He took a breath and blew it out before saying quietly, “The first time I saw you, you were about seven years old, I think.”
“What?”
“My parents took me to dinner at Claire’s restaurant and I saw you at another table with Brad and your folks….”
She scooted out from under his touch and braced her back against the headboard. “I don’t see what any of this has to do with—”
“I remember,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “because I was ten years old and didn’t much like girls. But then I saw you. Your long blond hair was pulled back by a pink headband and you were wearing a white dress with ruffles. You looked like a pretty doll sitting there with your hands folded in your lap.”
A pretty doll. Funny, Sadie told herself, that was how she’d felt most of her life. Not that her parents hadn’t loved her, but she had never really been allowed to be a child. She was always in a dress. Always told to sit up straight. Always expected to be perfect.
Which was why she’d made sure her daughters owned more pairs of play pants than they did dresses. At least until Rick came long.
“And I remember the waitress hurrying past your table and she spilled a Coke. It dropped onto your lap and I can still see your reaction in my mind.”
“Oh, God,” she whispered, “I remember that.”
She hadn’t thought about it in years. Now that she had though, the day came back in a rush of memories that had her cringing inside.
Rick sat up beside her, tucked a pillow behind her back and then took her hand in his. “You didn’t shout or scream in surprise. You just sat there, your white, lacy lap filled with dark brown cola and you cried.” His thumb moved back and forth across her hand. “Big, silent tears, while your mom rushed to clean you up and the waitress babbled apologies. Your dad didn’t even look at you, he just took Brad and led him outside.”
“He never did like scenes,” Sadie whispered.
They were having Sunday dinner at Claire’s because her father considered it good business to frequent local establishments. He always said, they were the Price family and it was up to them to set an example for others. He said that it was important that people think well of them so they were always to be on their best behavior.
When they got home that night, her father had made a point of telling her that she had comported herself well by not throwing a hissy fit in the diner. He said it was all the waitress’s fault, but that everyone in town would be talking about what a perfect lady Sadie was.
A lady.
At seven.
It had been a stifling way to grow up, Sadie thought now.
“You were still a beauty at sixteen,” he said, leaning down now to plant a kiss on her forehead.
Relieved to have a change of subject, Sadie laughed. “Oh, please. You never knew I was alive when we were teenagers.”
“That right?” He dropped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him. “I was playing basketball with some guys one day at the park when you walked by with Abby and a couple of other girls. Don’t remember who they were, because my memory’s all about you. Your hair was long and you had it pulled back into a ponytail. You were wearing white pants and a red top and you were smiling at something. And I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
“You’re making that up.”
“I called your name and threw the basketball to you. You were surprised, but you caught it. Then you looked at me like you didn’t have a clue what to do next and you just set the damn thing down on the grass and walked away.”
Her heart softened at his words as she realized that he had noticed her all those years ago. And she wondered what might have happened between them if she’d had enough courage back then to actually talk to him.
“Oh, God, I remember that, too.” She laughed a little uneasily. “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to throw it back to you, but I was afraid I’d do it wrong and look foolish in front of everyone. So I didn’t do it at all. It’s the Price way,” she told him softly. “Always worry about what people will think.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said, “wasn’t my point.”
“What is the point then, Rick?” Yes, knowing that he noticed her was lovely, but talking about the past didn’t change the future.
“You were always the unattainable, beautiful Sadie Price,” he told her.
“I was,” she said softly, shaking her head at the swarm of memories his words had created. “My parents put me on a shelf and kept me there until I was old enough to marry the ‘right’ man. Of course, he turned out to be all wrong.”
“Maybe,” he answered, “what you need to do is marry the ‘wrong’ man who might turn out to be just right.”
She looked at him. “You just don’t give up, do you?”
“I’m a marine, darlin’. We never surrender.”
“God, why are you so stubborn?”
“When I see something I want, I go get it.”
“Why me?”
“Hell, have you seen you? You’re beautiful. Smart. Sexy as hell. And, oh, yeah. The mother of my children.”
“There it is again,” she said, pushing out of his arms. Sliding to the edge of the bed, she got up and walked to the window overlooking the front yard. Then she turned and speared him with a hard look. “That’s the real reason for your pursuit. For your proposals.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t want to be the next duty you pick up and shoulder because you think it’s the right thing to do. I want to be wanted for me.”
Now he pushed off the bed and stalked to her side. “I just proved to you that I do want you.”
“Rick, we’re arguing in circles,” Sadie said, laying both hands on his bare chest. “We don’t agree. We’re not going to agree. So can we just at least drop it?”
He sighed, then pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. “We can do that. I don’t want to waste what we’ve got fighting over what we don’t. So yeah, we can drop it. For now.”
She closed her eyes as she laid her head on his chest. That wasn’t a concession, she knew. Rick wasn’t the kind of man who would give up and walk away from what he perceived as his duty.
But for tonight at least, there was a ceasefire.
A few days later, Sadie was sitting in the TCC dining room having lunch with Abby. The girls were with Hannah, and Sadie hadn’t seen Rick since their amazing night together.
She was torn between relief and fury. She should be happy he was backing off as she had asked him to. On the other hand, for a guy who said he never gave up, he was giving up awfully easily.
“You look serious,” Abby commented, lifting her glass of iced tea for a sip. “Or is that furious?”
“A little of both, I guess,” Sadie admitted. She gave a quick look around.
The dining room was crowded, as it always was at lunchtime. There were members and their wives, seated at the elegant tables. Whispers of conversation rose and fell like the tide and the smooth wait staff moved in and out of the crowd in a seamless dance that was practically choreographed.
Lowering her voice, Sadie said, “It’s Rick, of course.”
“Naturally. How’re things going with him, anyway? Haven’t talked to you since the Fourth.”
A flush swept up Sadie’s cheeks and she was glad that the lighting in the TCC was so dim. Otherwise, everyone in the room would have seen her pale skin burning red. Bad enough that Abby was close enough to notice.
“Well, that’s intriguing,” Abby said, flipping her long, dark red hair back over her shoulder. Then she narrowed sharp blue eyes and ordered, “Tell me everything.”
Sadie did. Leaving out the details of that sinfully sexy night, she got right down to the bare bones of it.
“Chemistry, oh, yes,” she said as she was winding down, “we’ve got that, there’s no doubt. But, Abby, he keeps insisting he wants to marry me despite me telling him no at e
very turn.”
“And why is it again you’re turning him down?”
Sadie looked at her friend in stunned surprise. “Because he’s only asking because of the girls.”
Abby smirked and took a sip of tea. She shook her head. “Doesn’t sound like it to me. Sounds like he’s asking because he can’t keep his hands off of you.”
A stir of something hot and wicked whipped through Sadie at the words. But she wouldn’t be fooled by her own passions. “No. This is about duty. Plain and simple.”
Their waiter appeared to deliver two enormous Cobb salads and when he was gone again, Sadie changed the subject. “I’m so tired of thinking and talking about me. What’s going on with you and Brad?”
Abby snorted and picked up her fork to stab a slice of hard-boiled egg. “Firstly there is no me and Brad. There is simply me battering away at your thick-as-a-post brother.”
“And good luck with that,” Sadie told her. “But what’s happening with the club?”
Abby looked around now, checking to make sure no one was listening. “Brad is running for president of the club and judging from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty much got the position sewn up.”
“Uh-oh,” Sadie said, thinking that this couldn’t possibly end well.
“Exactly. If Brad wins the presidency, then he’ll find a way to not only get rid of me, but to keep all women out of the club forever.”
“Sounds like him,” Sadie admitted.
“Absolutely it does,” Abby told her, dropping her fork with a clatter against the ceramic bowl. “And the man will find a way to keep this club locked into the past. Honestly, he is infuriating. He’s so hidebound to tradition, he should be living in the nineteenth century.”
“Also sounds like him,” Sadie concurred.
“Well, he’s not going to best me,” Abby vowed. “You know, all of this started with the talk of rebuilding the club—which I still think is a great idea.”
“I can sort of see Brad’s point,” Sadie said as she looked around the familiar room. Her father was a member of the club and his family was welcome in the public dining room. She had been going there all her life for special occasions. In a way, the thought of it changing sent a pang through her.
“Are you serious?” Abby asked, dumbfounded. “I mean, yes, tradition is nice, but so is central heating!”
Sadie held up one hand, palm out. “I’m with you. Honest. On your side.”
“Glad to hear it. For a second there, I was worried that you were slipping over to the enemy team.” Ruefully, Abby smiled and took a breath. “Right. Sorry. I get a little steamed when I start talking about Brad.”
“Did you ever notice that it’s always men making women insane?” Sadie took a sip of her tea and pushed chopped ham around on top of the bed of lettuce in front of her. She didn’t really have an appetite, which she also blamed on Rick.
Why wasn’t he getting in touch with her?
Was sex all he had wanted?
Were all of his proposals meaningless?
And why did she care? This was what she wanted, right?
She groaned and Abby reached over to pat her shoulder in support. “Of course it’s men who make us crazy. Women understand each other. It’s the Y chromosome that makes everything so irritating.”
“So, have you decided what you’re going to do about your irritation?”
“Not yet,” Abby admitted, but her eyes took on a calculating gleam. “I do have a few ideas, though. It’s time we finally break through and tear down the last of the old boy’s club barriers around here.”
Sadie laughed and felt a little easier. Sure, her situation with Rick was up in the air and more confusing than ever. But at least she wasn’t alone in her confusion.
Before she could so much as start in on her salad again, Sadie sensed a subtle shift in the club’s atmosphere. The conversations around them were still going on, but there was more of a hush to them now. As if everyone was suddenly interested in the same thing.
“Oh, my,” Abby whispered and tapped Sadie’s hand.
When she looked up, she turned her gaze to where Abby was pointing and Sadie actually felt her stomach drop. Rick was standing in the entryway, dressed in his uniform, an expression of steely determination carved into his face.
In spite of everything, Sadie’s stomach did a quick lurch and spin as adrenaline-spiked excitement dropped into the pit of her belly. She hadn’t seen him in days. And now that he was here, right in front of her, her body was lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Darn it.
His gaze locked with hers, Rick strode across the crowded dining room like a man on a mission. As he came closer and closer, Sadie’s heart began to pound in anticipation, even as she fought to keep her emotions off her face.
The crowd around them seemed to sense that something special was up. Conversations dwindled away, and as Rick crossed the room, even the wait staff froze in place. It was like the whole room had taken a breath and held it.
He stopped beside their table and spared a quick look at Abby. “Nice to see you,” he said.
“You, too,” Abby murmured, her gaze shifting to Sadie.
“Sadie,” Rick announced, his voice easily carrying across the crowd. “I’ve got something to say to you.”
“Oh God,” she mumbled, trying not to notice the dozens of curious stares directed at her.
“And I don’t care if the whole world hears me,” Rick continued. “Hell, I want them to hear me.”
“Don’t do this,” Sadie whispered, her eyes on him.
“I have to,” Rick said.
He’d finally figured out that the one sure way to get Sadie to agree to marry him was to ask her in front of people. The way she was raised, the woman she was, wouldn’t allow her to embarrass either him or herself by refusing him.
So he’d spent the last few days finding the perfect ring and waiting for his best opportunity. When he’d discovered she was going to be here at the club having lunch with Abby, Rick made his move.
She was stunned. He could see it on her face, despite how hard she was trying to hide it. Just like that time when she was a girl in the diner, she wouldn’t let anyone know what she was feeling or thinking. She would be a lady and do the only thing she could do.
She would finally say yes.
Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he made an elaborate show of dropping to one knee. Then he opened up the small, navy-blue jeweler’s box and showed her the enormous diamond he’d picked out for her, making sure the rest of the crowd got a good look, too.
Their audience took a breath and the sound was audible. Sadie just blinked at him. When he had everyone’s attention, he spoke, in a loud, clear voice, “Sadie Price, will you marry me? Will you let me be a father to our children?”
Then he waited for her quiet acceptance.
Eight
“You son of a—” Sadie bit off the last word, but no one in the room had any doubt of what she meant.
Rick slowly stood up and watched as glints of raw, gut-deep anger erupted in her usually placid blue eyes. Okay, maybe he might have made a tactical error here.
Abby was chuckling, covering her mouth with one hand to hide her smile. The rest of the room was blistering with questions and comments. He only caught a handful.
“What’ll she say?”
“That’s Sadie Price. She’ll do the right thing.”
“If I was her, I’d slap him for embarrassing me like that.”
“Well,” another woman mused aloud, “if she doesn’t want him, I’ll take him.”
He didn’t care what any of them had to say. The only opinion he was interested in was Sadie’s. And it didn’t look to him that he was going to get the answer he wanted.
Rick scowled as Sadie pushed herself out of the maroon leather booth seat, grabbed her purse and flung a look back at Abby. “Thanks for lunch but I have to go now.”
“I can see that. I’ll call you later.”
She jerked a fast nod, then fired another look at Rick. “You, I want to talk to. Outside.”
Then she marched across the crowded dining room like a young queen. People’s heads turned to watch her pass and a few of the men shot Rick sympathetic glances.
He wasn’t interested in sympathy. Snapping the ring box closed, he stuffed it into his pocket and followed his woman out of the club.
The door hardly had a chance to swing shut behind them when she turned on him like a snake.
“What were you thinking?”
The summer sun hammered them both the minute they stepped outside. It was like trying to draw a breath through a wet electric blanket. But the vicious heat had nothing on the fury stamped on Sadie’s face.
Gritting his teeth, Rick scrubbed one hand across his face. “I was thinking that I want to marry you. Just like I’ve been thinking for more than two weeks now.”
She threw her hands high then let them fall to her sides again in complete exasperation. “And the fact that I’ve turned you down countless times didn’t enter your head?”
“No,” he snapped, irritated as all hell that his plan had fallen so flat. He would have bet cold, hard cash on Sadie Price coming down on the side of decorum. It had never occurred to him that she might not leap into his arms for the sake of the watching crowds.
He could see now, it should have.
“I can’t believe you did that in front of half the town.”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he muttered and flashed a glare at a man who stopped to stare at them. Quickly, the bystander hurried on down the sidewalk.
“And I can guess why,” she said, stepping close enough that she could poke her index finger into his chest. “Now that the word’s out around town and everyone knows that you’re the girls’ father, you figured they’d all be on your side. And you thought that I’d say yes to avoid making a scene.”
His mouth worked as he fought to keep back the words that would damn him.
“You’re a worm for trying to use that against me.”
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