked Pegasus as their first father-and-daughter day. It seemed like a better idea than a restaurant, and he wanted Hope to feel comfortable, so he had agreed. Now that he was here, he started to doubt the soundness of that decision. Perhaps they should have met in private, at his house, before they went public. Dylan parked his car next to Mackenzie’s Chevy and shut off the engine. Instead of getting out, he stayed in the car. He’d never felt capable of having a panic attack until today. His heart was racing, his mouth was dry and beads of sweat were trickling down the side of his face. He was a mess. The thought of spending the day with Hope made him feel panicked. He had absolutely no idea what to say to a ten-year-old girl; ten-year-old girls hadn’t exactly been his target demographic.

      “Quit being a coward,” Dylan said to himself. “And get out of the stupid car.”

      After convincing himself to leave the car, Dylan headed to the office. Lucky for him, Aggie was the only one there.

      She greeted him with a broad smile and a loud, booming voice. “I heard you were comin’ out to lend us a hand today!”

      Aggie stomped over to him in her crusty, knee-high black rubber boots and pumped his hand a couple of times. “Come on over here and take a load off. I’ve got your papers all ready to be filled out. Nothing fancy—but the long and short of it is, you’re agreein’ that if one of our horses kicks you in the privates or eats your pinkie for a snack, you’re on your own. We volunteer at our own risk around here...so if you can live with that, I’ll be more than happy to put you to work.”

      “I can live with it.” Dylan sat down at the cluttered picnic table in the middle of the room and resisted the urge to start straightening it up. Instead, he forced himself to focus on reviewing the papers.

      “I’ll make you a badge so you’ll feel official. We don’t have riders today—just barn work. But anyone who wants to ride after the chores are done can saddle up.”

      Aggie handed Dylan a badge and Dylan handed her the filled-out forms. Dylan stood up and Aggie looked down at his pristine boots.

      “If you’re gonna hang with us, you’re gonna have’ta get you some good old-fashioned muckers. Those fancy boots aren’t gonna survive a fresh steamin’ pile of manure, I guarantee that.” When Aggie laughed, one eye stayed open and the other one shut completely. “I’m done with ya, so head to the barn. There’s always plenty to be done and not enough hands to do it.”

      Dylan walked out of the office, around the corner, and bumped right into Mackenzie.

      Their bodies hit together so hard that Mackenzie had the breath temporarily knocked out of her.

      Concerned, Dylan held on to her arms to steady her. “Are you okay?”

      “I wasn’t expecting anyone to come around that corner,” Mackenzie said, slightly annoyed. “But I’m okay now. You can let go.”

      Dylan released her arms quickly, as if he was pulling his hands away from hot coals. “Sorry. I did it again.”

      Dylan stared hard at Mackenzie. Something had just happened between them. When their bodies came together, they were a perfect fit. She was curvy and voluptuous and petite; not what he would normally gravitate toward. But he liked the way her body had felt against his. He had enjoyed the feeling of having Mackenzie in his arms. She felt like...home.

      Mackenzie tugged on the front of her oversize, long-sleeve T-shirt. “I’m glad you came.”

      “I said I would,” Dylan said defensively.

      “I know.” Mackenzie had worry etched into her forehead. “I know you did...but I was...”

      “Worried that I wouldn’t show?”

      “Yes...I’m sorry. But, yes. Hope could hardly sleep last night. She’s so excited to meet you.” Mackenzie was speaking in a low, private voice. “But I think she’s more scared than anything.”

      “Scared? Why is she scared of me?”

      “She’s not scared of you. I think that she’s scared that you won’t like her.” Mackenzie pushed some wayward strands of hair away from her face.

      “Well, then, that makes two of us, because I’ve been really worried that she won’t like me, too.” Dylan looked down at his outfit. “I changed my clothes three times before I finally put this together.”

      Mackenzie’s eyebrows rose. Dylan was wearing a pressed Ralph Lauren button-down dress shirt, new dark-wash jeans and his spotless boots.

      “I did mention that you were going to be doing barn work...didn’t I?” Mackenzie asked.

      “You mentioned it. I just wanted to look nice for Hope.” Dylan frowned down at his outfit. “I look ridiculous, don’t I?”

      “No. You don’t look ridiculous, Dylan. You just look...kind of dressy for the barn. That’s all,” Mackenzie tried to reassure him. “But stop worrying. Trust me. Hope doesn’t care what you’re wearing. So...are you ready?”

      “Nope.” Dylan’s stomach started to feel a little queasy.

      “What СКАЧАТЬ