She tightened her hands inside the pockets of her sweater jacket. “Let’s start over. Tell me what you’ve been thinking about this evening.”
He was silent for a couple of heartbeats. She had the impression that he was gathering himself for a big jump.
“I’ve decided to sign over my half of Dreamscape to you,” he said.
For a few seconds she thought she had misunderstood. She reran his simple statement twice through her brain before she finally decided she had gotten it right the first time.
She came to a sudden halt on the beach and swung around to face him. “You’re going to do what?”
“You heard me.” He stopped and looked at her. “Dreamscape is Harte property. It’s always been Harte property. I know your aunt had some romantic notions, but the truth is, I don’t have any real claim on the place. It’s yours. I’m not going to fight you for it.”
Panic seized her. She jerked her hands out of her pockets and grabbed fistfuls of his black pullover. “I thought we had a deal.”
“You didn’t seem interested.”
“I never got a chance to respond.” She stood on tiptoe and leaned closer. “Arizona Snow arrived with her logbook in the middle of our business discussion, if you will recall. Then came our big deductions concerning Kaitlin Sadler’s death.”
“Hannah—”
“That was followed by you and your grandfather deciding to engage in a bit of breaking and entering. The next thing we know, Jed Steadman has left town and you’re brooding. All in all, it’s been a somewhat hectic day. I haven’t had a chance to get back to you on your business offer.”
“I’ve known for a long time now that my claim on Dreamscape was the only thing I could use to hold you. I don’t want to use it.”
“Excuse me if I got this wrong, but I was under the impression that you saw me and Dreamscape as a sort of package deal.”
“I can build my restaurant somewhere else.”
“Your dream of a restaurant is your passion. Dreamscape is the best possible location for it, and you know it. You can’t give it up.”
“Got news for you, Hannah. The restaurant is important, but it’s not my greatest passion.”
“Rafe—”
“I don’t want you and the restaurant in a business deal.”
“You’re the one who made the offer.”
“I was getting desperate.”
Hope soared within her. Grimly she tamped it down, forcing herself to keep things in perspective. “But now you’ve changed your mind? You don’t want me anymore?”
He closed his free hand around one of her fists. “I want you, Hannah, but it’s no good unless you want me. Tonight I realized that taking Dreamscape out of the equation is the only way to find out how you really feel about me.”
She couldn’t keep the lid on the tide of hope any longer. It surged through her. “You want to know how I feel? I’ll tell you how I feel. I love you, Rafe Madison. I want to stay here in Eclipse Bay with you. I want to open a five-star inn and restaurant at Dreamscape with you. I want to have babies and a future with you.”
For an instant he did not move. Then he abruptly wrapped one arm around her and pulled her hard against his chest. “Are you sure?”
She snuggled against him. The heat and strength of his body enfolded her. He was her future.
“I’m sure.”
“I love you,” he said into her hair. “You’re my passion, not the restaurant. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do now.” Relief and joy washed through her. Once a Madison was committed to his passion, nothing else was allowed to get in the way.
“What about your new list?” he asked quietly. “Do I qualify?”
She smiled against his throat. “There was only one item on it. I wanted to marry someone I could love with all my heart. Someone who loved me the same way in return.”
“No problem. I meet all the qualifications.” He tightened his hold on her. “We’ll make it work. You and me. Dreamscape. The future. We’ll make it all work. I swear it.”
“With your dreams and my brains, how can we miss?”
He raised her chin on the edge of his hand. “That night on the beach I told myself I could never have you, but I knew even then that I would never be able to forget you.”
“I told myself the same thing about you.”
He smiled against her lips. “You and your damned list were always there, somewhere in the back of my mind. You want to know the truth? Part of me wanted you to be happy. But another part hoped like hell that you would never find a man who met all those specifications for a husband.”
“You and your big career objective to stay out of jail were always in the back of my mind. The thought of so much potential going to waste was extremely annoying.”
“Sounds like we’ve been a constant source of irritation for each other all these years.”
“I can’t think of a better basis for a marriage.”
He grinned. “Neither can I.”
The beam of the flashlight splashed across the sand when his mouth came down on hers. Hannah reveled in the kiss. A singing happiness exploded inside her.
Winston’s sharp, harsh bark broke the spell.
Rafe reluctantly raised his head. “I don’t think your dog approves of us making out on the beach.”
“He’ll just have to get used to it.”
Winston left the piece of driftwood he had been worrying and dashed toward them. He barked again, louder and more urgently this time. Not a request for attention or an invitation to romp.
A surge of alarm shot through Hannah. “I think something’s wrong.”
Winston did not stop when he reached the place where Hannah and Rafe stood. He sped on down the beach toward the path that led back to Dreamscape. He was barking furiously now.
“What the hell?” Rafe swung around to follow the dog with the flashlight beam. “Oh, shit.”
He broke into a run.
Hannah looked toward the mansion. Shock seized her. The background rumble of the restless bay behind her blotted out any sound that might have drifted down the cliffs from Dreamscape. But she did not need to hear the crackle and hiss of the fire. She could see the flames leaping into the night quite clearly.
Should have taken the cell phone with me, Rafe thought as he raced toward the house. But the possibility that the fire could still be handled with the garden hose was too tempting to allow for a detour into the house to call 911.