Last Chance Proposal (Entangled Bliss)

by DeLeo, Barbara

  “Cool,” Louis said. He moved to the counter and picked up a spoon with frosting on it and raised his eyebrows at Fleur.

  She winked at him and he grinned as he slipped the spoon between his lips.

  Ellie’s breath froze in her chest. That slow look of unspoken love between mother and son, the little gestures of devotion that only came from spending a lifetime with someone. Would Cy lose that with Jonty if she said no?

  “Can I make strawberry ice cream for Christmas dinner like Nana taught me?” Louis asked as he gave the spoon another giant lick.

  “Sure.” His mother chuckled. “We can do a practice run tomorrow. I wonder if we should have a more traditional Christmas dinner or do some New Zealand favorites.”

  Louis chewed his lip. “That boy. Does he know how to skim?”

  Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know, hon. I don’t think he’s been on the beach much, so maybe not. He’s a bit shy, but perhaps you can teach him when he gets to know you better.”

  “Don’t they have beaches in America?”

  “They do, but he doesn’t live near one.” She reached over for the teapot and poured more in her cup and then Fleur’s. “He found a pukeko chick yesterday. I’ll take you over to have a look at it if you like. They’re going to release it when its sore foot’s better.” What would the timid Jonty be like on Christmas day and on all the days to follow? If she said yes to Cy, the challenge of developing a relationship with his little boy would be enormous.

  If she said yes? Her subconscious had blindsided her and her heart started to skip double time. What was really holding her back? Being in the States for a year would be a big financial strain on her business and would mean her dream of having a permanent base in New Zealand would be put back years, but losing that dream was nothing compared to Cy losing his son. She blinked and put the brakes on her runaway brain.

  Louis nodded. “Can we take him out back to see the glowworms when it’s dark?”

  She passed the milk jug to Fleur. “I’m not sure, love. Jonty’s never been here before and he might be a bit tired from his big trip but I’ll ask his dad.”

  Louis stuck his bottom lip out. “We never have boys ’round here, ’cept for Grandad. It’d be cool to go to the glowworms with him. Can you ask his dad?” He turned around. “I’m gonna look for my board in the shed.”

  Fleur sat back in her chair. “Your face could double as a movie screen you’re so transparent, Ellie Jacobs.”

  Ellie blinked. “What on Earth do you mean?”

  Her sister held her with a challenging stare. “I mean that I can tell you’re seriously considering saying yes to Cy.”

  Ellie drew a circle in the confectioner’s sugar on the table and blew out a soft breath. “How do you think Louis would react if I said yes? He’s so used to having me around that he’d think it was strange if I got married and moved away.”

  Fleur pushed the plate of cupcakes toward Ellie, then took one herself. “Ell, he’s nine; the only things he cares about are surfing and basketball. The minute he discovered Cy’s a surfer he’d be his friend for life. If you were to tell him you’re going to live with Cy, he’d think it was ‘primo.’ But…” She paused. “I think you should stop considering how this will affect other people and think about yourself.”

  Ellie nodded. “And then there’s Mum and Dad. They won’t be back from Europe till mid-February. By that time, we’d be in Colorado. I’d have to tell them something.”

  Fleur moved her mouth from side to side. “That’s a tough one. On one hand, Mum would totally believe you’d get into a relationship with Cy, but she’d be pretty disappointed if you got married and she wasn’t there.”

  Ellie held her sister’s gaze. “So you’d support me in this? If I talked things through with Cy and we found a way to make it work, you wouldn’t try to stop me?”

  Fleur reached out a hand and squeezed her fingers. “Of course I’d support you. I don’t think I could do it, but I understand that it’d bring some closure to all you went through with Cy. And everyone in the world knows what a big heart you have.” She smiled softly. “I just want you to promise me one thing.”

  Relieved that her sister understood why she was considering this, Ellie grinned back. “What’s that?”

  “Don’t let Cy break your heart all over again.”

  As Ellie squeezed her sister’s hand back, she told herself the exact same thing.

  Ellie knocked on Cy’s door the following morning and waited. It seemed odd to be so formal. In the old days she’d have just bowled right on in, calling his name with her snorkel set swinging from her fingertips. But odd didn’t begin to describe what she was about to do.

  She’d lain awake most of the night, running through everything he’d told her, everything he’d asked of her, all of the obstacles Fleur had reminded her of. The story of how Jonty’s mom had died, how Cy had been prevented from seeing his son broke her heart, but she had to know more. Thinking about how a sham marriage between her and Cy would affect people—their families, each other, and most of all Jonty, made her brain ache.

  Fostering dogs, running meals on wheels, babysitting for friends, she couldn’t stop doing things to help. But now she did it all with an eye on her own happiness, too. And she was happy now. Her life was full. She had great friends, a loving family, and the best job in the world. She was confident, strong, and in charge of her own dreams. But would all that change if she spent the next year living with Cy and his little boy?

  “Hey.” Cy smiled as he stood at his opened door, a plain white tee hugging his torso, his hair mussed. Aviator sunglasses hung at his neck and he was barefoot in boardshorts. Good God, he was gorgeous, just as he’d always been. If she agreed to his plan she was going to have to look at him like this—have him within touching distance—for three hundred and sixty-five days, and the thought was torture.

  “Do you have a minute?”

  He looked back into the house and dropped his voice. “Jonty’s watching cartoons. Is it okay if we talk out here?”

  “Sure.”

  He called back to Jonty that he’d be on the deck, then closed the door behind him. Padding down the steps, he looked so much more relaxed than he had yesterday.

  “Great day.” They sat at a picnic table, and she flicked sunglasses down onto her face, desperate to make this feel normal.

  “Amazing.” He tilted his head and looked out at the breaking waves. “Wish I could go out for a surf sometime, but I don’t think I’ll leave Jonty with anyone again. Yesterday didn’t go so well.”

  She ran her tongue over dry lips. “I’ve seen your Uncle Pete on your old yacht. Maybe you could take it out sometime with Jonty.”

  He nodded but she could tell small talk was the last thing on his mind.

  “I’ve come to discuss your proposal.”

  He put his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “I was hoping you had. And before you say anything, I want you to know that no matter what you decide, it won’t affect our friendship. Now that we’re back in touch, I’m not going to lose our connection again.”

  Their friendship. That precious thing that’d been destroyed by telling him she loved him and by him leaving without a backward glance. She couldn’t do much more damage than that today. But once they’d had this conversation, their relationship would never be the same again, she was sure of that.

  “Cy, I want you to know that I’ve agonized over this. And the big question I have is, are you sure that marrying me is your only option?”

  He scrubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin and nodded. “I’ve worked through every possible solution before getting to this point. I’ve tried to communicate with Susan’s parents, tried to appeal to them on every level I could, but they’ll only speak through lawyers. They’ve only agreed to me bringing Jonty back here for two weeks before the hearing, and that’s only because they think it’ll be too much for me and I’ll give Jonty up. They couldn’t be more wrong.”

&n
bsp; “Then how did you come up with the plan to marry me?”

  His mouth lifted. “The minute I saw that letter from you, I remembered the friendship we’d had, what we’d been through together, and I knew it was something I could ask you to do.”

  She’d asked something pretty huge of him once and now he was calling that favor in. He hooked her with those ocean-blue eyes and she couldn’t look away, her heart clenching in her chest.

  “I trust you, Ellie. Like no one else in my world, I trust that you won’t judge me, that you’ll understand that I can’t lose my son.”

  She played with a splinter of wood on the table as her stomach looped. “How would it work? I have this project to oversee, a restoration in Greece in March, but I’d need to be with you in the States. And I know nothing about children.”

  “That’s right. We’d get married in Auckland before you came back with me. You’d only need to stay for a year at the most.”

  “How do you think it would affect Jonty? Wouldn’t it create a whole new set of problems, having me come into his life and then leave again?”

  He shrugged. “If you did leave after the year, I guess it would depend on how we dealt with it. Whenever you did decide to come back we’d still see you at the cove in holidays, Christmas at least. The whole beauty of doing this with a friend means you can always be in our lives.”

  She chewed her lip. Of course that was true. He’d only ever see her as a friend, nothing more. “And our families, what would we tell them?”

  “No one can know the truth. For this to be one hundred percent watertight we need everyone believing it’s a real relationship, that what you and I have is a stable, committed marriage that will be the best environment for Jonty to be brought up in. Mum’s still in her first job out of law school. She finished her study when she split from Dad. It wouldn’t be fair to tell her something that could jeopardize her job if anyone found out that she’d known. How about your family?”

  The thought of lying to her family again made bile sting the back of the throat. “I’ve already mentioned it to Fleur. I had to tell her.”

  Slowly, he turned to face her more and nodded. “Okay, just Fleur.” He was quiet for a second. “Does this mean you’ll do it?”

  She took a deep breath and her heart began to drum deep in her chest. There wasn’t a choice here. A little boy needed his dad and she owed a good friend more than she could ever pay back. As long as she kept her heart safe, as long as he understood that she couldn’t give him more than a year, then there was only one answer.

  “I’ll do it. For a year I’ll be your wife. We’ll live as if we’re a happily married couple, and then we go our separate ways.”

  Chapter Four

  Cy locked his hands tight on the tabletop to stop himself reaching across and hugging Ellie. In the past he would’ve done it without thinking, but now he wasn’t sure how she’d react. She was so different from how she’d been in the past, so strong and confident—and beautiful—and he couldn’t trust that his body wouldn’t respond to that.

  He didn’t deny for a second that the next few months were going to be a crazy roller coaster, but this was his last chance to be with his son and he wasn’t going to blow it.

  She pushed a ringlet from her face and smiled. “So, what’s the first thing we need to do?”

  His shoulders relaxed. “We’ll need to start making wedding plans. I was thinking we could go to Auckland on the twenty-ninth to get the license and put everything in place, and then we could get married on the fourth or fifth before flying out.”

  She blew out a breath. “Wow, I guess we do need to get things moving then.”

  “We have to make this as real as possible. The immigration and court authorities are going to be suspicious, so we need to make sure we have plenty of people who can vouch for our story.”

  She gave him an ironic smile. “I guess we’ve had some practice at telling lies.” She played with a splinter on the table. “We established that I’m not in a relationship right now and I’m guessing there are no women in your life if you want me to come live with you.”

  She lifted her eyes and he was pulled in by their softness.

  “No, and there won’t be either. Jonty’s my priority from now on. After everything my father put me through…Jonty deserves better. I’d like us to throw an engagement party. As soon as possible.”

  Something shifted on her face and her eyes widened. “Here? Now? But the authorities won’t interview any of the people in the cove.”

  “We can’t take the chance. If we say we’ve spent most of our relationship apart, that we’ve grown together through phoning and e-mailing, then there’s going to be no one in the States who knows you. The sooner you and I start acting like a couple here, the better.”

  “But everyone at the hall yesterday saw you arrive. They didn’t see us hug or kiss. And we’re not staying in the same house. They wouldn’t buy it.”

  He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that. We can say that our relationship has grown via Skype over the last few months, that I decided to come back here so we could take it to the next level. We can explain away the meeting yesterday as me not wanting you to be involved in the project because it would keep us apart longer and then coming round when I saw everyone in the hall. We can say we’ve decided to bring the wedding forward so we can be together sooner. And it’s not weird we’re in different houses when they’re both so small and you’re with Fleur and Louis.”

  Ellie sighed and rubbed her hands down her cheeks.

  “What is it?”

  “That all just sounds so complicated. I’ve lied enough in my life. I didn’t want to have to do it again, especially not when it involved you. What if I forget the story?”

  “You won’t forget, and we don’t have a choice. The only part of it that we’re really lying about is that we’re in love. In every other way, isn’t this something friends would do for each other?”

  She put her fingers to her lips and hooked him with her stare. Her eyes were filled with honesty, such trusting honesty that his gut clenched. He’d never forget what she was doing for him, never forget her open heart and her sunny smile.

  “Okay then, even though we’ve got so many details to work out, our stories to get straight, and plans to put in place, I’m willing to get on with showing the world we’re a couple.”

  Unable to stop himself from touching her this time, he reached out for her hands. “I knew you’d say yes, Ellie. Your generosity, your kindness…when I walked back into that hall again yesterday I could see you were still the caring, giving person you’ve always been. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  The next afternoon Cy walked out of Starfish Cottage carrying two cold beers in one hand, Jonty’s hand tucked in the other. Along with the beer, they’d bought the last six bottles of sparkling wine at the tiny local store and had told Tom, the owner, they were celebrating their engagement.

  It wasn’t long before word got out and now people were arriving with drinks and plates of party food. The smell of barbecue and the tang of seaside air filled his lungs and he breathed it deep.

  Three days ago he couldn’t have imagined feeling this positive, this pumped, about facing the custody battle back home, and the thought of sharing the next year with Ellie was the icing on the cake. She calmed him, centered him, and seeing the strength she’d gained in her life fired him on to find it for himself, too. He was grateful to have her back in his life. Maybe it could be permanent if things went well. A second chance had always been on his mind. Running from her was his single greatest regret.

  He crouched down and pulled his son to him. Jonty’s warm body molded to his. “Shall we go say hi to Louis?”

  Ellie’s nephew was sitting under a tree playing on his iPod. It had taken Cy all afternoon to get Jonty to come and meet Fleur and Louis. Gradually, he’d begun to help set up for the party, taking quick glances at the older boy out the corner of his eye. He’d watched Fleur str
ing fairy lights in the trees and then sat playing with paper napkins while Louis laid the two long tables and Cy prepared the barbecue.

  They arrived at Louis’s tree. “Hi, Jonty,” the other boy said as he held out his iPod. “Wanna come look at what I’ve built on Minecraft?” Louis, patient and kind just like his aunt, chatted to Jonty nonstop, as if there was nothing unusual about not receiving an answer.

  “Hey, boys, there’s some soda in the chiller if you want some,” he said. “And potato chips in the kitchen. I’ll get them if you like.”

  “We can,” Louis said as he stood and put his hand on Jonty’s shoulder. “Let’s go, J.” Jonty looked up at his father and Cy nodded. He pulled in a breath. Louis waved his hand for Jonty to follow and to Cy’s amazement, he did.

  He watched his son trot into the house after Ellie’s nephew and his chest constricted tight. What must this all be like for him? A whole new country, new people, and now a whole new set of circumstances to deal with. Jonty making a friend in Louis was more than he’d hoped for.

  Jonty knew the party was to celebrate the fact Ellie would be coming back to the States with them but nothing more. There would be time to tell him about the marriage after he got to know her better.

  Cy crossed to where Ellie was laughing with a couple of neighbors. The sun threw sparkles on her hair and her face glowed. “Here you are, sweetheart.” He handed her a beer, and when he moved in to kiss her on the cheek, she jerked back in reflex.

  “Oh!” Her eyes were round, lips parted, and then her face suddenly changed. “Thanks, honey.” She put the bottle on the table.

  She leaned in, her lips cool as she pressed them into his cheek, but it was the scent of her that made his blood flow faster. A heady mixture of flowers and sunshine danced around him and he breathed her deep. She wore a tank top that hugged her breasts and a flowery skirt to her knees. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and she wore gold hoops in her ears.

  He hooked his hand around her waist and drew her close as the neighbors kept talking. And then his stomach muscles contracted as her hand moved to his back, the warmth of her touch penetrating through his T-shirt.