His smile vanished. “I thought you—”
“If I refuse to marry you, what will you do?”
“Leenie, I’m confused by your question.”
“I know that Steve O’Neal is your lawyer and that whatever legal matters he was taking care of for you had to do with Andrew. Do you plan to take me to court to get your rights as Andrew’s father? Is that what you’ll do if I won’t marry you?”
Frank stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown an extra head. “I had Steve set up a college fund for Andrew. And I revised my will, leaving the estate I inherited from my father to Andrew and you.” He grasped Leenie’s shoulders. “Have you been fretting ever since I left Maysville thinking I was going to… My God, Slim, how could you think I’d ever try to take Andrew away from you?”
“I’m sorry. I—I just didn’t know what to think.”
“Don’t you know I’d never do anything to hurt you? Hell, look at me, will you? I quit my job at Dundee, I sublet my apartment, I arranged my financial affairs so you and Andrew would be taken care of if anything ever happened to me. And I borrowed the Dundee jet to whisk us off to Las Vegas to get married. I bought out half a florist shop and spent a small fortune on that ring.” His gaze jumped from the ring to Leenie’s face. “What does that tell you?”
“It tells me that you really want to marry me.”
“Is that all it tells you?”
“That you wanted everything to be romantic and special for me?”
“And?” He shook her gently. “Damn it, woman, don’t you know when you’ve won?”
She jerked away from him. “Exactly what have I won? Marriage to you? Does that mean you’ve lost? If you think for one minute that I’m going to marry you just because—”
He grabbed her and kissed her, effectively ending her tirade.
When they finally came up for air, Frank said, “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
Leenie gasped silently as realization dawned. Frank Latimer was hers. She could see it in his eyes. He hadn’t proposed simply because he wanted to provide a family for their son.
“Say what?” she asked, grinning, barely able to keep from laughing.
“Hell, Slim, you won my heart. Not that it’s such a grand prize, but it’s yours. All yours.”
She slipped her arms around his neck, then lifted her left hand to look at her engagement ring. “If I’ve won your heart, does that mean you love me?”
Frank cleared his throat. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
“Tell me.”
“I just did.”
“No you didn’t. I want to hear the words.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?”
“Do you love me?”
Leenie laughed. Joyously. Closing her eyes for just a second, she said a silent thanks to God. “Of course I love you, you big lug. I’ve been head over heels in love with you since the first time we made love.”
Andrew gurgled loudly several times. Frank and Leenie looked at their son.
Frank shook his head. “Okay, son, okay. I know what I’ve got to do.” Frank pulled Leenie close, gazed down into her eyes and said, “I love you, Leenie. But I have no idea how long I’ve loved you or when I realized that I did. I’m not sure. Maybe it was when I was in Atlanta whirling around, making plans. Or maybe it was just a few minutes ago when I saw you again.”
“I think you’ve been in love with me since that first night.” She brushed his lips breezily.
“Maybe I have.”
“Maybe.” She kissed him again. “We’re going to have a wonderful life—you, me and Andrew.”
“If we don’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.” He kissed her. “We’ve got everything going for us.”
“Including love.”
“Especially love.”
Epilogue
Leenie and Frank celebrated their first anniversary in style, surrounded by family and friends in their new house. They had designed the house themselves and worked with the contractor for eight long months until their dream became a reality. And during that time, Frank had designed several other projects, from a new garage for Haley and her husband to an addition for the pastor’s home. While Leenie found job fulfillment in her TV and radio shows on WJMM, Frank was putting to use his heretofore unused college degree in architecture.
They had moved into their sprawling, bilevel, modern brick-and-glass structure shortly after Andrew’s first birthday a little over two months ago. The day this house became their home, they’d had their own private party in front of the fireplace in their bedroom, a night neither of them would ever forget.
This year with Frank had been the happiest of her life. He let her know every day how much he loved her. An affair that had begun as a one-night stand had miraculously turned into a love affair that had healed two wounded souls and mended two battered hearts.
When Debra produced a piece of the wedding cake she had saved from the reception Leenie’s friends had given them upon their return from their Las Vegas wedding, Frank accepted the plate and fork. He sliced off a piece of cake and put it in Leenie’s mouth, then took a bite himself. Their guests clapped and cheered and Haley called for a speech.
Frank looked to Leenie. She shrugged. He leaned down and murmured in her ear, “Do you want me to tell all these people that I’m the happiest man on earth?”
Leenie slid her arm around his waist and hugged her husband. “You could, if you want to,” she whispered. “But I think they already know that. Just as they know I’m mad about you and I’m deliriously happy.”
“I could tell them that Andrew is the best-looking, smartest, most athletic one-year-old in the world, but that wouldn’t be news either, would it?”
“Nope. Andrew’s perfection is a well-known fact here in Maysville.”
“Then we really don’t have a speech to give them, do we? There’s nothing we can tell them that they don’t already know.”
Leenie kissed Frank in front of their guests, which actually made him blush and brought another round of cheers from their friends. “I have a secret that I can tell you and then you can share it with everyone else.”
“You’ve got a secret?” Frank said, not bothering to keep his voice low.
“Mmm-hmmm.”
“What’s your secret?” Haley Wilson shouted.
Once again Leenie whispered in her husband’s ear.
“We’re what?” Frank said rather loudly. “Are you sure?”
Smiling exuberantly, Leenie nodded.
“Hey, everybody, we’re going to have another baby,” Frank announced. “In about six and a half months.” When he calmed down a bit, he hugged Leenie to him and said softly, “It happened the first night we spent in this house, didn’t it?”
“Probably.”
Frank hugged her again. “Are you all right? Is everything okay? With you and the baby? Is there anything I need to do for you?”
“I’m fine. The baby’s fine. But I won’t mind getting lots of TLC from my husband. After all, being pregnant at forty—”
“Slim, I’m going to give you enough TLC with this pregnancy to make up for what you missed when you were carrying Andrew. This time around, you can count on me every minute of every day. I’m not going to miss anything. I promise that I’ll—”
Leenie covered his mouth with her open palm to quiet him, then reached down and took his hand in hers. “Just promise me that you’ll love me forever. That’s all I want. All I’ll ever want.”
“I’ll love you forever,” he vowed.
And Leenie knew he meant what he’d said. She trusted Frank as he did her. Trusted him with her heart, believing fully that at long last they had been blessed with the happily ever after love that neither of them had thought they’d ever find.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8308-8
KEEPING BABY SECRET
Copyright © 2004 by Beverly Beaver
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†3 Babies for 3 Brothers
*The Protectors
Keeping Baby Secret Page 15