by Liz Isaacson
“We can use them for our honeymoon.” He leaned closer, his voice half a whisper when he said, “When I got off the plane, I didn’t think I could stay. But then…it was like magic. I apologized to Caroline, and this weight I’ve been carrying disappeared. I feel free.”
His hands landed on her waist, tucking her against his body. “I feel free to love you. Free to have a family again. Free to build a new future, with a new wife.” The brim of his cowboy hat met her forehead, and Meg wanted to rip it off and kiss him senseless.
She held onto her patience and avoided looking at his mouth. “So you found closure.”
“Yeah.” His gaze turned thoughtful. “But you know what? I don’t think I ever would’ve found it in Wyoming.” He edged closer, his hat tipping back. “So thank you for leaving.”
“I came here because I thought you never would.”
“Glad to know you’re wrong sometimes.” His breath washed across her cheek, and Meg nearly went mad.
“Kiss me already,” she whispered, and Eli swept the hat off and pressed his lips to hers in one swift motion. From down the beach, June and Tia cheered. Meg giggled and then aligned her lips with Eli’s again.
Meg waited anxiously while the line rang. Finally the call picked up and Stockton’s little voice came through Eli’s phone. “Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, bud.” The screen flickered, and then there he was, looking a little more worn than Meg remembered him.
She pulled in a breath as Eli said, “Can you see me?”
“Yeah.”
“Look who I’m with.” Eli shifted on the bench where they sat and tilted the phone so Stockton could see Meg.
The little boy squealed and laughed. “Meggy!”
“Hey, Stockton.” Her heart pumped so fast, so fast. How could she have left him in the middle of the night? But she was glad she knew how to do hard things, how to follow through, how to get what she wanted.
“Where are you? When you comin’ home?”
Meg smiled at him, sure he’d break a lot of hearts one day. He was already starting to talk like a cowboy, and if grew up to be anything like Eli, she’d have to beat the girls back with a stick.
“I’m in California,” Meg said. “I live here now.” While her whole heart wanted to return to Wyoming, she’d spoken true when she’d told Eli she would not be going back unless they were married.
“Daddy?”
Eli pressed his face in close to Meg’s, and she thrilled at the nearness of him. She could definitely see the change in him since she’d left. He seemed…happy.
Meg had never thought Eli was unhappy, but seeing him now, she realized how much of a shell of himself he’d been. She’d only known him post-Caroline, and she’d thought that was simply how he was. But now that she knew he could be so much more, she loved him even more.
“Are you stayin’ in California too?” Stockton’s tongue tripped over the name of the state, and his bright blue eyes held worry and fear.
“No, bud. I’ll be home on Sunday afternoon, like we talked about.”
Sunday. Meg’s heart sank, but she kept her smile hitched in place as the ocean breeze played with her hair. Eli certainly wasn’t staying long. Of course he couldn’t. He had a son, a job, a life, back in Coral Canyon.
Stockton glanced at Meg. “You can’t bring her back?”
“I tried, bud.” Eli cleared his throat, and Meg honestly hadn’t heard him do it half of much in all the time she’d known him as he’d done it today. “But she says she can’t come unless we get married.”
Stockton’s whole face lit up. His mouth rounded into an O but he didn’t say anything.
“Shh,” Eli said, and Meg pingponged her attention between the two of them.
“What’s going on?” she asked in her best nanny-warning voice. “Stocky?”
“Can I tell her?” Stockton asked.
“No,” Eli said quickly, but he was still wearing that smile that made Meg’s stomach soft. She met his eye, but he simply grinned at her all innocently. But there was something going on here.
“Someone better say something,” Meg said.
“Dad.”
Eli gave an exaggerated sigh and leaned away from Meg. “Fine.”
Meg became aware of him digging for something in his pocket, and then the edges of her vision blurred. What was happening? Was she ready for it to happen?
And then Eli had dropped to both knees, right there on the boardwalk, his feet extending out into the sand. “Meg Palmer. I’m in love with you. Will you marry me?”
She pressed one hand over her heart, just like she’d seen all the girls do in the movies. It just sort of happened, as if her heart was about to fly away and she wanted to make sure it stayed put.
“Say yes!” Stockton said. “And I can’t see anything, Dad.”
Eli held out a diamond ring, and Meg coud certainly see the sunlight glinting off the huge gem. He lifted the phone with his other hand and said in a hushed voice that he wasn’t trying to make too quiet. “She looks a little stunned, buddy. Maybe scared.” Eli flicked his eyes back to her and then the phone again. “I can’t really tell.”
Stunned and scared summed up Meg’s feelings pretty well, actually, and a giggle spilled from her mouth.
“Oh, she’s laughing.” Eli grinned and turned the phone back to her. “We love you, Meg. Please, please come back to us.”
She looked at the ring as if that alone would make her decision. But she’d already decided. “Yes,” she said, laughing some more as Stockton clapped his hands and Eli slid the ring on her left hand.
More cheering came through the phone, and Graham, Laney, and Amanda appeared in the frame, all smiling. Eli’s mother wiped her eyes and nodded. Someone set a cake on the table, and then Celia’s voice said, “Congratulations, you two. When’s the big day?”
Eli lifted one shoulder, a clear indication for Meg to decide.
“Summer,” she finally said. “Right here on the beach. And everyone has to come. California is amazing.”
Chapter Nineteen
Summer. Right here on the beach.
The words felt like barbs as Eli thought them while he stood at the window. It was cold in Wyoming; nothing like the golden light he’d experienced in California over the weekend.
And he was alone again, as Meg was holding to her promise that she would not come back to Wyoming until she was his wife. They’d spent hours talking things through, and she indeed wanted a beach wedding, in California, where she’d be living until summer.
Summer.
He’d pushed for the earliest date that could still be considered summer, and that was June first.
She’d agreed, but that date sat very far into the future for Eli—over four months.
“No way I can survive here for four months by myself,” he said to his partial reflection in the glass. The snow in the back yard seemed to mock him, and he seriously considered pulling Stockton out of school and moving the two of them to the beachside town where Meg had put down fast roots.
She’d claimed she couldn’t abandon her co-workers at the law firm where she’d been working for two weeks. A hint of bitterness came with Eli’s thoughts, and he swallowed to tamp it down.
After they’d ended the call with Stockton, she’d skipped through the sand to show her two girlfriends the ring. He’d met them both, and then he’d stolen Meg away from their Friday night beach relaxation.
He just didn’t like that she’d chosen them over him.
“She hasn’t.” He sighed, trying to see the situation from another angle. From Meg’s perspective. She deserved to be happy too, and she said she really enjoyed the secretarial work at the law office. “And now that Stockton is in school full-time, I might need something to do in Coral Canyon,” she’d said. Then she’d leaned into him, gripping the collar of his shirt with both fists and looking at him with the dark, intoxicating eyes as she said, “Please, Eli. I just feel like I need to stay here and…find myself.�
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And he had no defense against her when she put herself in his arms and then kissed him with the passion she had after he’d said, “Yeah, all right, Meg. Summer. Here on the beach.”
But now that he was back in Wyoming, without her, he was regretting his moment of weakness. But he knew he wasn’t really weak. Quite the opposite, in fact, as it had taken a lot of courage and strength for him to fly to California, face Meg, and set things right.
The phone rang, and Eli turned away from the window to answer it. “Whiskey Mountain Stables,” he answered, wondering what was so hard about being a secretary. Even he could answer a phone when it rang.
The caller wanted to book the lodge and the horses for a family reunion, and Eli managed to take care of business before he returned to his brooding. He should be working on some sort of proposal, but he’d been pretty useless around the lodge since Meg’s midnight departure.
Tomorrow, he promised himself.
His cell chimed and he checked it to find Laney saying You’re still okay to pick up the kids?
Yep.
And since Eli had to go to town later that afternoon to pick up Stockton and Bailey—a task Meg had done for a solid year without Eli even realizing how much effort it too—he called his mother.
“You want to go to lunch?” he asked her.
“Of course I do.”
Eli smiled and shook his head at the cold, clear day outside the window. “Great, see you at noon?” He could waste a couple of hours with his mom and then sit outside the elementary school until the kids were done.
And while he’d never done the dad thing all that well, he found he liked sending his son off to school knowing what he was wearing and what he’d be eating, and he liked being the first one Stockton saw once class got out.
The boy talked to him more than he ever had before, and Eli was committed to being Stockton’s caregiver more than Meg, even when she came back. It might’ve been wishful thinking, but he finally felt like he was in a place to be a dad.
He arrived at Salads Forever, his mother’s favorite lunch spot and found her behind a giant bowl of greens at a corner table.
“You ordered without me?” He slid onto the chair across from her, very aware that he was the only human being with a Y-chromosome in the entire establishment. And wow, female eyes were heavy.
He ignored the gawking and looked at the berries and nuts dotting her lettuce. “I can’t believe you eat that.
“Hey, you invited me to lunch.” She grinned at him and speared a strawberry and a piece of what Eli guessed was spinach. He wasn’t exactly sure, because he tried to avoid anything in the green food category.
“I hope you got me—”
“BLT, with an extra side of bacon?” The waiter looked expectantly at Eli, and he indicated the table in front of him. The man set the plate down, and Eli could practically hear the entire restaurant gasp as he picked up a French fry.
“And two cookies.” The waiter placed another plate on the table, instantly making the small space too crowded. Eli didn’t care. For cookies, he’d make room anywhere.
“So, what’s the occasion?” his mom asked.
“No occasion.” He took a big bite of his sandwich so he could have time to think about his mom’s next question. Because with her, there was always one more question.
“You come down to pick up the kids every day, and this is the first time you’ve invited me to lunch.” She tactfully kept her eyes on her food. “You’re engaged now. You’ve got to be happy about that.”
“I am,” Eli said around a mouthful of food. He swallowed and wiped his face with his napkin. Mayo in his beard wasn’t something he needed the town gossip circles to circulate. “It’s just…June first.”
His mom nodded and put more salad in her mouth. She’d been such a big help to Eli over the years, and she always seemed to know when to speak and when to listen.
“I’m thinking of moving there with Stockton.” Eli gazed at his mom, needing to judge her reaction. She yanked her attention to him, her eyes wide and everything stilling for just a moment.
“It’s a bad idea.” Eli peeled back the top layer of his sandwich and layered on his extra bacon. “I know it is.” Everything in him sighed, and his mother didn’t even have to say anything for him to know he better just get used to the next four months of living in the lodge without Meg.
“Come on, bud,” Eli said, the exasperation in his voice sky high. “This isn’t the first time we’ve flown to California. Did you get your swimming suit?”
Stockton started digging through the fish-shaped carryon Eli had bought for him. They’d gone to visit Meg at least twice a month over the course of the last few months, and there were only two more weeks until the wedding.
“I can’t find it.” Stockton looked up at him like Eli could procure a pair of boy’s swim trucks with a wave of his hand.
Eli was in no mood to parent today. That morning, he’d lost two clients who’d booked months ago, and now he had holes in his schedule for the stables. Laney had gone into labor last night, and he really wanted to be in Coral Canyon for the birth of his first nephew. But he wanted to see Meg too. Decisions had been made, but Eli didn’t have to like them.
And Laney still hadn’t had the baby, which only added worry to Eli’s already frayed nerves. “We can buy a new one,” he told his son. “Come on. Zip it up. We’re going to be late.”
At least spring had finally arrived in Wyoming, though the majestic Tetons just beyond the windows of the lodge still had plenty of snow on their tops. The drive to the airport would go quick without snow heaped all over, and as soon as Stockton zipped his bag, Eli grabbed it and headed for the door.
They made their flight, bought a new pair of swim trunks in the Long Beach airport, and met Meg on the beach where they’d be married in just thirteen days.
“Hey, beautiful.” California really agreed with Meg. She had a golden glow Eli had never seen on her before, not even in Miami or Bora Bora. He realized now that it was more than the sun kissing her skin and making it bronze, but that she exuded joy that she’d never had before.
“Hey, handsome.” She stretched up and kissed him while Eli ran down to the water’s edge. He loved the ocean, the sun, the water, and Eli considered once again the idea that he should simply move to California to be with Meg instead of having her come back to Wyoming.
“Everything set for the wedding?” he asked. “What can I help with?”
“Everything’s set,” she said, toeing the sand as she let him wrap his arms around her. She always told him that. Had not allowed him to give her a single dollar or know anything about the wedding itself.
She’d sent him several choices of appropriate suits he could wear that would go with her dress, and she’d asked him to pay for the family dinner after the ceremony. He’d told her he’d pay for all of it, whatever she wanted, anything. But she’d just said, The family dinner would be great.
“What about you and Stockton?” She stepped toward the blanket she’d laid out. In all their visits, he’d never seen her actually get in the ocean. She’d walk along the seam where it met the same, but she didn’t swim despite wearing her suit. “You have your clothes and everything?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at her when she rolled her eyes. “We’ll be ready. Heck, we’ve been ready for months.”
Meg flashed him a smile and picked up a bag of potato chips. “couple more weeks.”
He caught her looking at her engagement ring. “Did you talk to Taylor?” he asked. “Put in your two weeks notice?”
Meg took a long drink from her water bottle. “How are the stables?”
Eli looked in the same direction as her, finding Stockton a few yards out into the surf. “Just fine.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“I lost some bookings this morning. It’s fine.” It wasn’t like they needed the money. But Eli’s pride was taking a hit. He’d thought he could make Whiskey Mounta
in Lodge into a fantastic mountain resort, where people would come and stay for the family charm, and the horses, and everything else he’d fallen in love with when he’d first come to the lodge Graham had bought.
“Doesn’t sound fine.”
Eli sighed and looked at Meg. He wanted her to be his biggest support, his champion, his sounding board. So he started talking, telling her everything he’d been doubting, all the ideas he’d had, and finally finished with, “What do you think I should do?”
Meg gave him the courtesy of remaining silent for a few seconds. She shielded her eyes as she looked into the sunset, though she wore sunglasses. “Well,” she said slowly. “That little boy loves the ocean. And so do I. And maybe it’s time you really consider leaving Wyoming.” She looked back at him, and Eli nodded.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Pray about it,” Meg said. “I think you’ll know what to do then.”
Eli kept nodding as he stood and brushed off his board shorts. “I’m gonna go help him build a sand castle. Apparently I promised last time we were here.”
Meg giggled. “That kid has a good memory.”
“Yeah, or he makes stuff up.” Eli jogged down to the shoreline, and with his hands sandy and the shape of a castle starting to come together, he realized that Meg had never answered his question about whether she’d put in her two weeks notice.
Chapter Twenty
Meg twirled in front of the mirror, pure happiness cascading through her. A baby cried beyond the door, the sound growing louder as someone opened the door and slipped inside the bride’s room.
Laney froze and sucked in a tight breath. “Meg,” she said. “You look beautiful.” She came over to where Meg stood in her wedding gown and gave her a big hug.
“Thank you for coming. How’s Ronnie?” She twisted back to the closed door, the baby’s wails pulling at her heartstrings.
“He’ll quiet down quick enough,” she said. “Graham’s great with him.” She put her arm around Amanda, and the sting of not having her mother there eased inside Meg. She’d invited her mom, but she didn’t fly, and Carrie and Brittany had come without their families. Even her father had come all the way from Florida to walk her down the aisle.