The Wedding She Always Wanted

by Stacy Connelly

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Anna interrupted, sounding anything but sorry, “but don’t start the celebration too early. We still have to make our offer.”

  “Okay, that’s it,” Anna said as Emily signed the last page.

  They had moved into the restaurant’s crowded office. After stacking the pages together, Anna slid them into the fax machine and sent them off with a push of a button.

  “Thank you again for your help, and I’m sorry about yesterday,” Emily replied. “I truly had planned to make an offer when I met with you at the house but—”

  “Hey, no need to apologize. It’s a big decision, and I have parents, too, you know. And brothers and sisters. Aunts, uncles, cousins…” Anna let her last word trailed off with an expectant lift to her eyebrows.

  When Emily didn’t take the bait, Anna leaned against the beat-up desk that housed the fax machine, phone, computer, and a dozen or so photos of the Delgado family. With its warm colors and casual feel, the office blended in perfectly with the rest of the restaurant. But the office had a few masculine hints—an Arizona Cardinals coffee cup, a baseball cap, hung on the inside door handle, and a calendar showcasing muscle cars—telling Emily this was Javy’s space.

  Emily expected a not-so-subtle interrogation about her relationship with Javy and the kiss Anna had walked in on, but the next comment caught her off guard.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop when you were talking to your parents the other day, but I heard you say that you’ll need to get rid of some things when you move. If you’re interested, my mother volunteers for a charity that collects clothes for women trying to get back on their feet after leaving abusive relationships. It’s a good cause, and they’d be thrilled with anything you’re looking to give away.”

  “That sounds great. But what if my offer isn’t accepted?” Emily hated to think of losing the town house, but she had to face the possibility.

  “First, I have a really good feeling about your offer. And second, am I your Realtor, or am I not your Realtor?”

  “Um, you’re my Realtor?”

  “Exactly. And I will find you a house,” Anna vowed.

  Emily smiled at the woman’s certainty. And hanging on to a huge closet full of clothes suddenly seemed too much like clinging to the past. It was time to let go, and she had little reason to hold on to dozens of outfits that wouldn’t fit in her new house or new life.

  “Why don’t you have your mother call me?” Emily suggested. “There’s no sense in moving a closet full of clothes I won’t have room to store.”

  “Perfect! My mother will be ecstatic.”

  “At least one of our mothers will be,” Emily said wryly.

  Anna pointed a confident finger Emily’s way. “Your parents will come around. Right now they see you as their little girl, someone to protect and take care of. But with the changes you’re making, they’ll have no choice but to see the new you.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am, you’ll see. It’s like I keep telling Javy. Until he makes some changes, Maria will still see him as an irresponsible kid.”

  “Irresponsible!” Emily echoed, indignation for Javy’s sake shooting like sparks through her system. “How could she possibly think that?” She waved an arm toward the sound of hard work still going on in the dining area. “After the way he has coordinated the repairs and made sure some of the staff are still able to work right now? That doesn’t sound like an irresponsible kid to me.”

  A small smile tugged at Anna’s lips as she listened to Emily’s vehement defense. “It’s not the way Javy works that’s the problem. It’s the way he…” She caught herself mid-comment, censoring what Emily knew would have been a remark about the way her cousin played and his carousel of women. “But none of that matters now,” Anna added with enough certainty to jump-start a tiny flicker of hope deep inside Emily’s chest, one that Emily instantly squashed.

  She was not going to set herself up for a fall. She refused to believe in the impossible simply because she wanted it to be true. Javy was all about having fun and enjoying a good time while it lasted, and Emily refused to hope for more.

  Like so many of Javy’s other women, she was only along for the ride.

  Javy didn’t think he’d ever take blessed silence or manual labor for granted again. After two full days of pounding, chipping, scraping and hauling away tile, thinset and grout, he didn’t think he would ever get the cacophony of sounds out his head. Forget about getting the dust and dirt out of his pores. He’d give just about anything for a hot tub and a cold beer.

  A hot tub, a cold beer and Emily would pretty much be a dream come true.

  She’d left after signing the offer on the town house, with the promise to call as soon as she heard anything from his cousin. But long after she’d gone, long after it was possible, the smell of her skin and the sweetness of her kiss tempted him. Despite the dust and grime and sweat, her fresh, clean floral scent stayed with him, and every drink of water he took was flavored with her taste.

  “How about calling it a night?” he said to Tommy. The night manager had been at the restaurant since morning, and he was the last of the staff to remain. Even Alex had taken off an hour or so ago, wanting to check on a few of his ongoing jobs before he lost daylight.

  “Are you sure?” Tommy wiped at the sweat on his forehead, revealing the only semiclean patch of skin on his entire face.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  True to Alex’s word, they had completed the dining-area tear out. All that remained was a final cleanup of shards of broken tile and dust littering the now exposed concrete floors.

  “Go on home. I’ll finish up,” Javy insisted, even though it meant putting his idea of a cold beer on ice for a little longer.

  After a quick nod, Tommy split from the restaurant so fast, the kid practically left in a cloud of dust.

  “To be nineteen again,” Javy murmured, only to realize immediately that he wouldn’t want to relive that dark period of his life again for anything.

  Not even for the energy of youth, he thought as his muscles groaned in protest as he reached for the push broom leaning against the wall. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he looked up at a slight sound. Either his ears were still ringing or he was more tired than he thought, but he’d completely missed his mother’s arrival through the back door of the restaurant.

  He’d known how impossible keeping Maria away would be. Still, he’d hoped to spare Maria from seeing the place like this. Forcing a positive note into his voice, he said, “Alex and I got a lot done today. He says we’ll be ready by this weekend.”

  Stock-still in the middle of the dining area, his mother looked around. “How?” she asked, disbelief written in her dark eyes.

  “I know it looks bad,” he said, but as he looked around, all he could see was the hard work everyone had done—Alex, his crew, Tommy and the rest of the staff. “But with even more hard work, we’ll get it done, Mama.”

  “But why tear up the dining room? The broken tile, it was only in the bathrooms and hall.”

  “Because we wouldn’t have been able to find a match.”

  “Your papa found that tile. He looked for weeks to find the perfect one.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Just like Javy knew he could look forever and not find the perfect match. He’d already tried to explain about different dye lots, about the Saltillo’s finish aging over time, about manufacturers discontinuing styles.

  But, then, this wasn’t about tile or even about the restaurant. This was about his father’s dedication and commitment, qualities that had made him the love of Maria’s life. Even after ten years, she remained fiercely loyal to her husband’s memory. It was a devotion that left Javy in awe and wondering what it would be like to have a woman love him like that.

  To have Emily love him like that.

  The thought should have come from left field, blindsiding him and knocking him on his ass. Instead, the idea whispered through his mi
nd like it had been there all along. And wasn’t that what remodeling the restaurant was really about for him? To prove he not only had what it took to see things through, but that he deserved a woman who would stay by his side…

  He probably couldn’t pick a worse time to talk to Maria, but this was his last chance. Either they started the remodel or they went ahead and planned for the reopening next Saturday. Once the restaurant was up and running, it would take another disaster for Maria to close the doors again.

  “It’s a big change, but I think you’ll be glad once it’s done. Just like I think you’d like the changes if we remodeled the patio and bar. I get that it’s hard to take that first step but—”

  “No, Javier. You do not get it. Not if you think I would ever be happy to see Delgado’s change. You look around and see someplace old-fashioned and out of date. I see the restaurante exactly as it was when my Miguel last walked through those doors.”

  Maria flung a hand toward the lobby. Javy’s gaze automatically followed, and a slight movement caught his eye.

  “So, no, Javier. No more changes.” Maria spun on a heel at her final word and disappeared out the back as suddenly as she’d arrived. And the silence he had enjoyed as such a peaceful relief only moments ago was now filled with frustration and regret.

  “You can come out, Emily,” he said, glancing toward the lobby, where he’d spotted her seconds earlier.

  Stepping into the dining area, Emily wished she’d given in to the urge to slip away unnoticed. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop but hadn’t thought anything of it when she heard voices coming from the restaurant. At Maria’s outburst, though, Emily had frozen in place. Last thing she’d wanted to do was to interrupt, but she’d been equally afraid to call attention to herself by trying to sneak away.

  She was still caught in her own indecision when Maria stormed out of the restaurant.

  “I’m sorry, Javy. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop—”

  “But you heard everything.”

  “Enough,” she admitted. Enough to know how hurt he must be by his mother’s refusal to trust in the changes he wanted to make, and enough to realize now why Maria was so against those changes.

  “She must have really loved your dad.”

  “More than anything,” he agreed, the flatness in the words telling Emily more than he was willing to say. He leaned against the handle of the push broom, but the defeat she saw in his posture had nothing to do with the long, hard days of physical labor he’d put in.

  “Javy…”

  “Look, let’s just forget about this.”

  A part of Emily was tempted to do just that. The part of her that didn’t cause waves, that never mentioned touchy subjects, that pasted on a happy face and let things slide…

  Except that part of her was becoming smaller and smaller, and it was Javy who had encouraged her to stand up for herself, to speak out. And this was her chance to stand up and speak out—for him.

  “This isn’t about you. You must know that. Your mother is trying to hold on to the past and the memory of your father.”

  “That’s not the only past she’s holding on to.”

  Anna’s insight—that Maria wouldn’t change her opinion of Javy until he changed his ways—echoed in Emily’s thoughts, but she wasn’t about to repeat his cousin’s words. First, she didn’t know if the other woman was right, and second, because Javy was…Javy. Charming, flirtatious, sexy, and Emily didn’t want him to change.

  “I wanted to prove I could do this. That I deserve…”

  His voice trailed off, but the look of longing in his dark eyes reached out and squeezed Emily’s heart, reminding her there was more to Javy than his charm and sex appeal. He did a good job of hiding it, and Emily did her best not to see it, because that was the side of Javy she was coming dangerously close to falling for.

  “Javy…”

  He quickly shook his head, denying anything she might have seen. “It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t trust me, and she has every right not to.”

  “That’s not true,” Emily protested. “Why would you even say that?”

  “Maybe because she can’t forget that I practically destroyed the place the first time she left me in charge.” Javy let go of the broom, and it fell to the bare concrete floor with a loud clatter.

  “What are you talking about? When did…” Emily’s voice trailed away as she guessed the answer in the pointed look he gave her. “The fire ten years ago.”

  “I was in charge that night. I’m the reason Connor took money from your family and left town.”

  Emily didn’t know if Maria truly blamed Javy for the long-ago accident, but she had no doubt that it was an accident. And whatever guilt Javy felt, she refused to add to it. Especially over a relationship with Connor that would never have lasted, anyway.

  She longed to reach out to him and offer what comfort she could, but the tension pulling at his shoulders and knotting the ropelike muscles in his arms told Emily he wouldn’t accept her consolation. He would likely see her sympathy as pity and reject any overture she made.

  Taking a chance and hoping it didn’t backfire, she changed tactics. She stepped closer and canted her head in challenge. “So, what you’re saying is that…” Emily paused. “You owe me.”

  Javy blinked once and then a second time before the edge of guilt and regret disappeared from his dark eyes. “I think, technically, I owe your parents.”

  “Hmm, considering that I’m planning to make you work off your debt, I think you’d much rather owe me.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, hiding a would-be smile behind a dark frown. “Gotta tell you, I don’t like being indebted to anyone. So what exactly do you have in mind?”

  “Dinner,” Emily said, before quickly adding, “Tomorrow night.” He’d been hard at work all day, and she wanted to give them both something to look forward to.

  “Just dinner?” he asked, an obvious dare written in his voice.

  “It was ten thousand dollars, Javy,” she deadpanned. “It better be more than just dinner.”

  “I’d say that you’re playing with fire, but considering the circumstances…”

  “Good point.”

  He let loose the smile he’d been fighting, his white teeth flashing in his too-handsome face, and shook his head. “Now I know what you mean.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The night of the wedding, when you said I could make you laugh when you didn’t even feel like smiling. Now I know how that feels—thanks to you.”

  Pleasure poured through her, and for a split second, Emily thought maybe she should worry that making Javy smile, making him laugh, made her so ridiculously happy. But as soon as it formed, she brushed the concern aside. She was not going to freak herself out over how happy she was! So maybe it wouldn’t last, all the more reason to enjoy the feeling now.

  “So I guess that’s one I owed you,” she teased.

  Javy smiled again, but she could see the toll the day of hard work and harder words had taken on him. The shadows beneath his eyes competed with the shadow of his beard. More than once he’d twitched his right arm and shoulder, trying to stretch out some stiffness, and numerous nicks and scrapes marked his hands.

  “I should let you go…It’s getting late,” she murmured.

  “Yeah,” he agreed, but he didn’t make any sudden move to leave. “I’d love a cold beer and a hot tub right now.”

  The heat in his dark eyes told Emily that wasn’t all he wished for. She swallowed against a suddenly dry throat, which could have used a cold beer of its own, even as she took a step toward the door. As tempting as the idea of slipping into a tub of hot water on a hotter night was, the timing wasn’t right. The day had been filled with too much emotional upheaval to think it wouldn’t carry over. And besides…

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she promised.

  Javy nodded. “Tomorrow night,” he echoed, only to call her name before she reached the door. “I didn’t eve
n think to ask earlier, but why did you come back?”

  Hardly able to believe she’d forgotten, Emily stopped short and flashed a smile over her shoulder. “Anna called. The buyer accepted my offer on the town house.”

  “Hey, that’s great! When Anna said there was another offer, I was afraid you might miss out.”

  “So was I.”

  She very nearly had, thanks to old insecurities and old habits holding her back. But she’d learned her lesson. She refused to let her fears rob her of this time with Javy. It had been only one day, and she’d missed him terribly. Each breath she took had scraped the raw emptiness inside her. Now, though, after seeing him again, she realized that place in her chest didn’t feel so empty. Instead, her heart was practically bursting with happiness, excitement and a heady, overwhelming emotion she refused to name….

  But something of those feelings must have shown in her expression, plain as day, for Javy to read. “Tomorrow night,” he echoed again, his voice a husky, sensual promise that Emily could no longer wait for him to fulfill.

  Chapter Nine

  Emily watched with a smile as Angela Delgado looked through the rainbow of skirts, blouses, dresses and slacks laid out on her king-size bed. The woman gaped and offered prayers in Spanish beneath her breath as she ran her hands over the various fabrics. Emily knew without a doubt that Anna’s mother was taking more pleasure in simply looking at the clothes than she ever had in wearing them.

  “All of these?” Angela questioned for the third time, as if she feared the colorful bounty spread over the cream-colored bedspread would be suddenly taken away.

  “All of them,” Emily reiterated.

  Once she’d learned her offer for the town house had been accepted, she’d wasted no time in arranging for Angela to come look at the clothes.

  Still buried wrist-deep in designer outfits, Angela said, “Lauren will love these. I asked her to stop by. That is okay?”

  “Yes, of course.”