His Answered Prayer (If Wishes Were Husbands Book 2) (Inspirational Contemporary Romance)

by Lois Richer

  Silence loomed between them. When Gabe finally spoke there was a hint of reprimand in his tone that scratched against her conscience like a fingernail on a blackboard.

  “I thought we were going to make time for each other. To do things together.” His hands reached out and stopped hers, holding them still between his palms. His eyes were mossy dark as they met hers. “When, Blair? When do we make time? You’re always running.”

  With a pang, Blair realized she was so tired, she just wanted to cuddle in those arms, close her eyes and let him hold her. She wanted to forget about all the demands on her time, the challenges she’d taken on without thinking them through.

  But the table between them was like the gulf that separated them. She loved him. He didn’t love her. She had to be strong, reliable, dependable. She couldn’t need him. There was no telling where the next test would come from. She had to be ready.

  “I’m doing my best, Gabriel.” She tugged her hands out of his and moved to the box table, assembling the small white cardboard sets that had her name scripted across the top in gold lettering.

  “No, Blair. You’re not. You’re letting your priorities get skewed.” He grimaced, a wry smile on his mouth. “I should recognize the signs. I did it myself for enough years.”

  The simmering started again.

  “Willie has never been better. She doesn’t get overwhelmed by things nearly as often, and she hasn’t asked me one of her goofy questions in days. Mac is as healthy as he’s been in years. He loves working on that fountain you guys started. Albert’s knee-deep in his inventions, and Daniel is finishing his first school year.” She took a deep breath and glared at him. “Everything seems perfectly fine to me.”

  “Everyone is adapting to the changes we’ve made. Everyone except you. You haven’t had time to figure out what’s changed, what you need to change, because you’re too busy running.” He stepped around the table and stood beside her. His fingers reached out and plucked the cotton knit away from her rib cage. “This fit you perfectly a month ago. Now it bags and hangs. You’ve got blue lines under your eyes. Even when Willie sleeps, you don’t.”

  “I’m sorry I woke you. You should close your door,” she muttered stiffly, risking a glance in the mirror across the room. He was right, she did look awful. “I have a lot of things on my mind.”

  “Too many things. You need to get rid of some of them.”

  She frowned, disbelief fogging her brain. “What did you say?”

  “I said it’s time to cut down on some of this frenetic busyness. Today. Now.” He refused to back down, though she gave him her fiercest glare. “I’ll help you, Blair. However you want. But you’ve got to squelch this inane desire to run yourself ragged.”

  “I have a business to run!” She shouted it, tiredness and frustration lending an edge to her voice. “You may be able to hire a thousand minions to take over when you disappear for months at a time, but I can’t.”

  He stared at her, his emerald eyes piercing. “Why not?”

  She sighed. It wouldn’t do any good to argue with him. And she didn’t want upsets in the family. She wanted everything to run smoothly. She’d try reason.

  “You don’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  Peacemaking got shoved to the back burner. “Look, Gabe. It’s a complicated process that I developed myself. I take pride in what I sell, and I don’t want that compromised.”

  “So you train someone to do it as well or better. Someone who will do this while you catch up on the important stuff like garnering new accounts, building your business.” He waited, one ankle crossed over the other, his perfectly pressed jeans absolutely stain free. “I’ll find someone for you if you like. I’ll even design a brochure advertising your wares.”

  “You?” She scoffed at the absurdity of it. “What do you know about making candles or producing honey?”

  “Not a thing. But I do know that you need someone reliable, someone dependable who takes special care in their work.” He reached out and pushed a curl off her face.

  “I can’t afford to hire anyone.” She tilted away from his fingers, contrary to the ache in her heart.

  “You can’t afford not to. If you keep on like this, you’ll get sick. The orders will back up, and nothing will sell. It’s time for some strategic planning, Blair.” He crossed his arms.

  For some reason that motion made her burn. “I suppose you think, since you’re the big tycoon, that you know all about this.”

  He chuckled. “I should. I’ve been through it enough times. Every little bit of growth, I’d have to revamp and revise. I wanted to do it all myself, but I just couldn’t handle it. Rich had to practically force me to hire a business manager. He threatened to quit more times than I can count unless I followed the man’s advice.” He waited a minute, then lifted an eyebrow as if he knew the question that burned on the end of her tongue.

  “The answer to your question is yes, I hated every minute of it. It hurt to let go and watch someone else take my ideas and run with them, even though it was my company they were building. I wanted them to be my designs, my work. In short, I wanted to control every minute detail.”

  “Sounds like you.” She sniped at him because he’d just said the exact thoughts that had passed through her head. She hated the thought of relinquishing control. If she did it, she knew exactly what she’d get. Her standards would be met. If she let go…

  His hands on her shoulders jerked her attention to him.

  “It isn’t easy to let someone else in, Blair, but it’s the only way to grow.”

  Was he talking only about business?

  “A company that’s built on one person is no stronger than a family that is made up of one person. More heads, more shoulders, the idea pot gets richer. Besides…” He grinned and winked. “There are more shoulders to take the stress.”

  Were they stronger as a family now? Had moving into the castle with Gabe, giving Daniel two parents, had that made them stronger? Or had it weakened her?

  “It takes a while, Blair. You have to give it a chance. That’s all I’m asking. Let me find someone to help you out here. Someone who won’t mind starting off at a lower salary if they can share in the benefits of making the business grow.”

  “Profit sharing.” It was a good idea.

  “Exactly.” He grinned that big, flashy grin. “If you don’t like what I find, we’ll keep looking.”

  She felt foolish for not thinking of it sooner. “I suppose you think this is all rather silly,” she muttered, waving a hand around the messy workroom.

  He frowned, his head tilted. “Why would I think that?”

  “Well, there’s you and your company. What do you have now, Gabe, five hundred employees? Annual sales figures that fit right in with the Fortune five hundred fellows?” She laughed bitterly. “And you see me struggling with this little company that’s liable to get eaten up by the giants. I suppose you think I should dump it all and be content to just be the little wife?” She jerked her head, ready to take it on the chin.

  His voice, when he finally spoke, was very quiet. “You already are my wife. I don’t see why that makes you any less capable as a businesswoman.” His eyes held hers. “I certainly don’t blame you for wanting your own successful company. Why shouldn’t you want to succeed, just like everyone else?”

  A tiny hint of something—what, hurt?—echoed through his words.

  “I’ve never been a snob, Blair. I don’t look down on this business or any other. Why should I?” He picked up a bottle of color. “This shade of blue is new, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, pleased that he’d noticed.

  “I imagine it took you hours of mixing and testing to get exactly this shade of greenish blue. You weren’t satisfied until it did exactly what you wanted in the wax. I’m guessing that the technical part was fairly easy thanks to your chemistry background, but the trials, the run-throughs, the mistakes and retries, those must have been time-consuming, not t
o mention frustrating.”

  She nodded again.

  “But you persevered until you had distilled out of that exactly what you wanted. Why wouldn’t I admire that?”

  “I’m sorry.” Shame burned on her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

  “I’m glad you did, because it brings home what I’ve been trying to say.” He put the color down and turned to face her fully. “Our marriage is like that color. We need to test things out, make sure we’re getting exactly what we want, and if we aren’t we need to change the formula, rearrange the sequence, add more of one thing, take away something else.”

  “And you want me to cut down on work? How is that going to help?” She glanced at her watch, wondering if she’d manage to get anything worthwhile done today. The thought made her flinch.

  Wasn’t her marriage to Gabe worth some time?

  “I don’t want you to quit on your company, Blair. I think it’s great. I’d like to help you with it, if you want me to. I’d just like to see you cut out some of the other extraneous stuff that takes time away, time that we should be spending with Daniel. And with each other.”

  The phone rang. Blair let the answering machine take it, her face burning as she listened to the teacher at the day care remind her that they didn’t have much time to raise the last bit of money they needed. She glanced away from the machine as the message ended and caught Gabe’s look of frustration.

  “I’m sorry if you feel I’m neglecting you!” The words spilled out of her with a bitter ring, and she regretted them as soon as she’d said them.

  Gabe’s lips tightened. His hands balled at his sides. Then he turned and walked to the door, his voice hard and cold. “Forget it, Blair. Just forget it.”

  Tears welled in her eyes as she heard his truck door slam. She walked to the door and watched him drive away, her heart aching for the stoic look on his handsome face. The quiet, controlled rev of his engine, the steady hum as he drove out of the yard and toward his castle condemned her more clearly than anything else could have.

  Why do I do this? Why do I have to prove myself? Is it ever going to be enough?

  She flopped down on the doorstep and sighed.

  Gabriel Sloan was right. And she knew it. She had taken on too much. The worst part was, she didn’t know how to get out of all those commitments. Even as she’d thought about it once or twice, more had piled up.

  It’s just like our marriage. We need time to figure out what works.

  Was that what she was afraid of—working out her marriage? Or was she afraid that it would never work out?

  Blair closed her eyes and prayed.

  Lord, I’m so tired and so confused. I want to do what’s best for everyone and I just seem to be making matters worse. Please help me to find a way to reach Gabe.

  The relief of admitting she was caught in a situation she couldn’t control left her breathless. What to do now?

  He wants to help, to be part of your lives. Let him.

  Blair shuddered at the idea. Mind Your Own Beeswax was hers and hers alone. She’d started it herself, nurtured it until she had a firm client base with a regular order list. She didn’t want to turn it over.

  “You want to be in control.”

  The memory of those words made her blanch. It was true. She didn’t want someone to tell her when and how to do things. She wanted to do it on her own. Just as she’d wanted complete control all those years ago.

  You’ve been on your own. Look where you’re at now.

  Blair couldn’t ignore the truth anymore. She sighed and got up. A quick check ensured there was nothing that couldn’t wait. She snatched up her keys and locked the door, her mind in turmoil as she tried to think of a way to explain her sudden change of heart to her husband. Nothing but a bald admission of her mistakes came to mind.

  She drove home trying to decide how to eat crow.

  The perfect sunny afternoon sparkled off the shining windows of Gabe’s castle from half a mile down the road. It shimmered in the blooming flowers that snuggled against the sidewalk and sparkled off the brook where it had been diverted to pass through Mac’s newly created fountain.

  Blair pulled her hair away from the nape of her neck and breathed in the heady fragrance of lilacs that wafted from a bush that had crouched against a huge glacial stone for as long as she could remember.

  No one seemed to be around, so she wandered through the house to her room. The patio door stood open to the afternoon breeze. The glittering reflections of the pool beckoned her to dive in. It was an invitation she couldn’t resist. Five minutes later she took a header into the water and let it course over her.

  She burst to the top, feeling the water stream over her head and down the length of her hair like a cleansing tide.

  “I thought you were working.” Gabe lay sprawled on a lounger, clad in a white T-shirt and black swimming briefs. His black sunglasses effectively shielded his eyes from her.

  “I decided I needed a break.” She saw him glance at the phone he held. “Am I bothering you?”

  “Of course not.” He put the phone on the table. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

  She glanced at him in surprise. “You were in?”

  “I’ve been going in two or three times every day.”

  She waited.

  “It’s getting easier.” He poured himself a glass of iced tea, then held up the pitcher in a question. At her nod, he poured a second glass. “I play silly games that Daniel taught me, like diving for a penny.”

  “I’m impressed.” Blair climbed the stairs, took her glass and sat on the edge of the pool. “I wanted to ask you something, Gabe.”

  “Ask away.” He stayed where he was.

  Blair turned so she could see his face. “I wondered if you’d like to donate to the preschool.”

  He choked on his drink, his head jerking in her direction. Blair didn’t like not being able to read his eyes so she got up, walked over and removed his glasses.

  “In the amount of two hundred eighty-seven dollars and forty-three cents.”

  The beginnings of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’re sure it’s not forty-four cents.”

  “Nope. Forty-three. With your contribution, the preschool will have the requisite one thousand dollars I promised to raise.” She dragged a chair around so she was facing him and sitting in the sun. “It’s tax deductible,” she reminded him when he said nothing.

  “Oh, well, if that’s the case, sign me up.” He studied her.

  Blair leaned her head back and closed her eyes, allowing the penetrating warmth of those rays to pierce right through to her bones. How wonderful to just lie here. “Thank you.”

  “Can I ask you something, Blair?”

  She shrugged. “My life is an open book.”

  “Hardly.” He took another drink. “Why the day care? It’s not as if Daniel’s there.”

  “It’s not really a day care. More a preschool. I was the president the year we founded it. I sort of feel obligated to see it prosper.” She remembered the flurry of getting it off the ground and the feeling of overwhelming pride at the looks on the kids’ faces that first day.

  “How long ago was that?” Gabe’s voice rumbled from somewhere deep within his chest.

  It sounded like he was laughing at her, but she couldn’t be bothered to check. Blair kept her eyes closed and concentrated on absorbing as many rays as she could. “Four years ago.”

  His chair squeaked a protest. A moment later one big hand covered her arm. “You felt obligated all this time? You didn’t think maybe you’d done enough, that it might be time for someone else to pitch in?”

  She did open her eyes then, and found his face mere inches from her own. “No,” she breathed, almost silently. “I guess I didn’t. I just saw a need and decided to do something about it.”

  “I see.” He sat back. “Someone named Marty called about eight cakes you promised for next week.”

  Blair knew he wanted to say some
thing else, so she forestalled him. “Yes. For the bake sale. It’s a missions project that raises funds for Christmas gifts for children in an orphanage in some part of Russia.” She opened one eye slowly and winced at the frown on his lips. “I was going to ask some of the other ladies to help me, but most people go on vacation around this time of the year.”

  “There’s a bakery in the next town. Saunder’s, I think it’s called. I ordered ten cakes. To be delivered the day of the sale.” His voice dared her to argue.

  She didn’t. “Thank you,” she murmured. “I was wondering how I was going to manage that.”

  “Daniel’s teacher called to say they have enough money for their field trip, the pastor has found a new recruit to head up the meals on wheels team and Mabel somebody will take your place escorting the Scouts on their trip this Saturday.”

  Blair sat up, her temper rising as she saw the complacent look on his face. “How dare you!”

  “Somebody had to. Willie’s driving herself frantic worrying about getting ready for the seniors’ retreat. She doesn’t want to ask you for help because you’re so busy.” He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

  “I like being busy.” She glared at him, fuming because he couldn’t even see the daggers she was tossing his way.

  “You’re too busy. It’s time to let go of some of this. There are other people who’d like to help out, you know. They’re just intimidated by you.”

  It was a horrible thing to say! As if she steamrollered everyone without considering anyone else’s feelings. That wasn’t her!

  “Stop pretending you’re asleep and listen to me.” She waited until he opened one eye, then launched into her spiel. “I asked for help. No one offered. I’ve asked for help a number of times. No one ever offers. Somebody’s got to do it.”

  “Maybe they just wanted to be asked. Personally. And left to do the job the way they see fit.”

  Something in the way he said it made Blair stop. She stared at him for a minute, turning over the words he’d just uttered. Suspicions crept through her brain.