Jean slid her hand down the policewoman’s long arm, twining their fingers, moving to stand in front of her. “I wouldn’t know, been looking at you the whole time.”
Jo tilted her head, dipping her eyes as she responded softly with a broad smile. “Such a flatterer Jean.”
She watched her older lover drop to one knee. “Jean?..” Her eyes widening.
The gardener hoped that their life together for the last couple of years had compensated for the turmoil of their courtship. Jo was looking down at her with breathless anticipation.
“You needed a ring to go with that necklace..” Her hand pulling the box from her pocket. “Jean..are are..you proposing to me?”
The gardener snickered, frowning. “I will darling, if you let me? I had this whole speech thing planned you know?”
“Oh.” The blonde was blushing crimson, her free hand rising to cover her lips.
Jean was smiling at her from the grass, Jo’s grey eyes tracked her as she opened the box. She rose to her feet, the blonde’s eyes met hers, she held Joanne’s hand lovingly.
“I can’t imagine being without you Jo. We’ve made a home together, a life. And I know that this is the second time around for both of us, but I want it to be the last. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t share, no place I wouldn’t follow. I want to spend my life loving you.”
Jo looked down at the dark eyes full of sincerity. She reached out, brushing her older companion’s cheek with her fingertips. Before she’d met Jean she was a shell of herself, since then, she’d felt more loved, more herself than ever before. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else. The two of them were an unusual pair, but in the end, made something truly wonderful.
“Yes.” After all the hurdles, the answer came easily.
“Yes?”
They kissed. A soft touch, full of promise. Jean smiled at her gently, taking the ring, snapping the box closed. A good fit.
Jo looked down at the stone on her hand, glimmering in the light.
Jean beamed happily, brushing a tear from her long lashes. “Jo, there’s something else..”
The blonde was wiping glassy eyes herself. Looking a little shocked. She still looked down at her hand, she asked softly. “What? What else?”
Jean wrapped an arm around her fiancée’s waist as they stood there on the gentle rise. “With your permission..I’d like to adopt Annabelle.”
Jo gasped softly, covering her mouth in surprise.
The brunette continued. “I’m raising her with you, her father hasn’t been in the picture..”
The policewoman nodded. She had reacted with little empathy as the verdict was read, squeezing her older lover’s hand. Too much had happened. The precinct had rung up every charge they could fathom. Owen couldn’t snake his way out from the evidence used against him. It was a relief when Jean had held her close, a safe haven in her arms. It was finally over, and the brunette bore her no ill will for her ex-husband’s actions.
“I think of you both as my family Joanne, and..I wanted to make it official.”
Joanne smiled a flash of white teeth, she still felt like she was floating. “I’d like that. If I’m going to be your..wife.” She rolled the word around in her head. It didn’t seem so strange after all.
Jean smiled, musing. “She called me Mum before you know? It felt like the most natural thing in the world.”
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46 - Epilogue