Chapter Forty-Eight

Adam watched Shiloh's face as he held her up against him. He was still close enough to feel her breath on his face, but she wasn't looking at him.

"I'm sorry," she said, blushing. "That's…It's…." When he chuckled, she closed her eyes, feeling the rumble in his chest.

With a smug smile, he asked, "Will your knees hold you if I put you down?"

"I didn't just do that," she said, embarrassment taking over.

"Yes, you did," he laughed.

"You never kissed me like that before." She cut her eyes up to his. "Adam, that was…"

"Was what?" he whispered, smiling. "The way a man kisses his wife?"

"Put me down. I'm not your wife yet," she said shyly.

"You know when we go back in we'll have to tell them," he said, slowly lowering her to the floor of the porch.

She looked mischievously up at him. "Well, they're going to find out sooner or later, aren't

Adam turned to go into the house, but stopped on the step of the upper porch when he saw that the front door was cracked. He turned back to Shiloh, holding his finger to his lips. "Ssh." Taking her hand, he brought her down to the next level and both walked quietly to the front door. He pushed the door open suddenly, feeling it stop against something, then give as if someone had been standing behind the door. Annie was sitting on the arm of the closest leather chair, looking around the room, and Joe had developed a sudden interest in the horse statue on the table behind the settee.

Closing the door slowly after Shiloh stepped through, Adam crossed his arms and glared at the two. He kept his eyes on them as he walked over to the desk, finding Hoss leaning toward the window. Hoss stood up, looking down and shoving his hands in his pockets.

Looking at the floor and bringing a hand up to scratch his nose, Adam chuckled, then held his hand out to Shiloh. He wrapped his arm around her and guided her into the sitting area to warm up by the fire.

Joe, Annie and Hoss stood behind the settee, watching them and waiting. "Well?" said Joe, anxiously.

Adam turned. "Well what?"

"Dadburnit, Adam," swore Hoss. "What d'you decide?"

"What did I decide about what?" Adam said, holding his hands out to his sides.

Shiloh had been struggling to keep a straight face, and now she raised her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Annie blurted out. "Did you ask her?"

"Did I ask her what?" asked Adam with a perplexed look on his face.

Groaning, Annie stomped over to Shiloh and turned her around, finding that a sheepish grin had taken over her face. Annie squealed and hugged her, causing both Shiloh and Adam to laugh out loud.

Ben, who had been quietly sitting and watching the antics in the room, stood up. "Congratulations, Son," he said, smiling, offering Adam his hand. Adam took it and pulled his father into a hug.

Joe and Hoss looked at each other, smiling and made their way to the other side of the coffee table. "Leave it to the women to get to the bottom of things," said Joe, hugging Shiloh, while Hoss picked his older brother up in a bear hug.

"Dang it, Older Brother. It's about time," he said, shaking Adam's hand.

Once the hugs had been handed out, Ben walked to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of brandy, carefully setting six cordial glasses on the top of the chest and pouring. Both he and Joe handed them out.

Ben cleared his throat before he made a toast. "To Shiloh, who has agreed to wed the eldest Cartwright son thereby bringing to the family a feminine grace we haven't seen in quite some time."

After everyone drank, Joe held up his glass again. "A toast to Older Brother, Adam, who finally found a woman to share his love of culture and music, his intelligence and stubbornness, and can hold her own against him in a debate."

Adam rolled his eyes, and then joined in the laughter.