by Tina Martin
“Oh, dear, you’re family now. Call me Agnes.”
“Well, Wyatt isn’t here,” I say, withholding tears.
“I know. Now, you haven’t been in here crying have you?”
“I’m fine,” I tell her. What can I do for you?”
“Wyatt sent me here to pick you up.”
I frown. “To pick me up?”
“Yes. Now, darling, I was supposed to be here earlier, but Whole Foods was having a sale and I couldn’t help myself.”
“I’m sorry...I don’t understand what’s happening. Why did he send you to pick me up, Agnes?”
“Well, honey, you have to find that out from him when we get to his house. All he told me to do was to come here, tell you to pack your things and follow me to his house.”
Everything inside of me is telling me go in the opposite direction. But, even though I know how this looks, know that Wyatt may even need to see me to rub it in my face, I go anyway, hoping that my thoughts are wrong. That Stacey is wrong. I want to believe in true love. I need to believe that Wyatt wouldn’t hurt me, but even though I don’t know how this thing is going play out, I do know that I don’t want to run from it. Not anymore.
So, deciding to face the music, I pack my suitcases and gather all my things in my car. And about a half hour later, I’m following Agnes.
We drive for about thirty minutes. I don’t know where we’re going, since Wyatt never showed me where his house was, but this area looks pretty ritzy. There are large houses, and even larger, fenced-in yards. When I see the right turn signal blinking on Agnes’ Mercedes, I turn to look at the property we’re driving up to. It’s breathtaking. Massive, red maple trees with deep, reddish-orange leaves lines the paved driveway. The sight is so majestically beautiful that I almost forget why I’m here. White, split-rail fencing encases the property. Having reached the end of the trees, I see a black, iron gate.
We sit there for a second then the gate opens. Agnes continues driving and then I see a two-story, white home that looks like the White House. Hunter green shutters are around the windows. We now turn onto a horseshoe driveway where, in the concave of it, there sits a three-tier, stone water fountain that stands tall with huge stones surrounding it. Out in the expanse of land far off behind the house, I see stables and two horses – one black, the other brown. I also see a pond that’s surrounded by the same type of stones that circle the water fountain. Wyatt’s house is amazing. It’s everything I used to dream of. Everything we used to dream of.
I watch Agnes get out of her car. She waves at me then she waves at someone on the porch and drives away. I turn to the porch to see Wyatt, standing there in a blue sweater, the same color as his eyes and a pair of blue jeans and boots.
My stomach tightens and tears fall from my eyes. For a split second, I think about driving off, leaving him here and avoiding everything he had to tell me. But I pull in a deep breath and step out of the car, dabbing my eyes.
“Come to me, Geneva,” he says.
“Why?” I say, batting tears from my eyes. “Just tell me what you have to say so I can be on my way.”
He frowns. “What is it do you think I have to say? Other than, I love you, and welcome home?”
“What are you talking about?” I say with a choppy, broken voice. I wipe more tears from my eyes.
“Come to me, Geneva,” he says again.
I take a breath then slowly walk up the stairs to him. Halfway up the stairs, I smell his shampoo, his cologne. And now, standing in front of him, I feel his hands against my face. I close my eyes.
“Open your eyes and look at me, Geneva.”
When I open my eyes, I see his handsome face. His eyes are gazing lovingly at me – doesn’t look like the eyes of a vindictive man who was about to break my heart. They look like the eyes of a man who wants me.
“You want me to be here?” I ask.
“Of course I want you to be here.”
“Then why did you leave me yesterday morning? Why did you have some men come by the house and get your stuff and—”
“Wait...wait, wait, baby. Let’s go inside and sit down for a minute.”
When we step in, I see the grand foyer and when I look around, I feel like I’m in a museum or a guest hall. Black and white stairs lead up the second level and huge plants decorate the house throughout. I follow him into what looks to be the living room, but the furniture is so rich, I don’t even want to take a seat. But I do so anyway.
Wyatt sits next to me.
“Wyatt just tell me what’s going on,” I say, because I’m thoroughly confused. “Do you want to be with me?”
“Of course, sweetheart. I left in the morning so I could get this house in order for you. My mother was supposed to come and get you before my guys showed up to get my things, but that didn’t work out too well. That’s why I was trying to call you, Geneva, but you weren’t answering your phone. I’m sorry if you thought I took that money from Mr. Price and ran. You know I wouldn’t do that to you, don’t you?”
“So he did offer you the money?”
“No, he didn’t. Your father didn’t want him to. He just wanted to see if you would take it.”
“Wait? What?”
“Geneva, your father and I grew very close in the three years before he died. Most of our conversations centered around you. I told him how much I loved you. How much I needed you. How I could never get over losing you. One day, he told me that he would remember me in his will, and he did. He remembered me. He never forgot how much I loved his only daughter.”
“So, if Mr. Price didn’t offer you the money—”
“Geneva, Mr. Price called me into his office yesterday afternoon, not to offer the money to me, but so I could see your reaction when he offered it to you.”
“My reaction?”
“Yes.”
“He recorded our meeting?” I ask for clarity.
“Apparently, your father wanted him to do that.”
“So my dad set all of this up?”
“Yes, Geneva. He did.”
I smile, feeling relieved. “So you really do love me?”
“Why do you ask me that like you’re surprised? You know I love you.”
I feel tears of happiness roll down my face. I’m so nervous, my hands are shaking. “And this is your house?”
“No. This is our house. Our dream house.” He wipe tears from my eyes with his thumbs and say, “I’d planned on showing you around, but, right now, I would like nothing other than to take you up to our bedroom and make love to you, angel.” Without a hint of warning, I feel him scoop me up from the couch and carry me up the spiral staircase to what I assume is the master bedroom.
CHAPTER 34
“So apparently, I had him all wrong,” I told Stacey when I eased out of bed in the morning, leaving Wyatt lying there naked, the sheets covering his lower half. I made a cup of coffee, then wearing Wyatt’s robe, I stepped outside, sitting on the porch, staring off into the distance.
“I love the saga that is your life, girl. So tell me what happened?”
“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. It’s happening to me and I can’t believe it.”
“Wait...I need to know the ending before I hear the beginning. Did you get your man?”
I smile as brightly as the sun. “Yes. I finally got my man.”
“Yes!” Stacey screams. “Now you can tell me the rest. So what happened?”
“Okay, so you remember I told you Wyatt had left that morning?”
“Yeah...”
“Well, he never came back. The next morning, some guys show up to collect his things.”
“What?”
“Yes, and the entire time I was like...Stacey was right. He was playing me. So, at that point, I’m a mess. My heart is broken and I’m on the verge of having a full-fledged meltdown when Wyatt’s mother shows up. She said that Wyatt told her to come and get me.”
“Oh my gosh...”
“Wait...it gets even bett
er. So I follow his mother to McDowell Ranch. The place is beautiful. There are gorgeous, massive trees, well designed landscaping and a six-bedroom house that looks like some place a senator would live. I was thinking that it was his parent’s house but when we finally get up the driveway, guess who’s standing on the porch?”
“Wyatt.”
“Yes. It’s his house. His ranch. His everything. He told me he wanted it for us.”
“Oh...my...gosh.”
“That’s what I said.”
“So you’re leaving Atlanta?”
“Yes, although Wyatt and I haven’t officially talked about it, but this is my dream house. I always wanted to live in the country with the—”
“White picket fences, kids, dogs, horses...I know. I only heard you mention it a million times. Oh and speaking of million, did Mr. Price offer Wyatt the money? I’m just curious.”
“He didn’t...oh, and get this...Mr. Price recorded my reaction when he offered the money to me. Wyatt watched it.”
“Wow. I bet he was like, now that girl done gave up eight million dollars for me. I got to keep her around.”
I smirk. “Probably.”
“So what happens to the money now?”
“Half of it goes to the Cancer Society and the other half goes to the Grieving Hearts Connect Foundation.”
“Grieving Hearts Connect?”
“Yes. It’s a charity that helps people cope with grief when they suffer the loss of a spouse in death. The money helps to send people to a grief retreat where they can get help from therapists and support from other people who know what they’re going through.”
“That’s nice.”
“It is. I’m glad my father chose to give money to these specific foundations.”
“And what about the spa?”
“Stacey, there’s no need to keep opening it. I’m done with it. If I can get up enough money, I’ll open one here, somewhere.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m pretty sure,” I say, smiling.
“Well I’m not going to keep you, Geneva. I’m so happy for you, though. You deserve nothing but the best, and now, you got it.”
I smile. “Yes. I got it.”
“I am going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, but don’t worry...we’ll definitely be visiting each other.”
“I know,” she says, and I can hear the crack in her voice. I know she’s on the verge of crying.
“Stacey, don’t you be over there crying.”
“I’m not,” she says and then I hear her sniffle. “I’ll see you later, okay.”
“Okay, Stacey,” I say, feeling a bit sad for deserting her. But I know she understands, even though she’s emotional about it.
CHAPTER 35
After enjoying breakfast together, we’re walking hand-in-hand in the backyard. I’m taking in the surroundings on this beautiful fall morning, watching leaves slowly fall from the tall trees, down to the ground.
“I love the white fences,” I tell him.
He swings our arms together and says, “I knew you would. That’s why I had them painted.”
“How long have you lived here, Wyatt?”
“Going on two years now.”
“I’m...I’m completely shocked and impressed. This is so much land. It’s like a taste of paradise.”
“This is what you wanted, though, right?”
“I’m sure you didn’t buy this house thinking about what I wanted.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“For obvious reasons. We just recently reconnected.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is, you could not have possibly known that we would be together again.”
A smile comes to his face. “I had faith. I didn’t know how it would happen, but I’m glad your father was a man of his word and remembered me in his will.”
“He wanted us to be together,” I say, having come to the conclusion after I watched the DVD my father made.
“He did. He knew how much I loved you.”
I smile and inhale fresh, crisp air. It seems that everything here is perfect. Even the brown, cold-stricken grass is perfect. And the horses...they are beautiful. “Do you take care of grooming the horses yourself?”
“No. I hire people for that.”
“Hmm...must be those men you sent to my dad’s house for your things yesterday.”
“No, not them. But since you brought it up, I want to apologize to you again for that. My plan went totally wrong.”
“Your plan?”
“Yes. You were to follow my mother over here before my guys showed up to get my things, and then I was going to drop down to my knees,” he says, dropping to his knees.
“Wyatt, what are you doing?” I ask, blushing.
I watch him take a ring from his pocket and I immediately recognize it. It’s the ring he’d originally proposed to me with and there’s a few tweaks to it. Looks like there are bigger diamonds. And the ring looks shinier like he had it professionally cleaned.
“Geneva McDowell, my wife that I love more than myself, will you spend the rest of your life with me?”
I’m moved to tears – so touched by his gesture that I feel my hand tremble in his grasp.
He continues, “And will you promise to do everything in your power to make up for the ten years that we lost?”
I dab my eyes with my free hand and say, “Yes, and yes.”
He slides the ring onto my finger and then stands to kiss my lips. “You like it?”
“I love it.”
“Good. I wasn’t sure whether or not I should tweak it. I knew how much the original meant to you.”
“It’s beautiful, Wyatt. I love it,” I say, wrapping my arms around him.
I embrace him in my arms, squeeze him tightly.
“Now, let me finish giving you the tour,” he says, taking my hand into his again.
“Here are the stables. And actually, I converted one of these into a man cave.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Let me show you.”
He goes into one of the empty stables and, when we climb the ladder to get to the loft, he says, “Here it is. The man cave.”
I glance around and see a Carolina Panthers poster on the wall, a couple of futon couches, a huge flat screen TV and other little trinkets.
“You like it?”
“It’s pretty neat, but why didn’t you make one somewhere in the house?”
He shrugs. “Because...I wanted to have something to remind me, no us, of our childhood. We spent many nights in the loft, at your father’s place, didn’t we?”
“Yes,” I say. Most of them were spent with him holding me in his arms, reassuring me that things would be okay.
“Now that you’ve seen the man cave, let’s get out of here. I still have more to show you.”
Once we’re back down on the ground, we walk even further to a pond. It’s not as close to the house, as the pond is at my father’s place. It’s further away, and it’s bigger. There’s even a little dock there with a small canoe tied to a post.
“You built a dock?”
“Yep. I figured we can come out here some mornings and have cocoa and marshmallows.”
“That sounds nice.”
“I thought you might like it. I’m thinking we should put a small fence or a gate around it so our kids don’t wander off into it.”
Our kids. The thought of actually having kids with Wyatt brings a smile to my face.
“Now, we need to talk about Atlanta,” he says.
“What about it?”
“Well, I know your shop is there...”
“It wasn’t doing well. I was going to close it anyway.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t have a huge client base, and I’ve never made enough money in that shop to pay any bills. I was living off of savings.”
“So you’re okay with me stealing you away from there and moving here?
Permanently?”
“I’m very much okay with it.”
“And your spa...is it something you would like to continue doing? Did you like that line of work?”
“Yes. I mean, it is what I went to school for, but I don’t mind giving it up, Wyatt.”
“It’s not like you can’t have one here, you know.”
“I guess I could, but I don’t have clients.”
“I’m sure you’ll get clients eventually.”
I shrug. “I guess so.”
“What do you mean, you guess so?” Wyatt asks, facing me now.
“It just seems like such a daunting task to start all over.”
“We’re starting over. Does that seem like a daunting task to you?”
I lose myself in his eyes, then after a moment, I say, “No. Not at all.”
“Then opening a new spa here won’t be either. You’ll have my help. As a matter of fact, you’ll have all the help you need, sweetheart.”
I rub my hands together. It’s cold outside and I feel my body beginning to shiver.
Wyatt suggests we go back inside. Says he’ll finish showing me around when it warms up a bit.
After I get a cup of hot coffee and he has tea, he says, “So not sure if you noticed, but you passed a strip mall on the way here, probably about seven miles up the road.”
“No. I didn’t see it. I was distraught, remember?”
He smirks. “Right. Anyway, darling, I think that will be a good spot for your spa. There’s an empty store there for lease.”
“Wyatt, I can’t afford that.”
He smiles and stares at me adoringly. “My sweet angel…your first mistake is thinking that you are still single. You’re not single anymore. We’re married.”
“Okay, but still...how can we afford it?”
He smiles again. “Do you remember our first meeting in Mr. Price’s office?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“You had asked about the accuracy of your father’s net worth and Mr. Price informed you that your father sold his egg farm?”
“Yeah.”
“He sold it to me, Geneva.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. He did...sold it to me for one dollar.”
“Seriously?”