Children of the Sea 02 - Sea Fever

shut, bowing her head over their joined hands. Heard his heart beat, wild and strong.
     
    And let herself believe.
     
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Epilogue
    THE NIGHT OF FRANK IVEY’S SIXTY-FIFTH birthday party, Regina accepted a bottle of sparkling cider from a grateful Jane Ivey and poured herself a glass.
     
    Champagne would have been even better, but she was nine weeks pregnant and she wasn’t drinking anything that wasn’t good for the baby.
     
    The cider bubbled up and over her fingers. Laughing, she snatched back her hand.
     
    “Careful,” warned a deep masculine voice behind her.
     
    Her heart beat faster. She turned, her lips already curving in a smile.
     
    Dylan, tall, dark, and hot, lounged in the shadows of the picnic shelter, an answering smile in his eyes. “Let me.” He caught her wrist and kissed her wet fingers, making her shiver with desire.
     
    She chuckled and leaned against him. “What are you doing here?”
     
    “You need help loading the van.”
     
    “I have help. Your sister’s here.”
     
    At the other end of the shelter, Lucy scooped chocolate ice cream for the youngest Ivey grandchild. Competent and unobtrusive, she had everything under control.
     
    Regina surveyed the kids and grandkids running around the blue-checkered tablecloths, the pitchers jammed with daisies, the laughing, relaxed adults, and sighed with satisfaction. “Nice party.”
     
    “Beautiful,” Dylan agreed.
     
    She glanced over her shoulder. He wasn’t looking at the picnic. Her heart soared and sailed into the sky like an escaping birthday balloon.
     
    He held out his hand. “Walk with me.”
     
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    “Where?”
     
    “The beach.”
     
    Her toes curled inside her practical flat shoes. She knew what he was offering. They hadn’t had a lot of time alone these past few weeks. But tonight her work was done and Nick was settled safely at her mother’s.
    Regina had a clean bill of health from the new clinic doctor, and Dylan was looking at her as if she were the sun and the moon and his entire world wrapped up in one.
     
    She slipped her hand into his. “Isn’t it a little cold out for a . . .
    walk?”
     
    Dylan lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll see what I can do to keep you warm.”
     
    Hands linked, they wandered down the grassy slope and over the shale. The sound of the children’s shouts and laughter blended with the surf. The land shimmered and shifted like the sea, glowing red and gold, as if a giant box of watercolors had spilled over the sky and dripped over the landscape. The kind of golden evening when the promise of fall charged the air and even a cynic could believe in happy endings.
     
    A burst of foam ran up and faded at their feet.
     
    “You know I love you,” Dylan said abruptly.
     
    She did know. But hearing it still had the power to make her heart dance. “Yes.”
     
    He stopped and cupped her face in his hands. His eyes were dark and direct. “It’s not enough.”
     
    She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
     
    “You told me once that you had a life before I came, and you’d have one when I’d gone. A life that includes Nick and your mother and the restaurant. You don’t need me, Regina.”
     
    The blood rushed in her ears, louder than the surf. “Now, wait a minute . . .”
     
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    “You don’t need me,” he repeated, a glint in his eyes. “But I need you. You, Nick, all of it. I need you now.”
     
    He kissed her. Almost dizzy with love and lust and relief, she kissed him back, her hands flexing on his arms.
     
    “Um . . .” Oh, God, that felt good. “Here?”
     
    His gaze, hot and intent, narrowed on her face. “Yes. This will do.”
    He dropped to his knees.
     
    Regina caught her breath, reminded of their first meeting on the beach. She stared down at his dark head. Before she could point out to him that they were practically within sight of Frank and Jane Ivey— and their daughters and all the little Iveys— Dylan reached into his pocket.
    Something gleamed in the golden light of the sinking sun. A coin.
     
    No, not a coin, a . . .
     
    Regina trembled. A ring.
     
    “This ring was lost at sea, and now it’s found. The way I was lost, without ever knowing it, for years.” Dylan took a deep breath. “But now I’ve found the life I want. The love I need. With you. Because of you.”
    His dark eyes shone. “Marry me, Regina.”
     
    Joy sluiced through her. She tugged him to his feet and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes! Oh, yes.”
     
    He