The Mighty Quinns: Ryan (18 page)

“Yes. We had to land twice for potty breaks, but it wasn’t so bad.”

Ryan chuckled softly and pulled her into his embrace. “You’re an amazing woman, Elly Sheridan. And I’m glad you decided to come home.”

* * *

T
HE
PARTY
WAS
in full swing when Serena and Ryan arrived. Many of the three-thousand-plus residents of Raglan had stopped by to wish the Quinn brothers good luck on their expedition to Mount Everest. They’d signed a huge banner and strung it up on the wall, a banner that would travel to the Himalayas and hang in the base-camp communications tent.

Over the past couple of months, Serena had met many of the residents around town, and though she’d at first been a bit of a curiosity, it wasn’t long before they forgot about her celebrity and treated her like any other citizen.

As she walked through the crowd, her new friends greeted her with smiles and hugs. She’d gone her whole life without real friends, and now she had a town full of them. And a family, too.

Ryan’s family had accepted her into their midst without hesitation. And in addition to Ryan’s brothers, she now had sisters in Dana, Amy and Claudia. They didn’t see her as a celebrity. They saw her as the woman Ryan loved, and that was enough for them.

Amy spotted her and came over to give her a hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’m scared,” she said. “I don’t want him to go.”

“Oh, I know.”

“They’ll be gone for two months. It seems like forever. We haven’t been together that long.”

“Dana is bringing good communication equipment. You should be able to talk to him almost every night. Either on the phone or with a video chat.”

“It’s still going to be difficult. But I’m leaving in a couple of weeks for a shoot. Maybe that will make the time go faster.”

Claudia came up a few moments later and also gave her a hug. “How are you doing?”

Amy giggled. “I just asked her that. She’s says she fine, but she really isn’t. Maybe I should get you a drink, Serena.”

“No, I’m fine. Really,” Serena said. “I could use some cake, though. I’ve been trying to take off my New Zealand fifteen, but I don’t care tonight.”

Serena found a table and sat down to enjoy her cake, taking in the people around her, husbands and wives, children. She’d found the perfect place to begin her new life. Looking back, it had been a long and twisted road. But everything that had happened had led her to this moment, to the realization that she finally had what she wanted.

She had Ryan and their little
bach
on the beach, her dogs, a bed big enough for all of them. And she also had her career—on her terms. She would make it work, traveling between her two lives. But her heart would always remain with Ryan.

She drew a ragged breath, fighting back the tears. There wasn’t a moment she regretted her choice. And with every day they spent together, she loved Ryan more than the previous day.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention. Gather around.” Mal stood on a small platform at the far end of the hall. A cameraman was filming the event for a documentary that would follow the expedition. For once, Serena was glad the cameras weren’t turned on her.

“I want to thank you all for coming to wish us well on our trip to Everest.” Mal paused. “Not many of you knew my father, so I’d like to tell you a little bit about him.”

Over the next ten minutes, Mal paid tribute to Max Quinn, explaining what it had been like to grow up with a man who risked his life to conquer the world’s highest peaks, how it hadn’t been easy to grow up in that shadow, but now he felt his father would be proud of him. Lydie stood beside Mal, tears swimming in her eyes as she remembered her husband, alive and well.

Mal went on to thank the sponsors of the expedition and then said a few words about Amy and how much he loved her. He called Amy up on stage and handed her an enormous bouquet of flowers.

Rogan was next and he added a few remarks, touching on his own journey to find peace with his father’s memory. He had another list of thanks and then jumped off the platform to sweep Claudia into a dramatic kiss. The guests broke out in a rousing round of applause, shouting and whistling for the two of them.

Ryan was next. He wasn’t much for public speaking, but he grabbed the microphone and took center stage. “Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming tonight. As you all know, we’re leaving tomorrow morning to complete a journey that our father began almost twenty years ago. I wasn’t always an advocate for this trip, but I’ve had several moments of clarity over the past few months, and I appreciate now how important this is to my family. So, thank you Mal and Rogan and Dana for helping me see the importance of this expedition. I’ve come to understand my father better in the last couple of months, and I’ve also come to forgive him. I realize now that you can let someone go without having to lose them, because they will always be in your heart.”

The audience clapped and he moved to step off the stage, but then turned back. “There’s one more thing. I’d like to thank my darling Serena, for all of her love and support. I was going to do this later tonight, but I don’t want to wait. Serena, where are you? Come on up here.”

The audience clapped again and they searched the room for her. Reluctantly, she approached the stage and Ryan held out his hand, helping her onto the platform.

“What’s this about?”

“Just wait,” he said.

A moment later he was down on one knee. Serena stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out what was going on. But then he pulled a small box out of his pocket. “Before I leave, I have an important question to ask. I promised you this would come, and I think it’s time. Are you ready?”

The guests shouted their approval and Ryan laughed, looking up at Serena for her decision. “I’m ready,” she said.

“Ellsbeth Serena Hightower Sheridan, will you do me the very great honor of agreeing to become my wife?”

Serena stared down at him, her eyes flooded with tears. This was the way a proposal was meant to be, she thought to herself. She was filled with so much love, and it felt as though she might burst from pure happiness. She wasn’t afraid or confused; she was absolutely certain that Ryan was the man for her.

“Well?” he asked.

“Yes, I will marry you, Ryan.”

He stood up and pulled her into a fierce hug. “You don’t have to be afraid, Serena. I’ll love you forever.”

“I love you, too,” she said.

He pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. It wasn’t a huge, flashy diamond. Instead, he’d chosen an antique ruby in a platinum setting. It was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen. But it wasn’t the ring that made the difference. She’d found a man who loved her for the woman she was, a man who helped her to be a better person.

The band began to play, and Ryan took her hand and led her out to the dance floor. But he didn’t stop there. Instead, he walked through the crowd to the front door.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Home,” he said. “I can’t kiss you the way I want to kiss you in the middle of this crowd.”

“You have the rest of your life to kiss me,” she said.

“Yes, but I’m going to be living in a tent at the top of the world in a few more weeks. I’m going to need some memories to take with me.”

“So you’re going all the way to the top? You’re not staying at base camp?”

“I’m ready to face whatever’s up there because I know you’re down here waiting for me.”

Serena laughed, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then take me home,” she said.

It was a powerful word—home. It meant so many things to so many people. But for Serena it was the end of a long and winding road. She’d found what she’d been searching for and nothing, not even a mountain, would stand between them.

Epilogue

T
HE
PHOTO
OF
the three Quinn brothers on the summit of Everest was posted on the company website the day after they made it safely back to base camp. Aileen Quinn stared at the three young men, bundled from head to toe in cold-weather gear, and felt a sense of pride at their accomplishment.

But it was tempered with sadness when her gaze fell on the photos of Max Quinn's final resting place. Sherpas had covered the body with rocks they'd gathered from the area and the boys had each read a poem over their father's grave before continuing their descent.

Aileen couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been to relive the tragedy of their father's death. But they'd retrieved Max's journal and were able to read the words their father had written in his last hours. They'd posted excerpts on their website.

‘“I can't go on,”' Aileen read softly. ‘“My ankle is broken, and it won't support my weight. If I don't make it through the night and rescue is impossible, please know that I did my best to come home to you, my darlings. I send you all my love and bid you to look to the sky every now and then. I'll be there, in the stars and the sun, the clouds and the rain. I will keep you safe.”' She drew a slow breath. “Oh, poor Maxwell.”

“Aileen?”

She looked up to find Ian Stephens standing in the doorway of her office. “Am I disturbing you?”

“No, of course not,” Aileen said. “Come, come,” she said, motioning to him. “I'm just reading about my nephews' little jaunt to the top of the world's highest mountain. It's quite exciting.”

“I've seen the photos. Claire has been caught up in the adventure, too. Did you see the one of Dana?”

“No,” Aileen said.

Ian stood over her shoulder and helped her scroll through the row of thumbnails. “Here it is.”

She clicked on one and a photo popped up of Dana, a silly grin on her pretty face. She was wrapped in her sleeping bag and reading a book. “Is that my—oh, goodness! She's reading an Aileen Quinn book.”

“Even on the top of the world you have fans,” Ian said.

They looked through the remainder of the photos, talking about the adventure. And when they were finished, Aileen sat back and sighed. “I'm almost sad it's over.”

“The climb? I'd expect you'd be happy they were safe.”

“No, I was talking about our search.” She got to her feet and slowly walked to the window, fighting back a wave of emotion. Outside the Irish country house, a cold rain drizzled down the leaded glass and the April sky was gray and dreary.

She'd learned over the years to appreciate all of the seasons. Though it marked the passing of time, she was grateful to see the changes. Grateful to be alive.

She turned and faced Ian. “It's been fun, hasn't it?”

“It has. And who can say, we may discover a few more Quinns that we didn't know existed.”

“I'm not sure I could take many more. I'm running out of money to give them.” She saw the expression on Ian's face, then waved her hand. “Oh, don't worry. I was only teasing you. I have more than enough to be comfortable for the rest of my life, however long that is.”

“I hope it's very long,” Ian said. “Now that we've come to be friends and I've married into the family, I want you to stick around. We need our family matriarch.”

“I can't guarantee you anything,” Aileen said. “At ninety-eight, I'm just happy to be able to get out of bed every day.”

“You're a treasure, Aileen. Look at what you've done for your brothers. They would have been proud to call you sister.”

“I would have given my entire fortune to have known them. I think about that a lot these days. I wonder if I'll meet them on the other side, if we'll have a chance to be a real family.”

Ian stood up and crossed the room to stand by Aileen's side. He took her hand and slipped it into the crook of his elbow. “Claire's laid tea in the sitting room. Let's go in and have a cup. We have some news for you.”

Aileen smiled to herself as she walked through the house. It wasn't difficult to predict what they were about to tell her. She could see it in Claire's appearance, in the glow of her skin and the thickening of her waist. She was about to welcome another Quinn heir into her world.

And the journey would continue, even after she was gone. But for as long as she was here, she'd enjoy every Quinn she was blessed to meet.

* * * * *

Don't miss Kate Hoffmann's next book,
SEDUCING THE MARINE,
available January 2015!

Keep reading for an excerpt from IN TOO CLOSE by Katherine Garbera

Ten years ago one devastating night changed everything for Austin,
Hunter and Alex. Now they must each play their part in the revenge against the
one man who ruined it all.

Austin Treffen has the plan… Hunter has the money… Alex has the
power!

Read each of their stories in the captivating Fifth Avenue
trilogy, only from Harlequin Presents:

Avenge Me
by Maisey
Yates
Scandalize Me
by Caitlin Crews
Expose Me
by Kate Hewitt

And don't miss the Fifth Avenue prequel that started it all,
Take Me
, by Maisey Yates!

Order your copies today in ebook format.

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