Made in Heaven
Page 29
He straightened where he stood, and Meg wrapped her arms around her middle--as if by that small gesture, she could block the entrance to her heart.
It’s too late, she heard her heart tell her. He is already there. And no matter what you do, it’s too late to push him away.
“I heard you’ve had a full day.”
She took a step aside and stood behind one of the chairs. “And how do you know about my day?”
“Let’s see.” He ran a hand over his chin. “Fred thought he had you sixty percent convinced. And John thought he had you ready to sign before he mentioned my name. But Eve was the only one who thought she had you all the way.”
Her hands reached out and grabbed the back of the chair as she felt her temper suddenly bubbling to the surface.
“Are you telling me you had those interviews arranged?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“You had no right to.”
“I had every right!” he snapped. “If you could throw my love back in my face because of some stunts your creative and very dead husband...”
“But you don’t understand.”
“But I do.”
“You can’t. Robert did plan the whole thing.”
“I believe you.”
She shook her head. “He thought he was doing it for my good. But he never thought of you or your future.”
“I believe you.”
“We met because he wanted us to meet,” she cried out desperately. “You had no say in this.”
He started toward her. “Meg, I believe you.”
Suddenly, his words started to sink in. “What did you say?”
He reached the chair that stood between them. “I said I believe you.”
She looked up into a face hardened with resolve, into eyes that showed a spirit dogged and determined.
“But if you know, then why...?”
“Because Robert didn’t force me to love you. With all his tricks, all he could really do was arrange for us to meet. That’s it, Meg. Just meet. The rest of it was left to us. Pure and simple. Everything else was up to the two of us.”
Every shred of emotion in her body was knotted in her throat.
“Meg, I need to know how you feel about me.”
She bit her lip. She couldn’t let him become more of a victim than he was by confessing her feelings.
He took the chair out of her grip and pushed it aside. In an instant, she felt his hands on her shoulders, his head down as he looked directly into her eyes.
“How do you feel about me, Meg?”
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t hold back the words.
“I love you.” Her voice cracked. “But that doesn’t mean...”
“It sure as hell does,” he growled. She could see the glow of life deep in his eyes. “You love me, Meg, and I love you. And nothing in this world--and no one in the next--can change how we feel about each other.”
She closed her eyes as his arms tightened around her. She shivered at the feel of his warm breath on her ear.
“I don’t know, Evan,” she whispered stubbornly. “I just can’t help but think if it weren’t for Robert...”
“No, Meg! If it weren’t for me!”
She opened her eyes and looked up.
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have come to New York today. If it weren’t for me, Morgan Publishing wouldn’t have called you with a second interview offer...though they did call you with the first. If it weren’t for me, neither John nor Eve...”
“You still had no right...”
“I did, love. I did.” He ran a finger across her trembling lips. “Your dead husband is not the only one who can play matchmaker. I can, too. And I had to, in order to make you see. In order to make you understand that how much I love you and need you. I won’t let you go--not without a fight. Not before I use every earthly trick that I can think of.”
As twisted as it sounded, all of the sudden everything started to make sense. She actually began to see the logic in it.
“When it comes to you, there is no end to what I’ll do, Meg. Robert may have opened my eyes and made me realize how empty my life is without you, but now I’m prepared to go any distance and do any crazy stunt to make you believe in me. Setting up job interviews would have been only the beginning.”
She brushed away the tears that were coursing down her face and smiled up at him. “I love you, Evan. I love you so much that it hurts.”
“It doesn’t have to hurt, sweetheart.” He brushed his lips across her wet cheek. “It doesn’t have to hurt, anymore.”
“I want you to know, I’ve made my peace with Robert.” She placed her hand on his chest. His heart was beating, strong and sure. “And for the first time since he died, I feel that he is truly gone.”
“I’m glad to hear that! It means he took me up on my suggestion.”
His lips silenced her before she could ask the next question. Each of them, famished from being so long apart, devoured the other.
Before she knew it, they were on their knees and hurriedly pulling at each other’s clothes.
“Your suggestion?” she whispered raggedly. “What did you tell Robert?”
“That I’ll love you. Cherish you. Marry you.”
She helped him pull his shirt over his head. “He’s a shrewd negotiator.”
“He also wants a press release that publicly acknowledges that ours was a match made in heaven.”
Lying beside him on the floor, Meg gazed into Evan’s eyes.
“Very shrewd.”
“But that wasn’t all of it.” He leaned over and kissed her. “He wants us to name our first son...Robert.”
“Our first son!”
Evan nodded, his eyes sparkling with mischief
“Meg, I don’t have any condoms.”
“Our first son.” She smiled, pulling him closer. “Imagine that, naming our first son Robert!”
EPILOGUE
Two years later
There were about three dozen people or so--all with young children--lined up for Kay Wilson’s book signing when Evan and Meg pushed the baby’s carriage into the Manhattan bookstore.
Sensing his wife’s excitement, he took a place in line and immediately drew Meg tightly to his side.
“Still don’t want to tell her?”
She shook her head, but her eyes proudly scanned the small crowd and rested on the white-haired woman sitting behind a little table. Copies of her bestselling children’s book were stacked up around her.
He placed a kiss on her temple. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
A pretty blush covered her face as she looked up and met his gaze.
“You did...we both did...about an hour ago...when Robert was napping...in the small pantry!” She giggled and rested her head against his shoulder. “And I’m sure we both have the bruises to prove it.”
“Oh, yeah!” He ran a hand suggestively down the backside of her jeans. “But you dared me to follow you in there.”
“Dared you?” she whispered teasingly. “The way I remember it, you decided that I’d worked you too hard at your writing today. I believe you said we needed a break, and since we hadn’t tried out the pantry...”
A happy screech from the baby immediately drew their attention to the high-energy bundle of waving arms and kicking legs.
Meg unsnapped Robert’s seatbelt as Evan brought the baby to his shoulder. A sloppy kiss of mouth and tongue on his jaw was Evan’s reward for being an adoring father. And he loved it.
As they moved forward in the line, Meg took a set of plastic keys from her tote bag and handed them to Robert.
“I hope Eve is not going to too much trouble for this party today. It didn’t matter what I said, she was bound and determined to do the whole thing by herself.”
“Seeing her great grandson turn one has given her all the energy she needs. She seems younger now than when she was raising me.”
“Y
ou as a baby...” Meg wrapped an arm around his waist, placed a kiss on the baby’s cheek, and then one on Evan’s lips. He was slow to let her draw away.
“Oh, I did tell you I sent a car to the airport to pick up your mom.”
“You did. Thanks.” Meg smiled. “I’ve seen her more this past year than I have for a long time. Must be you and your charm.”
He adjusted the baby in his arm. “I guess I can’t take all the credit. Now, can I, Robert?”
The baby mouthed him again, this time on his nose, as they moved forward a few more steps.
“Jada and Ted are arriving on the two o’clock train. You know, she’s really excited about starting college in the fall. She said she already found a daycare right on campus. She said she’ll give us all the details when she gets in.”
Evan watched as his wife’s eyes again focused on the signing author. Meg beamed as a fan gushed loudly about the book.
“Phil and Rebekah should arrive this afternoon, too. But I think they’re driving.”
Meg’s eyes snapped back to his face. “They’re coming together? Weren’t Rebekah’s exact words, Phil could be the last man on earth, and she still wouldn’t be caught dead...”
“Hey, I can’t wait to hear all the gory details.”
“Yeah. Can’t wait.” Meg caught the keys as the baby tried to fling them at the woman in front of them. She handed them back to him.
They were one person away from the author, and Evan could see Meg’s anticipation building. She turned abruptly, though, and their eyes met. He saw the tears welling up in her glistening brown eyes.
“I love you,” she whispered quietly.
“I’m proud of you,” he whispered back.
They came flush against the table and when Meg hesitated, Evan spoke up.
“Would you mind autographing a book for us?”
“I’d be delighted.” The gray haired woman beamed up at all of them. “Whom should I make it to?”
Meg leaned forward and smiled. “To Robert...Evan...and Meg.”
“Oh! How interesting! You know, I dedicated this book to a woman named Meg. Though we’ve never met, she was the one...”
Evan continued to gaze at his wife. At the mother of his child. At the love of his life.
Thanks, Robert, he thought, sending the words silently heavenward.
Complete Book List as of 2012
Writing as May McGoldrick:
GHOST OF THE THAMES
MADE IN HEAVEN
DREAMS OF DESTINY
CAPTURED DREAMS
BORROWED DREAMS
THE REBEL
TESS AND THE HIGHLANDER
THE PROMISE
THE FIREBRAND
THE ENCHANTRESS
THE DREAMER
FLAME
THE INTENDED
BEAUTY OF THE MIST
HEART OF GOLD
ANGEL OF SKYE
THISTLE AND THE ROSE
Writing as Nicole Cody & May McGoldrick
LOVE AND MAYHEM (Arsenic and Old Armor)
Writing as Jan Coffey:
THE BLIND EYE
THE PUPPET MASTER
THE DEADLIEST STRAIN
THE PROJECT
SILENT WATERS
FIVE IN A ROW
TROPICAL KISS
FOURTH VICTIM
TRIPLE THREAT
TWICE BURNED
TRUST ME ONCE
Writing as Nikoo Kafi:
OMID'S SHADOW
Nonfiction: By Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick
MARRIAGE OF MINDS: Collaborative Fiction Writing
Please write to us at JanCoffey@JanCoffey.com
www.JanCoffey.com