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  “Oh, get a room, you two. Anyway, Dad, I’m going back to school!”

  “You’re getting a master’s in wills and estates?” Eyes round as saucers, Mick’s jaw dropped.

  “He’s not an attorney and he doesn’t specialize in wills and estates.” Wendy came around the table and draped her arms over the big man’s broad shoulders. “He’s a professor of leisure studies at the college. I’m getting my master’s in leisure studies!” She giggled as her father dropped his head in his hands.

  ****

  By evening, the crowd moved on to a vineyard just down the road. The sound of music traveled on the warm spring breeze.

  “Want to go listen to the band?” Matt sat next to Colleen on the front steps of the Berk homestead.

  Colleen leaned against the newel post and looked around at the two families gathered on the broad front porch. Her parents sat on the swing at the end of the porch. Mick held Becky as her mother and Jess played patty-cake with the toddler. Ryan napped, hidden among the blankets in the carrier on the floor next to them.

  Stan tossed a baseball to his grandson Andy in the front yard. The ball hit the mitt with a resounding thump.

  “Is that where Rob and Bobbi and Jane and Alan are?”

  “I think so. They made friends fast, didn’t they?”

  “They sure did. But I don’t want to leave your mother alone.” Despite her brave words, Colleen was itching to have her fiancé to herself.

  “Wendy’s in the kitchen with her. I think she’s teaching Mom how to make Sangria.”

  Relief flooded through her as Colleen laughed out loud.

  Matt stood and reached a hand out to Colleen. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  Colleen looked up at the tall, blond man standing in front of her. Joy exploded somewhere deep down inside, joy she had landed close to Almendra. She found a home when she least expected it. She reached for his hand and allowed him to pull her up from the step. “Where to, Professor?”

  “Come with me, Sarge,” Matt responded in a low voice. They walked through the quiet ranch, past the barn and the apple orchards to the pastures.

  “What in the world?” Colleen stared at the vision in the pasture, her heart skipping a beat. An occasional whoosh from the flames broke the stillness. The brightly colored hot air balloon rose high into the air, the flame a flash at the bottom.

  “You took me for a ride in your plane, now I’ll take you for a ride.” Matt smiled.

  Colleen cupped Matt’s face with her hands, touched at his ability to guess her thoughts and dreams. She kissed him, enjoying the press of his warm mouth, and then reached for his hands. “I’ve never been up in a balloon, have you?”

  “Nope. I thought we’d have this adventure together…the first of more to come.” Matt opened the wicker door and Colleen stepped into the basket.

  Epilogue

  Exactly one year to the day, the same group again sat on the Berks’ front porch.

  Colleen pressed close to Matt on the swing as he patted the tiny baby propped on his shoulder. The little girl squirmed and then grunted.

  “Hey, somebody take this baby. My special duties end at this point.” Matt wrinkled his nose.

  “I thought you were a natural, Professor Berk,” Colleen teased as she eased the baby into her arms.

  “Not necessarily with diapers,” Matt responded. “My specialty is more in the line of education.”

  “Oh, you educate babies now, do you?” Colleen handed the baby to her mother, who had just come out onto the porch.

  “Here, let me, you two.” Maggie jiggled the baby and cooed. “You can’t help you need your diaper changed, can you, little one?” The screen door slammed behind her as she disappeared into the house.

  Colleen set the swing rocking with one foot. “We got back from Hawaii just in time, didn’t we?”

  With a slow move, Matt put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I could have stayed longer,” he whispered into her ear.

  As she turned and looked into his dark chocolate eyes, just inches from hers, Colleen shivered. “I think two weeks is standard for honeymoons, Professor Berk.” She brushed his lips with hers. “The wedding on the hilltop with the trees in bloom, the honeymoon in Hawaii… Everything’s been perfect.” She kissed him again and leaned back against the swing.

  Becky arranged her toys on the porch floor at their feet.

  “Well.” Matt reached for Colleen’s hand.

  “Well, what?” Colleen set the swing moving again.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Matt jumped up and reached for her hand. “Ready for our second annual balloon ride, Mrs. Berk?”

  “Always.” With a light heart, Colleen followed Matt down the steps.

  “What about the baby?” Bobbi sat cross legged on the porch floor, Ryan in her lap. His green eyes followed Becky’s every move as she played with her toy barn and farm animals.

  “Let her mother take care of her. Here she comes now.” Colleen smiled as her baby sister walked up to them, licking an ice cream cone. Tony trailed behind her, carrying a bottle of red wine from his parents’ vineyard.

  “Hey, Wendy, Mom’s changing Jaiden’s diaper. Matt refused.”

  Colleen’s sister and her new husband sauntered up to the porch. “Thanks, sis. Can you believe this afternoon was the only time those New York reps could meet with us? New Yorkers are in such a hurry.” She hooked an arm through Tony’s. “Anyway, they loved Tony’s wine.”

  Tony’s eyes shone as he looked at his wife. “They loved you. You’re a natural saleswoman.” With a wave, they disappeared into the house.

  Matt watched them go before turning back to Colleen with a grin. “Our almonds sure worked their fertility magic on those two. I’ve never known it to work so fast.”

  Almond magic? Colleen rolled her eyes. “No comment.” She regarded Matt with a raised eyebrow. “You know, Tony’s right. Wendy could sell ice cubes at the North Pole. And you were right, too.”

  “Something tells me I should have this on tape.” Matt wrapped his arms around her waist. “Right about what?”

  Colleen looked around them. “There are plenty of nieces and nephews to go around.”

  “Of course, I was right. I am a professor, dear.”

  Colleen laid her hands on each side of his face, then leaned in and brushed her lips across his. Just as he closed his eyes, she tapped him on the arm and said, “Race you to the balloon.”

  A word about the author...

  After twenty-five years in human resources, eighteen of which were spent working in a state prison, T. R. McClure is striking out on a completely different and new career path. This is her first romance novel, with more to come.

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