“Thank you.” He kissed her softly. “Do you know when I fell in love with you?”

She shook her head.

“That first day in the dining room when Ashton dared you to sing. For days afterward, I’d be at work or riding Thunder or lying in bed, and I’d hear you singing Crazy. You have the most exquisite voice. The voice of an angel.”

“Take me to bed, Reid.”

“Kate, honey, wake up.”

Kate awoke from a sound sleep to find Reid sitting on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?” She noticed he was dressed in a black sweater and jeans. “What time is it?”

“Three thirty. Come on, get dressed. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Curious, Kate stretched and yawned before she got up. She dug a pair of jeans and a sweater out of the bag he had brought from the guest room.

They put on heavy coats, tiptoed downstairs and out the kitchen door. Kate was surprised to find it snowing lightly but accumulating fast enough to have coated the lawn and driveway.

Reid took her to the stable, led Thunder out of his stall and gave Kate a leg up.

“We’re riding bareback?” she asked.

“We do it once in a while. He’s used to it.” Reid used a slat in the fence to boost himself up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, Reid gently touched his heels to Thunder’s sides and guided the horse to a path through a thicket of trees where the click of hooves was the only sound in the otherwise still night.

“Close your eyes,” Reid whispered.

Kate rested her head against his shoulder and did as he asked. She could feel the snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes.

They rode for a few more quiet minutes before Reid squeezed her hand. “Okay, open them.”

Kate gasped. “Oh! Reid!” They had emerged from the trees into a meadow lit by a moon so full it gave the aura of daylight, the open expanse frosted with snow that sparkled in the moonlight. Thunder stood still and quiet while they took in the glorious scene.

Kate reached back for Reid. “I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

He brushed his lips over hers. “So will I.”

Chapter 20

The O’Malley house buzzed with speculation while the family waited for Declan to arrive with his new girlfriend. Aidan thought Dec was nuts for subjecting the poor girl to the family on a holiday, but he hadn’t been consulted.

“Now be nice and don’t act like jackasses,” Colleen warned her other three sons, who sat together on the sofa in the living room.

“We’re not the ones Dec needs to be worried about,” Brandon muttered under his breath when she moved past them.