He had to take a couple of deep breaths because he was getting all choked up. “She took it off her finger, Mack, to give it to me. She said it had never once left her finger, and that she wanted me to give it to you because she could see the love we have for each other. She also thought it was fitting for the woman who returned her brother to her to wear it.” He leaned in and kissed her lips ever so gently.
Mack had no idea what to say. She was touched beyond words that Eliza would give her engagement ring to Dean for her. No wonder Dean had been all choked up telling her what his grandmother had said.
“Let me look at your finger.” He raised her hand so they both could admire his grandmother’s ring. The square cut diamond was set in platinum and surrounded with small sapphires. He kissed her finger. “It looks amazing, and it’s a perfect fit.”
“Yes, it does, and I think it’s a good omen that it fits perfectly. Hopefully, we’ll have sixty-eight plus years together as well.”
“I hope so. I think we need to celebrate!”
She felt much better so she stood up at the side of the bed and smiled at a surprised Dean. Mack started to unfasten her blouse and placed it on the chair to the side, and then she removed her skirt, all the time keeping eye contact with him.
She turned her back to him and slid her panties down her legs, kicking them toward the chair, followed by her bra. She could hear Dean’s breathing change, as the bed moved slightly, she turned back around to face him, only to discover Dean yanking his clothes off, and letting them fly any which way.
Mack laughed and gave him a wicked grin. “Mmm, you look good enough to eat!”
He groaned with laughter. “You’re going to kill me, Mack.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she replied, and crawled across the bed on her hands and knees toward a very aroused Dean.
Chapter 40
Mack was standing at Dean’s bedroom window, looking out over the gardens to the back of the house while Dean had a rather heated conversation with his mother on his cell phone in the bathroom. He obviously thought Mack wouldn’t be able to hear, but she could, crystal clear!
She was dreading having to meet his mother again, who apparently was downstairs, entertaining Cynthia and her mother. His mother, once she discovered Dean was home, had phoned him on his cell and asked him to join them for coffee in the conservatory. Dean had declined and hung up on her.
Not five minutes had passed when she was on the phone again, basically telling him to get downstairs. He’d told his mother that he was busy, not wanting his mother to know that he had a woman in his room. Announcing he’d been having sex all afternoon to his mother was not something he wanted to do. Plus, Mack wasn’t sure if it was the way she wanted to start her relationship with her soon-to-be mother-in-law.
God knows how she would react when she discovered they were engaged. At least they had the blessing of his grandparents, which was lovely, and for Eliza to give up her ring for Mack was a wonderful gesture.
The bathroom door opened and Dean walked out, frowning. His hair was all ruffled because he’d more than likely been running his fingers through it.
Mack walked over to him and placed her hands on his chest. “Dean, I know your mother is giving you a hard time about Cynthia.” He looked into her eyes. “The bathroom isn’t soundproof.”
“Hell. Sorry,” Dean replied and sat down on the bed. “My mother wants me to go have coffee with her, Cynthia, and her mother. If you heard the conversation, then you know I told her I’m in love with someone else, and it wasn’t going to change. God, she’s a total pain in the ass.”
“I didn’t hear you say I was here so don’t you think it’s the perfect time to tell your mother you’re off the market since we’re engaged. I’ll make it clear you’re my guy, and mine alone?”
He smiled at Mack. “I love it when you get all huffy!”
“I do not get huffy . . . I get pissed!”
“Christ, come on. You better hold my hand for courage.”
“Dean, I’m fine. I don’t need courage if I believe in what I’m fighting for.”
He grimaced. “I’m the one who needs the courage. After all, it’s my mother we’re talking about.”
“Oh!” Mack laughed, just as Dean pulled her out of the bedroom.
Dean stopped Mack before they went into the conservatory and pulled her into his arms for a soul-shattering kiss. He took her hand in his and opened the door. Three stunned faces greeted them when they saw the two together.
“Dean, what is the meaning of this? You said you were in your room, and I thought you said nobody was allowed in there?”
“Mother, Cynthia, Gladys, you remember Mack. I’m sure you do. She was with me in my room because she’s my fiancée. We’re going to be married as soon as Mack will have me.”
Mack was stunned. Dean had told her it could be a long engagement. She started to smile and looked at Dean. “How’s next weekend sound at Rose Cottage?”
“Dean, slow down. You’re not getting married next weekend, that's impossible. There would be too many details to arrange in such a short time.”
“Mother, the only people we want at the wedding are Mack’s immediate family and mine. And if it can be arranged in time, this weekend, in Cape Elizabeth, at the house where Grandmother grew up.”
“What are you talking about?” his mother asked, having completely forgotten about Cynthia and her mother.
“My grandparents will tell you about it later,” Dean explained. “Mother, don’t worry, everything will work out fine.”
“Yes, but what about—” Anne trailed off and waved her arms in Cynthia and Gladys’s direction.
Dean took a deep breath. “Cynthia, I’m sorry, but it was love at first sight for me when I met Mack. There’s a guy out there for you, but I’m afraid it’s not me.”
“Bravo, Grandson!” Jacob was grinning from ear to ear.
Both Mack and Dean turned around to find Eliza, Jacob and Dean’s father, James, standing behind them, smiling.
Eliza moved over to Mack, taking her face into her hands. “Thank you for making our grandson so happy.” With both Mack and Eliza close to tears, Dean wrapped an arm around Mack’s waist. “Let me see,” Eliza asked, as she lifted Mack’s left hand. “Oh, my. Perfect fit. It looks lovely.”
Mack wiped her eyes and took hold of Eliza’s hand. “Thank you for giving this ring to Dean. You have no idea how much it means to me.”
“Oh, I think I do,” Eliza added.
While everyone seemed to be talking at once, Mack noticed Cynthia and Gladys leaving. Although Mack was really looking forward to putting them in their place, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. Cynthia would never have stalked Dean, but for the interference and cajoling from both mothers.
She had a wedding to plan for the weekend! How in the hell did that happen? She didn’t even have a dress, then there’s flowers, food, cake. No, the calm of earlier was gone, and panic was setting in. “Dean, can we go outside for a minute?”
He looked at Mack, frowning. “You okay?”
Mack just laughed and walked Dean outside onto the back patio.
“Dean, you do realize I don’t even have a dress. I’m only going to do this once so I want all the trimmings, cake, flowers, family, and bridesmaids.”
“I’ll help with everything, I promise. I’m not going to leave it all to you. It would be too much, especially with us wanting it all done for the weekend.”
“Thank goodness for that.” Mack admired her engagement ring again.
“Come on, babe. Let’s go say our goodbyes.” Dean took hold of her hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “We have a wedding to arrange!”
Chapter 41
In the morning, Mack was sitting on Dean’s lap in the kitchen of Rose Cottage and sharing a cup of coffee, while they made a list of what they needed to organize for their wedding. Mack wasn’t quite sure how she ended up announcing this weekend was fine for a wedding. A moment o
f insanity?
Yesterday had been an amazing day. Not only had Mack discovered Rose and Jacob had been together all these years, Rose as Eliza, but she was now wearing Eliza’s engagement ring as her very own.
They were going to tell Thomas about Rose, and prayed it wouldn’t be too big a shock for him. What Rose and Thomas’s father had done to them, lying about both of his children’s death, was disgusting and unforgivable. All this time wasted. All these years Thomas had been alone with no family after his wife died. It was so terribly sad to think he had nieces and nephews out there, not to mention great-nephews and nieces that he had no knowledge of. Hopefully, it would go smoothly as Mack wasn’t too sure how she would handle Thomas, if it didn’t.
“Dean? Do you think your mother would like to come looking at wedding dresses with me and mine?” She saw the shock on Dean’s face. “She’s going to be my mother-in-law so the least I can do is try and get along with her. But if she’s rude again, all bets are off, okay?”
“Okay. Just tell me when and where and I’ll let my mother know.”
“Thomas is here.”
“Mack, he’ll probably be shocked at first, but he has a family now. He’s no longer alone. He’s stronger than you think.”
“Am I interrupting something?” Thomas asked, coming into the kitchen.
She stood up, laughing, and walked over to Thomas. “We got engaged yesterday, Thomas. We want to be married here, at Rose Cottage, this weekend.”
“Oh, my.” He cleared his throat. “Congratulations to you both.” Thomas hugged Mack, and then shook Dean’s hand.
“Sit down, Thomas. That’s not all our news.”
He sat down and glanced from Mack to Dean. “Well, you can’t be pregnant yet. Can you?”
“No, I’m not pregnant, Thomas. This is my engagement ring.” Mack lifted her hand up so Thomas could see the ring.
“That’s lovely, Mack.” Then he turned to Dean. “Is it a family heirloom?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Thomas, there’s no easy way to say this.” She took a deep breath. “Yesterday, when we went to visit Dean’s grandparents, we discovered that Eliza, Jacob’s wife and Dean’s grandmother, is actually Rose, your sister.” Thomas’s eyes focused completely on Mack. “Rose didn’t die that night, Thomas. Rose and Jacob blackmailed Richard into telling your parents that he saw her go over the cliffs.”
Dean passed Thomas and Mack a glass of water and continued the story. “Rose came back to see you and tell you the truth in 1955, only to be told by your father that you’d died in Korea. All these years, Thomas, she thought that you were dead.”
Thomas leaned forward in his chair and dropped his face into his hands. Mack went over to him and wrapped her arm around him. She could feel him shake while his tears fell silently.
He lifted his head. “After all these years. Because of the both of you.” He shook his head. “I can’t take it all in. I never expected you both to come back from Boston telling me my sister’s alive.” He looked at Mack then Dean. “You’re my great-nephew?”
Dean smiled. “I certainly am . . . Uncle Thomas.”
Mack wiped her eyes. “Eliza and Jacob will be here this weekend for our wedding. She’s waiting for your call, Thomas.”
“I can talk to her, after all these years? What’s she like?”
“She looks about twenty years younger than she is. In fact, Jacob certainly doesn’t look his age, either. Thomas, she was just as shaken as you are when she learned you were alive. She said she has missed you so much over the years. She still wishes to go by Eliza, though.”
“I can understand that. After all, that’s what she’s used for a very long time . . . So she gave you her engagement ring,” Thomas said, looking at Dean.
“She did. She said she wanted the woman of my heart, who returned her brother to her to have her ring.”
“Then I guess if you want a wedding here this weekend, you better get a move on.” Thomas laughed.
She felt relief that Thomas was taking the news about Eliza so well. In a way, it was a dream come true for her because not only had she fallen in love with Dean, but Thomas as well. After she married Dean, they’d all be family. She also knew one little lad who would be thrilled to bits to discover Thomas was going to be part of the family.
He stood up. “I’ll take her number, if you will, then leave you to it.”
Mack handed him the number she had already written down for him. “Here you go. Are you okay?”
He pulled Mack into his arms and just held her close. “I’m more than okay. Thank you so much. You’re the daughter I never had,” he whispered, close to tears.
Epilogue
It was three hours before the wedding, and regardless of how many people had told Mack that it was bad luck to see the groom before the wedding, she insisted she was going to be there to see Thomas and Eliza meet for the first time in sixty-eight years.
She hadn’t dressed in her wedding finery just yet, so she headed downstairs in search of Dean, so she could watch the reunion in her shirt and jeans.
When they’d told Thomas that Rose had been happily married to Jacob for all these years, it was harder than they both had thought it would be, even Dean was all choked up.
Brother and sister had talked on the phone daily since the news had broken, and there had been a lot of tears, as well as laughter.
As she entered the kitchen, Mack found a very nervous Thomas and a very hot-looking Dean sitting at the table, trying to wait patiently for Eliza and Jacob, who were being driven to the cottage by Dean’s parents.
“Hey, beautiful. What are you doing down here in jeans? There’s a wedding happening in a few hours.”
She walked over to Dean and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “I have it on good authority that the gorgeous bride has it all under control!”
She kissed Dean on the top of his head and walked around the table to Thomas to give him a hug as well.
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Thomas asked in a worried voice.
“Oh, Thomas, Eliza said you have always been in her heart. You could have two heads, and she will still love you. Please don’t worry. In fact, I bet Eliza is probably thinking the same as you. Sixty-eight years is a long time.”
She walked back to Dean and sat on his lap, feeling awfully nervous for the reunion.
Thomas pulled himself together, sat up in his chair, reached inside his jacket, and took out an envelope. “This here is your wedding present.” He tapped it on the tabletop. “I want you both to know that up until last week, I didn’t have any family. Now I have a large one, and it includes you both. I certainly don’t have anyone to pass anything on to, although Lucas has spoken up for the Our Gang comics.” He took a breath. “Having said all that, because of you both, I have my sister back, and that’s worth more than what’s in here.”
He handed the envelope to Dean.
Mack’s hands were shaking far too much to open the envelope so she passed it to Dean. He opened it and couldn’t believe what he was looking at.
“Dean, what is it?” Mack asked.
He had to swallow around the lump in his throat. “It’s the deed to Rose Cottage, in both our names.”
Mack and Dean just looked at Thomas. “You’re both at home here at Rose Cottage, and I’m getting too old to look after it. I want you both to have it, and to live here and raise a family. Besides, I happen to know the local school needs a teacher, and I have it on good authority that Auntie Mack is a very good one, although a bit bossy.”
Mack was stunned. She certainly hadn’t expected the cottage as a wedding present, but she should have known Thomas would do something like he had. Rose Cottage was where it had all started. Not just for herself and Dean, but for Rose and Jacob all those years ago.
Standing up, she met Thomas, who was walking toward them for a very big hug. “I don’t know what to say, Thomas,” she told him, unable to hold the tears back.
“Just
a thank you will suffice.”
She pulled back and took hold of Dean’s hand. “Thank you. I do love it here.” She looked at Dean. “If it’s okay with Dean then we’ll live here. Besides, someone has to make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”
Thomas chuckled. “Just make sure those babies appear sooner rather than later. I’m not a spring chicken anymore.”
“I’m sure we’ll get started on that pretty soon.” Mack blushed.
“With plenty of practice, I’m sure we’ll get it right.” Dean chuckled.
They heard a car pull up outside, which stopped the laughter, and panic flickered across Thomas’s face.
Mack took Thomas’s hand. “Come on, Thomas, you can do this. Just remember Eliza and Jacob are going to be just as nervous as you are.”
Dean opened the back door and held it open as Thomas stepped out, holding Mack’s hand really tight as though he expected her to bolt. Dean followed them outside and ran over to open the car door for his grandparents.
His grandfather stepped out first, and then turned back toward the car to help Eliza out.
With Dean on one side and Jacob on the other, they made their way to Mack and Thomas, who were waiting not too far away.
Mack could feel Thomas shaking, and from the look of things, so were Eliza and Jacob. Meeting Dean’s eyes, Mack nudged Thomas forward at the same time Eliza let go of both Dean and Jacob to wrap her arms around Thomas. They were both sobbing as though their hearts would burst.
Mack took two steps straight into Dean’s arms and cried all over him. He ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion.
Mack finally managed to get herself under control and wiped her face on the handkerchief Dean’s father passed her. “Thank you.”
Eliza took hold of Jacob’s hand and pulled him slightly forward to meet her brother. She had written in her diary how much she wished that Thomas and Jacob could get to know each other. Although it was a long time ago when she had expressed that wish, it was now coming true.
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