I should know that won’t satisfy my mother. She doesn’t miss a beat. “I’m sure when you meet his parents they’ll be just as curious about you, Audrey.”
“I don’t have parents,” Barrett says gruffly. “My mother died when I was eighteen. I haven’t seen my father since I was four.”
My gaze rivets to his. “I’m sorry.”
My mother puts a hand on her chest. “Oh, Barrett, that’s horrible. You must have other family you’re close to.”
He clears his throat. “I don’t.”
He sounds just the way Isa once described him—stiff and unapproachable. I realize then that none of this is a game to him. He’s not playing at anything—he’s trying to connect with us. I take his hand in mine and lace my fingers through his. “And this is what makes our weekly dinners so much fun. We have no boundaries.”
“I don’t mind.” We stare into each other’s eyes long enough I almost forget we’re not alone.
Joe sets his fork on the side of his plate with a clank. “While we’re getting to know each other, where are you presently living, Barrett?”
“Boston.”
“Still in Bachelor Tower?” Joe’s tone draws my attention to him again. This is a new side of my brother. He looks ready to go to battle for me, and it’s endearing as well as a little annoying.
Barrett’s expression is hard to decipher. I can’t tell if he’s holding something back or getting ready to tell my brother to back off. “No. Like I said, I’m at a crossroads.”
“Which means what?” Joe demands.
My mother jumps in. “Joe, stop.”
Barrett looks down at our linked hands. “It’s a legitimate question.” The torment in his eyes makes me want to stand and wrap my arms around him. He has my hand clenched in his, though. “It means I’ve worked very hard to get where I am, but now that I’m here I realize I want more.”
“More?” I ask, my mouth drying as I do.
He looks deeply into my eyes again and everything else fades away. “You told me once that you were willing to wait for the real deal. I don’t know what that looks like or if I’m capable of being that man, but I want to be—with you.”
In the background, my mother says, “Joe, let’s give them a minute.”
Panic flashes through me. “No.” I release his hand. It was easier to accept he needed my emotional support than it is to believe he is overcome with desire for me. Of course I want to believe the latter, but isn’t that what kept Isa going back to Paul? Just because a person wants something to be true doesn’t make it so. “You told me you don’t do relationships. People don’t change.”
He takes my hand in his again. “And you assured me I already know how to love.”
Love? “We hardly know each other.”
“Then let’s change that. It’s never been like this for me. When I’m with you I feel like I’m who I was meant to be. I want to be part of your life, and I want you to be part of mine.”
“Are you asking me to—”
His kiss takes me by surprise. It is so tender, so full of restrained passion that I melt into it. Yes. Yes. Hell, yes. We’ll sort out the details later.
My mother’s voice rings out from the kitchen, “Don’t you dare, Joe. I want grandchildren.”
It’s enough to break off our kiss, but we’re both smiling. I trace his strong jaw. “They don’t get better. They’re always this crazy.”
He kisses me again briefly. “I’m counting on it.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Audrey
Three months later, I’m driving along a tree-lined back road hoping there are no police along the way because I’m going way too fast. My heart is racing and my stomach is churning because Barrett asked me to clear my afternoon schedule to meet him. He didn’t say it in the deep I-can’t-wait-until-tonight-to-have-you-again bedroom voice that has played havoc with my work schedule the last few months. Nor did he sound pleased with himself the way he does when he plans one of our dates. From baseball games to private museum tours, mini golf with one of my young cousins to fancy charity galas in Boston—Barrett has gone to great lengths to show me how easily we fit into each other’s lives.
My family loves him and—gulp—so do I.
I didn’t expect my journey back to walking to include finding someone to walk beside me. The hardest part has been the nights Barrett returns to his hotel. I understand now why Isa hasn’t given up on Paul. If Barrett left me now, I would survive, but it would be like a piece of me was ripped away. My heart still breaks for Isa, but she sees now that Paul has to figure himself out before he can be with anyone. He’s working on his book and I pray it does well—for both of them.
I still believe people don’t change, but they can become a better version of themselves. Barrett comes across as a hardhearted man at times, but when he took me to his mother’s grave site and told me the story of his childhood, I understood why. That day I fell in love with a complex man who had conquered his demons but still yearned for what so many people take for granted—a home, a family, someone he can depend on.
Things have been good—so good. Barrett hasn’t given me a single reason to worry, but my stomach is in knots. Is this the day he tells me that, although he has said he loves me, it’s over? I’ve heard that speech before. What woman hasn’t?
It can’t be that. No, I refuse to let my thoughts take me there.
Something might have happened that he doesn’t feel he can discuss with anyone else around. Something at work? There were so many questions I wanted to ask when he called, but he told me he would explain everything when he saw me. My GPS announces I have arrived at my destination. I pull up to a metal gate that opens immediately. The driveway is long and ends in front of a lake house with a wraparound porch. Barrett is standing on the top of the porch steps, leaning against the railing. He straightens and starts down the steps as soon as I am out of the car.
I wait for him to smile, but he doesn’t.
“Beautiful house,” I say because it’s better than spewing the questions rushing around my head. “Is it yours?”
He stops a foot in front of me. “Ours.”
I sway on my feet and blink several times quickly. “What?”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “It’s twenty minutes from your mother. There’s a guesthouse for Joe or your cousins to stay over. Canoes. A fire pit. Even a dock to fish from.”
My head is spinning. “You like to fish?”
“No, but our children might.”
My heart is racing now, but for a much different reason than before. “What are you trying to say, Mr. Natick?”
He takes my left hand in his and slides a huge diamond solitaire on my ring finger. “I love you, Audrey. Marry me. We’ll hang tire swings, have cookouts, and maybe even get a dog—just not one of those little ankle biters. I’ll commute to Boston. You can work from home or keep your office. This is the perfect location.”
“Sounds like you have it all figured out,” I tease even as my heart soars.
“I do.” He pulls me to him, looping his arms around my waist. “Almost. I don’t know about the wedding part. The last one we attended didn’t work out that well.”
I tip my head back and beam a smile up at him. “Really? I would say the opposite.”
He gives me that adorable, questioning look of his.
I go up onto my tiptoes and whisper against his lips, “We were left at the altar—but that’s how I found you.”
He kisses me and growls. “Technically, I found you before that. Do you need a reminder of how that worked out?” He picks me up, the way he did that first day and begins to carry me up the steps of the house. “I also didn’t hear you say yes.”
I almost say it, but there’s a light in his eyes that tells me holding out might be more fun. And that sexy growl of his—it works every time. “I’m considering your proposal.”
He turns the knob on the front door then kicks it open. “I have a few ideas about
how to help you come”—he pauses for emphasis then winks—“to a decision.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I’m pretty hard to convince. It might take all night.”
He kicks the door closed behind him. “I’m counting on it.”
THE END
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Almost a Wedding Page 10