Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (interesting books to read for teens TXT) 📕

her shirt. “This,” she told him, showing him what she wore dangling at the end of the necklace.

He caught his breath. “Is that...?”

“Yes. The engagement ring we picked out together before you went back to active duty. I wore it on my finger for a year after I was told you died.”

Touched, he swallowed hard. “You kept it.”

“Yes. Once I stopped wearing it on my hand, I wore it on this chain, tucked inside my clothes so no one could see. I just took it off and put it in my jewelry box right before you came back. I put it back on this morning. This ring means that much to me. It’s a symbol of our love.”

Their love. Hope bloomed within him, unfurling in his chest.

Then, while he struggled to figure out the right words to say, she unclipped the chain, removed the ring and held it out to him.

Throat aching, furious with himself for actually daring to hope, he froze, eyeing the ring as if it were dangerous. In a way, it was.

She was giving it back. Now, as he prepared to face one of the most difficult times in a life that hadn’t been easy in a long, long time, Carly Colton had decided to stab him in the heart.

“No.” He refused to believe it, his chest aching. “It’s yours. You keep it. I don’t want it back.”

“What?” Tilting her head, she eyed him as if she thought he’d lost his mind. “You thought... Oh, Micha. I brought the ring back out to ask you if you wanted me to wear it again.” She lowered her hand. “That’s what I get for being presumptuous. I wanted you to put it back on my finger.”

Thoroughly confused now and almost afraid to dare to believe he’d heard her properly, he looked from her beautiful blue eyes to the sparkling ring and back again. He thought his heart might explode from his chest. “Do you mean...?”

“Yes. I’d like to go back to being engaged,” she said primly, though a tiny smile hovered at the corner of her mouth. “That is, if you still want to marry me.”

“If I still want...” He sucked in his breath. “Carly Colton, are you proposing to me?” he asked, blood roaring in his ears. “Because if you are, the answer is yes. Definitely, unequivocally yes!”

“Well, technically I’m asking if we can reinstate our engagement,” she began. Then her eyes widened. “Yes?” she repeated. “Does that mean we...”

“Have a wedding to plan.” Leaning over, he kissed her. Not a long, deep kiss like he longed to do, but a quick one due to them being parked outside his childhood home. “I love you,” he said. He took the ring and, gazing in her eyes, slowly slipped it over her finger. “Back where it belongs. Engagement reinstated.”

“You know what?” she asked, her expression suddenly solemn. “I love you, too, Micha Harrison. I always have and I always will.”

Now he knew he could face anything. “Let’s go inside and meet my mother.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Now I’m ready to meet my future mother-in-law.”

Her simple choice of phrase made his throat close. The thought that his father might never get to know the wonder and beauty that made up Carly Colton hurt. But he couldn’t focus on that now. His mother needed him. And too many years had passed since he’d hugged her.

Pushing aside all raw emotion, he nodded. “Let’s go.”

They got out of the Jeep at the same time, linking hands to walk up the sidewalk. They made it halfway when the front door of the house opened and his mother stepped out onto the front porch. She wore a pair of faded blue jeans, work boots and a cotton, button-down shirt. She looked the same, he thought, except she now wore her silver hair in a stylish short cut.

“Micha!” She cried out his name and opened her arms.

Micha stepped into them without hesitation. Carly remained a few steps back, quietly watching.

Clinging to him, his mother wept. “It’s so good to have you home.”

“It’s good to be here,” he replied.

“What happened to your head?” she asked, pulling back far enough to peer at his bandage.

“That’s a long story,” he told her. “I’ll save it for later, if that’s okay with you.”

Expression troubled, she searched his gaze, exactly the same way she’d used to when he was a teenager and she was trying to ascertain if he was telling the truth. “But you’re all right, aren’t you?”

He hugged her tight. “I’m all right, Ma. I promise.”

When she finally released him, Micha turned her around and introduced her to Carly. “Mom, this is my fiancée, Carly Colton.”

More hugs, more weeping, and finally his mom ushered them both inside the house. She kept checking back over her shoulder to make sure they were following her.

Inside, the place appeared the same as he remembered, untouched by time. The familiar floral wallpaper decorated the kitchen walls, and the same metal-and-vinyl kitchen table and chairs sat under the same stained-glass light fixture. It felt like stepping back into the past.

Except now he knew his father wouldn’t come stomping in through the kitchen door, having left his dirty boots on the back stoop, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and a good meal.

Micha waited until they were all sitting around the old kitchen table sipping on his mother’s freshly made lemonade before asking about the subdivision.

“We had to sell off some of our land,” his mother explained, only slightly apologetic. “With your father slowing down due to age, we were struggling to keep the ranch running. Finally, we decided to just hang on to the house and ten acres. Even that was a lot, though. Right before Al had his stroke, we were even talking about moving into Lima since it’s less than a half hour away.”

“Dad is considering living in town?” Micha asked. Next, he halfway expected her to tell him pigs could fly.

His mom nodded. “He’s sick, but technically he’s living in Lima