A Love So True

by Melissa Jagears

  Evelyn blew out a breath, but the room was too quiet to continue her speech. Not that she knew what she’d have said next. Maybe it was a good thing his father had stopped her wild ramblings. She’d gotten her point across and was nearing the point of being pathetic.

  David looked at his father, then back at her with a furrowed brow.

  “I know everyone’s eager to hear my son’s announcement. Now if someone would point him this way, we won’t keep you from your dinner much longer.”

  The crowd tittered, and Evelyn stepped back, wishing she could hide in the shadows—but there were none.

  “Evelyn.” He grabbed her hand. “I—”

  “Why are you still down here?” A man with slicked-back blond hair and panic written across his face swooped in and grabbed David by the sleeve.

  David’s nostrils flared at the man who’d turned to look at her, as if trying to place her.

  David shook his head. “I’m sorry, Evelyn. I’ve got to go.” However, he still held her hand.

  Would he change his mind about engaging himself to Marianne?

  “David?” his father called, and the crowd murmured. “Ah, Marianne, come up. Where’s my son?”

  David frowned at the man beside him. “Calvin, you have the worst timing.”

  “You know how your father hates it when you’re late. Don’t make this any worse than it’s already going to be.” Calvin turned toward the hors d’oeuvres table and snatched up a glass of punch. He downed it and then jerked his head insistently toward the platform.

  The crowd’s mumblings grew louder. Any second someone would spot them.

  David squeezed her hand. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  Her heart fluttered. “Your announcement has changed, then?”

  “What?” Calvin straightened and turned back to stare at her. “What are you talking about?”

  David held out his free hand to Calvin. “No, nothing’s changed.”

  The room swam. Nothing’s changed. Oh, how she wished she’d written a letter instead.

  Calvin picked up two champagne flutes and handed one to David. “Then it’s time we go.”

  “David?” His father’s voice boomed. “Has anyone spotted my son?”

  “All right.” David looked her deep in the eyes. “I need to get up there, but I need you to stay. Everything will be fine.”

  She shook her head. How could that be?

  “Trust me.” He looked at her lips for a second before striding away with Calvin on his heels.

  Trust him? If his announcement hadn’t changed, did he realize what he asked of her? She looked at the crowd, trying to find the quickest way to the exit.

  The second she started to head back the way she came, David came racing back and grabbed her hand. “I think it best you go up with me.”

  The crowd parted in front of them, and she hurried after David, lest she look like he was dragging her. Was he going to publicly jilt Marianne and expect no one would realize the woman he’d dragged up on stage was responsible?

  But he’d said his announcement hadn’t changed.

  At the edge of the platform, Calvin frowned at her as David towed her past.

  Yes, whoever this Calvin was, he had horrible timing. Not that hers was much better. If she’d not needed Lydia to push her, she could have been here days ago.

  David’s father’s gaze turned hard the second he noticed her. The woman in the yellow-and-white frothy gown from the garden stood beside him, her expression mildly amused, or maybe suspicious. Had she actually been talking to Marianne? Had David’s fiancée unwittingly encouraged Evelyn to ruin her own engagement party?

  Her stomach lurched. How she wished she were the kind of woman to faint away. After years of keeping things to herself, why had she failed now? How was she supposed to keep calm in front of a few hundred strangers?

  “Sorry, everyone. Couldn’t lead a toast with an empty glass.” David lifted his drink, as did many in the crowd.

  He grabbed another glass off the front table and handed it to Evelyn.

  How could she refuse without drawing attention to herself? She took it and then he left her on the side of the platform.

  She clamped the glass between two hands, hoping she’d be able to hold on to it despite her shaking. Dropping it in front of everyone would make living through this announcement only that much worse. She glanced back to the stairs they’d just climbed, but people had gathered closer to the platform. Trying to leave now would create a scene. She slowly walked backward, hoping to blend in with the wall.

  He’d said to trust him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be the center of attention for whatever he was about to do.

  Marianne looked positively radiant. Her smile was one that could change a room’s atmosphere.

  “Let’s not waste another moment.” David stopped in front of the crowd. “I need Mr. Hochstetler to come up.”

  Calvin nearly skipped up the stairs in his haste to obey.

  David’s father stepped forward. “Now wait—”

  “I’ve got several announcements this evening.” David’s hand rose as if silencing the crowd—though the only one speaking was his father. “And the first is that we’re making Calvin Hochstetler chief executive of Kingsman & Son.”

  The crowd murmured, and David’s father’s face turned as red and tight as a new cherry tomato.

  Was that the announcement? Every bone in Evelyn’s body warmed like melted wax. She shook her head at herself. He’d told her to trust him and she hadn’t.

  But didn’t the servant say this was an engagement party?

  David clamped his hand onto Calvin’s shoulder. “After I returned from Teaville, I was impressed with how this man not only took care of our holdings but grew them. I realized how much I relied upon him and had taken his hard work for granted. Not once in Teaville did I worry about my projects with Calvin at the helm. I figured there was no reason for him to remain my secretary when he could be a far greater asset to the company.”

  The crowd clapped, and Evelyn took a step back in case the visible tension in David’s father’s every limb burst.

  “But I know the announcement you’ve all been waiting for deals with me and Miss Lister.” He held out his arm to her and smiled as she came forward. “Whom I’ve known longer and trust even more than Mr. Hochstetler. Who’s one of the finest ladies in my acquaintance, a person who tries her hardest to love others, and a woman of both outer and inner beauty.”

  Evelyn quickly placed the glass on the floor before she spilled it on herself. His praise for Marianne was far beyond what he could say of her. Though she might love others, a fine, beautiful lady she was not.

  “Most of you have been asking for a while now when we planned to announce our engagement, but those plans have gone awry.”

  Evelyn’s legs nearly collapsed out from under her, and she put a hand to the wall behind her to keep herself upright.

  The crowd hushed. The older couple up front, the woman being the one who’d come for Marianne in the garden, turned ghastly white.

  “As much as I love my oldest friend, Marianne loves Calvin more, and I’m happy to give them their first congratulations on many years of future wedded bliss.”

  Marianne’s mother dropped her drink. The crack of glass splintering against the floor was drowned out by gasps, murmurs, and a smattering of hurrahs.

  If Evelyn could have made a sound, she didn’t know what it would be. She leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath now that her lungs worked again.

  Calvin raised a hand, and the crowd hushed. He put an arm around David’s shoulders. “I know what a shock this is for some of you, but I’m very grateful to David, who has done more for me than most of you will ever know.” He turned and took Marianne’s hand and tugged her closer, placing a kiss against her knuckles. “Let’s toast to David. And to him finding a woman who will make him as happy as Marianne makes me.”

  When the cheers stopped, David held up his glass aga
in. “I have one more announcement. I appreciate Calvin’s toast very much, for I would like to find the happiness he and Marianne have. This morning, I wondered if I ever would find that kind of love, but now, I’m hoping to be a bachelor for only a short time more.” He turned with a frown, quickly scanning behind him, and her heart ratcheted up.

  The second he found her standing against the wall, he threw her his breath-catching grin, though it was more a knee-weakening one now. She literally had to stagger over to the nearby chair to sit.

  “Someone just told me I deserved the love of a good woman, and I hope she’s correct.” David gestured toward his friends. “I praised Marianne earlier for her determination and beauty, and Miss Wisely here behind me has those same qualities in abundance. Plus she’s selfless, loyal to a fault, sees the best in everyone, and is the most stubborn woman I know—but stubborn in all the good ways.”

  Several in the crowd chuckled.

  “And most importantly, I love her.” He came over and kneeled in front of her, his eyes pleading, his smile replaced with the most serious expression she’d ever seen on his face. “Evelyn, would you do me the honor of making this a double engagement party? Will you marry me?”

  So much for hoping not to embarrass herself in front of all his guests, for there was nothing she could do to stop the tears.

  40

  The whispers from the crowd behind David grew louder, and in his peripheral vision, he saw Father coming closer. And yet, Evelyn simply sat there crying. He jiggled her hand. “Evelyn?”

  After what she’d told him earlier, he knew she loved him, knew she was concerned about her divorced status, but not so much he’d thought she wouldn’t accept his proposal.

  Of course, if anyone in the world didn’t want a public proposal, it was Evelyn, but the timing had been absolutely perfect. He, Calvin, and Marianne had all agreed their parents would keep their protests private if the whole town knew of the surprise engagement before they could object. It wouldn’t keep them from grousing and complaining, but they’d likely swallow their objections in front of others and maybe come to terms with their children picking their own spouses sooner rather than later.

  If Evelyn accepted his proposal right now, Father would never publicly bring up her divorced status. For if he told anyone else what a terrible match she was and she married his son anyway, he’d only hurt himself.

  “Evelyn, did you hear my question?” She looked like a startled deer, if deer could produce tears.

  She took her hands from his and thrust them into her pockets, panicking over whatever she couldn’t find.

  Considering the state of her face, he pulled out his pocket square, which she promptly snatched up.

  She patted her face and took in a shuddery breath. “Could you ask me again, just in case I didn’t hear correctly?”

  He couldn’t help his huge grin. She was so darling. “Would you marry me?” He held out his empty palms. “I have no ring, but I can take care of that later.”

  She nodded, and the palpable tension from the room dissipated. Calvin’s voice called out, “Three cheers for good news times three!”

  The shouts of the crowd and the clinking of glasses faded as he pulled Evelyn to stand. She looked so uncomfortable that he tilted her head down to plant a kiss on her forehead instead of the one he wanted to press against her lips, then enfolded her in his arms.

  The moment she sagged into his embrace and squeezed him back, he knew she hadn’t simply nodded to keep from embarrassing him in front of the wealthiest people in Kansas City. He nuzzled next to her ear. “I’m so glad you came to me today. Father won’t dare contest this now—at least not in front of anyone.” He pulled back and looked at her face, still wide-eyed and dewy. “Though the quicker we get married, the more agony you’ll save me from.”

  In front of this crowd, he couldn’t hold onto her as long as he’d like, so he stepped back to arm’s length and caressed her with his eyes. “Because the arguments Father will plague me with until the day we marry will be nothing compared to the torture of waiting for you to become mine.”

  Her mouth trembled, and he ran his thumb across her lower lip.

  Father stomped forward on the platform and raised both hands, indicating a desire for quiet. Evelyn turned to watch him, and David held his breath while the crowd settled. He’d been fairly certain Father wouldn’t blast Evelyn in front of anyone, but what if he did? Evelyn didn’t need another man hurting her.

  If Father so much as uttered a word against her right now, he’d flatten him and then talk to Calvin about forging off on their own.

  Father’s face was tight, every one of his muscles wriggling as if fighting hard to comply. “I know what a surprise these announcements have been, but when the Kingsmans throw a party, we want to make sure it’s going to be talked about for months.” He stabbed a finger toward the small orchestra. “Play music!”

  The piano player called out for his players to prepare for Strauss’s “Künstlerleben,” and without a backward glance, Father stomped off.

  Calvin stepped forward. “All right, ladies and gentlemen—here’s how dinner will be served. . . .”

  As Calvin explained how dinner would be held in shifts for such a large crowd, Evelyn stared at his secretary as if she needed to know the particulars. David tugged on her hand, and she looked back at him and took a deep breath. The poor thing looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

  Marianne came over with a big smile, put an arm around Evelyn, and chuckled, rubbing Evelyn’s arms as if trying to loosen her up. “I’m so glad your dilemma is over.”

  Evelyn produced a bit of a smile. “It is, isn’t it.”

  The two had already met?

  While half the room emptied, the musicians struck up the waltz. The plaintive beginning would give them plenty of time to get to the dance floor.

  Calvin claimed Marianne’s arm. “I think we’re to lead.”

  David held out his hand to Evelyn. “Shall we?”

  That finally seemed to jolt her out of whatever world she’d retreated into. “I’m not dressed for a dance. I’ll make you a laughingstock.”

  “Don’t be silly. You’re plenty lovely, even when wearing a work dress you’ve worn for days, half asleep, and on your bare feet.” He snaked his arm around her waist and escorted her toward the short stairs to the floor.

  She looked over at him and frowned. “While that’s a romantic thing to say, it’s not actual truth.”

  “Oh no?” He held her hand tight as they stepped down the two stairs to the floor. “Did you not get back my drawing of you and Scott that I sent?”

  She blushed and nodded.

  “You were plenty beautiful, just as I described.” Curling her arm under his, he brought her hand up, kissing the back of her glove.

  While the violin and French horn finished their short dramatic piece, he led Evelyn to the middle of the floor behind Calvin and Marianne. “I bet everyone watching us can see I care not a whit for your dress. And if all they can do is grouse about it, they aren’t friends I want to keep.”

  She stared at him as he brought her left hand up to his shoulder and then took his time getting his own left hand to its position. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he let his hand travel the length of her arm, across her upper shoulder, and down to span the area below her shoulder blade. Then he pulled her closer and stood with her but a breath away until the first waltz section began, watching the glaze of her eyes turn from uncertainty to devotion.

  He had to close his eyes then, for fear he’d kiss her in front of the whole crowd and add more scandal to his choice of wife.

  The feel of her, in his arms, in his home, free to love him, made his heart soar with the quickening notes of the violin. At the first measure of the lively waltz section, he took a deep breath and began to lead.

  After two turns about the room, several couples joined in, but Evelyn was not nearly as loose and graceful as she had been when they’d waltzed in Teaville. H
e needed no other excuse to look for an exit.

  The moment they neared the doors, he spied a break in the crowd and twirled her with a flourish, pulling her out the doors behind him.

  He took in a gulp of the cooling evening air and held tightly to Evelyn’s hand as the door closed behind them. Thankfully a quick glance confirmed they were alone in his backyard.

  Evelyn shuffle-stepped at his side as he pulled her across the pavers and out of view of the windows. “Are you sure it’s fitting for us to leave your own party?”

  “I’m actually not worried about what’s appropriate right now.” He pulled her close and captured her mouth, the warmth of her lips sending a quiver through his body. That he’d been so close to being forever denied the taste of her kiss filled him with desperation, and his mouth danced with hers in an ardent frenzy.

  Her back hit the wall with a soft thud, jolting them apart for a second. He began to trail kisses along her jaw. Did she know how perfectly made for him she was? From her tenacity spurring him to dig in his own heels to the sweet smell of her skin. He’d endure every agonizing moment of their friendship all over again knowing this very minute awaited him.

  “David,” she breathed. The sound of his name was imbued with such contentment and utter longing that his body hummed in response.

  He continued laying kisses along her neck until he hit fabric. Oh sweet mercy she was soft and lovely beyond measure. And would soon be his wife.

  Thank you, Lord.

  She wrapped her arms tight about him, burying her head in his neck.

  The desire to continue thoroughly kissing her was almost too much to bear. He forced himself to turn his face away from the intoxicating fragrance of her and held her as tightly as he could, as if the pressure of their embrace could make them one.

  The sounds of the orchestra mingled with the throb of his heartbeat and Evelyn’s ragged breathing.

  “I never thought I’d get the chance to propose to you again,” he whispered against her ear, swaying to the music, his irregular heartbeat likely messing with his ability to sway in synchronization. “If I’d have known how good you felt in my arms and under my lips . . .” He pressed another kiss right below her ear, and her responding whimper made him seek her mouth to swallow the sound up whole.