by Arianna Hart
being away for two months.
What if she didn’t want him anymore?
Nonsense! Just because they hadn’t exchanged the words didn’t mean the feelings weren’t there, they’d just have to have a long talk about things now that all the excitement was over. Yeah, he had better call her first.
* * *
Who would have thought it would be so damn difficult to get in touch with one woman? When Jared called her at home he got the machine, when he called her at work he got the service or the secretary who took a message, if he called her cell phone he got her voice mail. Good thing he wasn’t having a baby if she was this hard to get a hold of.
Jared had left messages for her with Samara, the maternity floor, and even her brother. That went well, the kid had no idea who he was. Definitely not a good sign.
It was time to consult the experts. And since Jared was such a wiz at digging out information, he knew right where to go.
Macayla’s best friend Samara.
“Jared! How great to see you. Connor is out with Caitlyn right now, but he should be home in an hour or so. Do you want to come in and have a cup of coffee?” Samara asked him, kissing him on the cheek.
“Actually, I came to see you. I need some help.” Jared followed her into the cozy kitchen and sat down at the table while she bustled around making coffee.
“Oh? With what? Connor said you might be looking to buy a house in the area. I know Caitlyn would love that, you’re her favorite uncle you know.”
“I’m her only uncle, but no, I’ve got a line on a few properties.”
“Then this must be about Macayla,” Samara said, sitting down and reaching out for his hand.
“Yes! She won’t answer the phone when I call, and she’s not returning any of my messages. I’ve thought about breaking into her condo again, but I haven’t gotten quite that desperate.”
“No, I wouldn’t recommend that. When was the last time you spoke to her? Did you have a fight? Macayla doesn’t usually give the silent treatment, she’s more of a duke it out until she’s good and satisfied type person.”
“Don’t I know it! Uh, the last time I spoke with her was right before the feds took me away.”
“Two months ago! You didn’t call her while you were away?” Samara asked in open-mouthed astonishment.
“I wasn’t exactly on vacation you know. I had a fed standing over me every minute of those two months. I really wasn’t in a position to have phone sex.”
“No, but you could have called to tell her you were okay. Or you could have called her to tell her thank you. Or you could have just sucked it up and told her you care about her. You do care about her, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t care. I think I might even love her.”
“Well that’s really definitive. I’m sure that will just win her right over Jared.”
“What do you want from me? I’m no poet you know.” He ran his hand over his face and got up to pace the tiny kitchen.
“It’s not what I want from you, it’s what you want from Macayla. And I can tell you that you aren’t going to get a thing with that attitude.”
“So tell me what I need to do. What hoops do I have to jump through to get her to talk to me again?” Jared pleaded.
“All you have to do is tell her how you feel. That is all we ever want, to know that you love us as much as we love you. If I know Macayla, and you can bet your butt I do, she has decided that you were just using her for a good time and are now out seducing some other woman.”
“That’s ridiculous! She knows how I feel about her.”
“Really? How? Did you tell her? You don’t even know yourself if you love her or not, how is she supposed to know?”
“Well, she should answer the damn phone if she wants to hear how I feel. She’s never going to know if she doesn’t talk to me.” Jared felt panic start to nibble around the edges of his mind. Pushing the blame on her for not talking to him didn’t help, but it was all he had right now.
“Why should she? You could have called her at any time in the last two months. You called Connor.” “How does she know that?” The sinking feeling was getting stronger and stronger. “About a month ago she came over and asked Connor if he’d had
any news from you. He told her that you were safe, that’s all.” “Damn. I’ve gotten myself in deep haven’t I?” “You sure have. Macayla is the strongest woman I know in so
many respects. Handling rejection isn’t one of them. Do you
want some advice?” “At this point I can use all the help I can get,” Jared said. “Don’t give up. She can be really stubborn, but all she
wants is to know that you will be there for her no matter what.
She hasn’t had many people there for her in the long haul.” “You’re right about that. Okay, I’ll out-stubborn her.” “Oh, and if that doesn’t work-“ “Yes?” “Grovel. We women find that very attractive.” Samara
laughed even as she pushed him out the door.
* * *
Jared was at the end of his rope. He’d tried everything in his power to see Macayla, including breaking into her condo again, and he hadn’t caught sight of her yet. Cripes, Hints was easier to catch than she was.
She’d led him on a merry chase, but he had her now. He’d charmed one of the desk nurses on the maternity floor to page him when Macayla was doing rounds. He’d gotten the page fifteen minutes ago, so he figured he had about fifteen more before she could disappear on him again.
This time he wasn’t taking any chances.
The nurse buzzed him into the maternity floor and gave him a conspiratorial wink as he walked by with the biggest bunch of roses he could find. He had two more surprises in the pockets of his jacket if those didn’t work.
“She’s in with Mrs. Flanagan in room three-nineteen. I asked Mrs. Flanagan if she minded an unexpected visitor, she said that would be fine. It’s her third baby, she could use a little company,” the nurse whispered as she pointed him in the right direction.
“Thanks, I owe you big time.”
“Good luck!”
He didn’t tell her that he was going to need more than luck to pull this one off.
Peeking into room three-nineteen, Jared saw a woman sitting up in bed with a baby over her shoulder. Macayla was marking something down on a chart and smiling at something the woman said.
Damn she looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, and the green scrubs she was wearing actually flattered her slight frame. His heart thumped in his chest. This was it. If she shot him down now, he didn’t know what he was going to do.
Jared took a deep breath and walked through the door with a smile on his face. Even if she did shoot him down it would be worth it just for the look of astonishment she gave him.
“What are you doing here? You can’t come in here! This is a patient’s room!” Macayla couldn’t believe her eyes. Was this really Jared? She’d been dreaming about him for so long she wasn’t sure if she’d finally gone around the bend.
“Don’t worry about me honey, haven’t had a visitor with this one yet. You go ahead and pretend I’m not here.” Mrs. Flanagan sat back as if to enjoy the show.
“What are you doing here?” Macayla hissed at him.
“This was the only way you left open for me to talk to you, so I took it. You’ve been a very tough lady to get a hold of.”
“I’ve been busy.” What, was she supposed to just drop everything because he finally remembered her phone number?
“I’m sure, but now that you are here and so am I, I have some things I’d like to say to you.”
Macayla prepared herself for the worse. Was he bringing flowers because he thought that would keep her from kicking him when he told her it was fun but now it was time for him to move on? Is that why he picked this location to corner her? So she wouldn’t make a scene?
“I realize I never told you how much you meant to me when we
were in the cabin. I kept meaning to have a talk with you about what would happen when everything was taken care of and I was a free man again, but it never seemed like the right time.”
Jared was holding a bunch of pink roses like they were his last lifeline. He looked so damn sexy and insecure her heart almost thumped out of her chest at the sight.
“Well, then everything happened so fast and I was holed up with the feds for weeks, and that didn’t seem like the right time either.”
“I think we’ve said all we need to say to each other Jared.” Macayla was not going to let him charm his way back into her heart just because he was so good looking he made her teeth itch.
“No, we haven’t. I have two things to say to you. And possibly two more after that.”
“Go ahead then and say it so poor Mrs. Flanagan can have her room back.”
“Oh don’t worry about me, I’m in no hurry to be alone.”
“Thanks Mrs. Flanagan,” Macayla said, trying to bite her tongue.
“First, I want to give you these before I tear them to shreds.” Jared handed her the slightly mangled flowers, and would have taken a stronger woman than she to resist sniffing their heady bouquet.
“Next, I want to give you these. You’re right, the food here is really good.” Jared handed her a large order of French fries.
Macayla could feel tears burning at the back of her throat. He gave her French fries. He remembered her telling him that she loved French fries. What a sap, she was crying over a starch.
“And now that I have my hands free, I have one thing to say, and one thing to ask.” Jared took a deep breath then got on both knees in front of her. “Macayla, I have never, ever in my life told a woman I loved her, nor asked a woman to marry me. You are the only woman for me, and I will be absolutely devastated if you tell me you don’t love me and won’t marry me.”
He pulled a brilliantly shinning diamond ring out of his pocket and held it in front of her suddenly limp hand. Her heart hammered in her chest and the blood rushed to her head. Her eyes were swimming with tears as he looked into them.
“Please, Macayla, love me, marry me.” He waited with the ring an inch from her shaking finger for her to regain the power of speech.
Macayla looked over at Mrs. Flanagan, not sure what to say, or even if she knew how to speak anymore.
“Honey, don’t look at me! Grab that boy with both hands and run away together,” she said, dabbing at the tears streaming down her face.
“Yes! Yes I love you, yes I’ll marry you.” Macayla laughed through tears of her own, pulling Jared to her and kissing him. The round of cheers and applause from the crew of nurses and orderlies outside the hospital room door was loud enough to wake the dead, never mind tiny baby Flanagan.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe I just told you I love you in front of my co-workers!” Macayla laughed, grabbing Jared’s face between her hands and kissing him again.
“Dr. Sullivan! Dr. Sullivan! Room three-oh-four is crowning!” a nurse pushed her way though the crowd to Macayla.
“Go, I’ll stick around to finish this conversation. You can bet on it.”
Macayla ran down the hall, still clutching the diamond in her hand.
Chapter Eighteen
Jared waited for Macayla in the doctor’s lounge until she had taken care of the new mother and baby and completed her rounds. By the time she stumbled into his welcoming embrace she almost thought it had all been a dream.
Except for the sparkling chunk of ice she pinned to her shirt.
She unpinned it and handed it to Jared. “I locked the door, maybe this time we can finish our discussion uninterrupted.”
“Sounds good to me. It’ll be a little easier this time, now that I know what your answer will be.” Jared sat down and pulled her onto his lap. Slipping the ring on her third finger, he kissed the digit and asked, “Macayla Sullivan, love of my life, will you marry me?”
“I will Jared Romero.” Then she ruined the romantic moment by yawning.
“Come on, babe. I’ve got one more surprise for you then I’ll take you home and you can tuck it into bed.”
“I don’t know if I can handle any more surprises today, Jared.”
“Trust me.”
Jared pulled her to the window overlooking the river. The setting sun made the water golden and shimmery. She looked out uncomprehending until she saw the thirty foot motor boat with the name “Take Your Medicine.”
“I figured since I was going to be living here, I’d need at least one hobby to keep me occupied while you delivered babies.”
“Oh my God, I just never thought-“
“Plus, we’ll need someplace to stay on our honeymoon where there aren’t any phones, guns, or blonde bimbos.” Jared chuckled into her ear as he pulled her closer. “I got a job in Hartford working as a security expert. I’ve found my spot and I’m not leaving.”
Macayla started crying again. The tears trickled down her cheeks and dropped onto his hands. She was so overcome with emotion she didn’t know how to get it all out.
“Honey, what is it? I thought you’d be happy, not crying.”
“I am happy. I’m so h-h-happy I don’t know what to do,” she hiccupped. “You’ve given me everything I could ever want and I don’t know how to act. I love you so much Jared. I wanted to die when they took you away. Then when you didn’t call I was so mad at myself for going and falling in love with you when I knew it was a stupid thing to do. I have been so miserable with out you, and now I’m so happy.” Macayla cried even harder.
“I’m sure that makes sense in some alternate reality, but for now I’ll just be glad that you love me.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Epilogue
Macayla smiled as she watched Kevin dance with baby Caitlyn. Eighteen-month-old Caitlyn had been the youngest flower girl ever, and no child could have been cuter. Kevin had walked Macayla down the aisle and was breaking hearts left and right in his tuxedo.
“Kevin looks like he’s having a good time,” Jared said, handing his bride a glass of champagne.
“He sure is. Samara and Connor don’t seem to mind him stealing their daughter. Hard to believe it was less than two years ago when the two of them had a shindig like this.”
“Yeah, and I kissed you in the babysitter’s room,” Jared said as he nuzzled the tempting space behind her ear.
“Yeah, and baby Caitlyn spit up all over your tuxedo,” Macayla laughed, tipping her head so he could have better access to her neck.
“Figures you’d remember that part of it.”
Jared was just about to remind her of the fire that started the last time he wore a tuxedo when the D.J. wrapped up the song and made an announcement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. It is time for our final song of the evening, and I’d like to call on our bride and groom to lead us.”
Everyone turned to look at the two of them trading kisses at the head table. Macayla put down her champagne glass and nudged Jared to do the same with his.
“Aw man, I feel like I’ve been in a fishbowl all night,” he groused as Macayla took his hand and lead him to the dance floor.
“You’re the one who wanted the big wedding-“
“Well I couldn’t let Connor out do me you know,” he teased.
“Then be quiet and take your medicine like a good boy.”
“And what do I get if I do that?” he leered at her.
“The best prize of all, me.”
The End
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