Finally Home by Dawn Michele Werner

his chest, feeling the warmth of his body through his shirt. “Yes, you are.”
    “ If I knew giving you a desk was all I had to do to get you to stop pushing me away...I would’ve done that the first day we saw each other again.”
    Playfully, she punched his hard chest with her fist. “You were the one with the mood swings, pushing me away!”
    “ It was very hard for me when my father died, Amanda. And I’m still trying to deal with it--”
    “ So, why don’t we deal with it together? And we’ll both stop the pushing.”
    His mouth curved into a grin. “No pushing? Well, I hope pulling is still ok.”
    Drawing her to him, he kissed her urgently, releasing a fire that had been held back far too long.
    Amanda melted in his embrace, loving every second of his long, passionate kiss. His slender fingers slipped through her hair as he pressed his lips against hers with a firmness that made her knees buckle. Like the kiss before, she never wanted it to end.
    Breathless, she hugged Noah tight when he slid his mouth down her cheek and nibbled her ear. But without warning, her mind...so full of love and excitement...began to spin with thoughts of the ranch.
    “ Y-you know, you’ve almost made me forget what I stopped by for,” she stepped away from him, creating some distance.
    “ I am a little curious.”
    “ I talked to Maria this morning...she told me something interesting about your mother.”
    Noah’s dark eyebrows arched in surprise. “What’d she tell you that was so interesting?”
    Amanda lowered her eyes. “Something that shocked me.”
    “ Come on,” he cradled her face with his large hands, then kissed her lips. “Tell me.”
    “ Maria said that Mr. Ellinger was in love with your mother and became bitter when she left him to marry your father.”
    Noah dropped his hands from her face, shooting her an incredulous gaze. “What?”
    “ That’s why he wants the ranch, isn’t it? He couldn’t have your mother, so he wants Moonlight Ranch...at all cost.”
    As if something dawned on him, he began to laugh. In a quick move, he bent over and scooped Amanda into his arms. “Honey, I’m happy about us too, but...maybe you should rest a while. I think you’re delirious.”
    She clasped her hands around his neck, dangling her legs over his muscled arms. “I am not! Put me down.”
    Realizing she was serious, he leaped across the spacious workshop and dropped her on a corner sofa. “Then Maria is delirious.”
    “ You’re telling me that this is news to you?”
    “ My parents never mentioned anything about Mr. Ellinger. It’s nonsense!”
    Amanda grabbed his arms. “It’s not nonsense. I heard it from Maria. Why would she lie to me?”
    Rubbing his hands over his face, he groaned. “It’s just so hard to imagine.”
    “ I know. A classy lady like your mom being involved with Mr. Creepy...”
    “ I need to go back to the ranch and talk to Maria,” he said in haste. “I’ve got my dad’s old pickup...I’ll load your desk onto it and bring it by later.”
    “ Noah,” she hopped from the sofa and grabbed his hand.
    He held her gaze, then blinked after a long moment.
    “ I’m just glad you know about Mr. Ellinger. I hope we can focus on reviving the ranch now.”
    “ Amanda,” he squeezed her warm hand, “I don’t want to revive the ranch.”
    Her mouth opened in shock, then closed tightly. She slipped her hand from his. “You still want to sell it, don’t you?”
    He nodded slowly. “Why can’t you see that selling it is the best thing?”
    “ How can it be the best thing? How can you sell your childhood?”
    “ Maybe I want to!”
    She squinted at him through watery eyes. Folding her arms across her chest, she turned her back to him. “That is such an awful thing to say.”
    “ You don’t understand how it was for me, Amanda. Yes, I had loving parents but they were also controlling. They had only one path laid out for me...and that was stepping into their shoes to run the