“All right,” she said finally. “You remember I told you about staying close to Grant’s family after we were married.”
He nodded. “I remember.”
“And I’m still close. I love Ginnie. You met her—you know she’s a wonderful woman, and she’s fabulous with the kids.”
“And...”
“And I...I almost told you this last night. But it makes me feel so disloyal even to have these feelings. I just...had to get away from her. From the entire family.” She blinked rapidly a few times. “They won’t let go of Grant. They won’t move on. They won’t...they talk about him when I’m around, but they don’t talk to me. It’s as if they think I can’t hear. Or as if he’s the one who’s still living, and I’m the one who died.” She swallowed hard.
He kept his hands by his sides, not wanting to do anything that would send her into silence again.
“You were right, Mitch. The kids and I—all of his family—will always have Grant in photos and stories and memories. I would never keep that from them, but I can’t act like their father’s not gone. And I can’t—” Her voice broke.
“Can’t what?”
She took a deep breath. “I can’t tell Ginnie the rest. That Grant left me in financial trouble. It would break her heart to know he didn’t provide for the kids.”
He frowned. “He had no insurance?”
“He had some, through work. Not enough for our outstanding debts, as it turns out. He always said, why would a man under thirty be worried about life insurance?”
“But you have two kids.”
“I know. He thought he had plenty of time to worry about it later. We both did. He’s not the only one at fault. But I’ve lost our house. I told Ginnie I wanted to move to a smaller place, closer to Trey’s preschool.” Her eyes shimmered. “I’m not sharing this to get your sympathy or your pity, but so you see why I needed some distance from her. I don’t want to make up stories. Or tell outright lies. But if she can’t even accept the fact that Grant’s dead, how would she deal with hearing all this? And more?”
“More?”
She raised her hands palm-up in a gesture of hopelessness. “I need to take care of my kids in my own way. The best way I can. I need to stand on my own. And I can’t say that to Ginnie, either. She would think she was losing the kids. So when Grandpa asked me to help with this wedding, I jumped at the chance to come. To get some space. To give all of us a breather. And, hopefully, to give Ginnie and her family time to grieve and accept and move on, the way I have.”
He wrapped his arm around her and held her against him, her head tucked beneath his chin. She felt right there, as though she was made to fit there. As though she was where she belonged.
He felt her breath brush his collarbone as she exhaled in a rush. When she shifted restlessly, he took his arm from her shoulders. He felt lucky—grateful—to be sitting beside her. Though their night away had already triggered his need to have her, she had refused to let him get even this close. But he wasn’t about to take advantage of her distress to push her into anything she didn’t want.
Still, he refused to walk away without doing something to protect her from any more hurt.
“Let me help.” He linked his fingers with hers.
Her hand jerked, yet she didn’t pull away. He’d take that as a good omen. “You don’t want anything from me, Andi. At least take my help with this. If you want to move on, then you need something—or someone—to move to.” Hadn’t his shrink tried to get that into his head? He’d resisted the idea, but he would recommend it to anyone if only it would convince Andi.
“Trust me,” he said. “I know. You need something to let your mother-in-law know you’re ready.” It was his turn to take a deep breath. “Let’s tell her we’ve gotten engaged.”
Chapter Fifteen
Mitch had just proposed.
Andi couldn’t stop the wave of pleasure that washed through her. She couldn’t deny her overwhelming yearning for that proposal to be true.
But she had no right to think about Mitch and marriage and pleasure all in the same breath, and she certainly had no intentions of going along with his crazy idea.
As if he’d read her mind, he released her hand and held his up in a pacifying gesture. “Hear me out. I’m talking about a temporary engagement. For a very limited time.”
Her heart thudded in disappointment despite the cautions she’d just given herself. Despite the fact that, no matter how much she might wish for it, their engagement could never be real.
She couldn’t consider his suggestion. But she had to know what he was thinking, how he could ever believe he could get her to go along with him.
Most of all, though she hated to admit it, she had to find out if his reasoning might not be as crazy as it seemed. “A fake engagement,” she said carefully.
“Yes. You said you want your in-laws, especially your mother-in-law, to let you and the kids move on.”
She nodded.
“You want your independence.”
“Yes.”
“And when all is said and done, you’re doing this to protect your kids.”
“Of course.”
“Then let me help. Take what I’m offering, no strings attached.”
She shook her head. There was nothing she could say. “You haven’t convinced me.”
He exhaled heavily. “Then, Andi,” he said in a low tone, “consider this. Maybe they’re protecting you.”
She frowned. “What?”
“You said you’ve accepted that Grant’s gone. But if you haven’t told them that, if you don’t talk about what happened, it may look as if you haven’t come to terms with anything at all.” He paused, then went on. “Maybe your in-laws are...walking on eggshells around you. Talking around you, not to you, because they know you won’t take it in. Because they want to help you but don’t know how.”
“No.”
“Think about it,” he urged. “Maybe that’s what Ginnie needs. For you to take the first step.”
“But...an engagement? That’s an enormous step. She wouldn’t believe it.”
“Yes, she would. After you’d asked to bring me to dinner at her house last night, and now after she’s seen me here at Trey’s party tonight, she’d believe it. And I think she’d be relieved you’ve made a move.”
She shook her head again, not in denial this time but in confusion. She didn’t want to accept what he was saying, but in some way his arguments made sense. What if he was right? What if she was the one holding everyone back?
“It would only be temporary,” he reminded her. “We’ll play our roles, Ginnie will go back home, relieved, and after a few days, we can call things off.”
“What about my family?” she asked.
He smiled. “We won’t have trouble convincing them. You have to know Jed’s already doing his best to bring the two of us together.”
She couldn’t hold back a soft groan. “I didn’t know.” She had been too wrapped up in Mitch this past week to notice much of anything. “But after his success with Tina and Jane, I should have realized.”
“Right. And I’ve got a feeling Jed’s mustering plenty of reinforcements. If we want to bring that to a halt, getting engaged will do it. Then, once we call off the engagement, they’ll all know they gave it a good, hard try but will have to concede defeat.”
She sighed. He had solutions at his fingertips, answers to ease her every concern, stories written in the space of seconds to fit any circumstance. What a wonderful undercover cop he must be.
But how could she go along with his plan?
She looked across the room at Trey, sleeping with his new space alien on the pillow beside him, then at Missy with her tiny hand fisted near her cheek.
What if, in the long run, she was making everything worse for them instead of better?
She looked sideways at Mitch. “A temporary engagement,” she said slowly.
He nodded.
“Absolutely not for real?
”
“That’s correct.”
“Betrothed without benefits.”
“Copy that.”
“I’m serious, Mitch.” She kept her voice low, but stress made her sound hoarse. “If you’ve come up with this idea just as a way to—”
“Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. I’m in this for you and the kids.”
Blindsided, she sagged back against the couch. That little kicker had hit her like nothing else could. Except Mitch himself.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right,” she said. “You’ve sold me on the idea.”
He’d convinced her his crazy plan would give her a way to show Grant’s family that life could—and had to—go on after their loss. His plan would make her family back off, too.
If only she could stop thinking about her own crazy idea, one she was a fool even to consider. One she couldn’t let go. The idea that this “temporary engagement” for “a limited time” might lead to something permanent.
* * *
“THE HOUSE IS locked up tight, and the family and hotel guests are all tucked in their beds.” Jed turned to the fine-looking woman on the couch beside him. “I’ve been waiting all night to have you to myself. Now, let’s get down to business.”
Ginnie Price laughed. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“That idea of mine of sending Mitch with Andi to the airport turned out to be pure gold, didn’t it?”
“It certainly did.”
He’d felt sure something would come of getting those two together in close confines. Nancy’s phone call later that morning, reporting in about Mitch’s sudden overnight trip, had confirmed his hunch. Ginnie’s phone call today had come out of the blue but had him tickled pink.
He’d been just as tickled when she had agreed with him that Andi and Mitch made a perfect pair.
He wasn’t quite as sure about her idea of coming out to the ranch, but he had to admit the birthday party for Trey gave her the perfect excuse.
“I was so surprised when Andi called,” she said. “And I was very pleased to meet Mitch. We all had a lovely night. She didn’t say a word about him when she came to pick up Missy and Trey this morning, though, and I didn’t push her.”
“You never let on we talked?”
“Of course not. You should have seen the surprise on their faces when I walked in tonight.” She smiled. “I think I had them very confused, but as you and I discussed, I didn’t acknowledge I’d spent the evening with Mitch yesterday.”
“Good. Let’s keep that up. I’ll be the gung-ho granddaddy, you be the voice of doubt. Then they won’t suspect we’re in cahoots.”
She nodded. “Of course, I wanted the two of us to have a chance to speak to each other first.”
“And to plan.”
“And to plan. Although judging by the way Mitch disappeared not long after Andi went upstairs with the kids, it seems they might have plans of their own.”
“Then, it can’t hurt to help them along.”
“No, it certainly can’t. I’ll try to get Andi alone for a chat tomorrow.”
“I’ll get Mitch out here again somehow, kicking and screaming, if need be.”
She laughed. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
* * *
MITCH TUGGED ON his shirt collar, smoothing it into place. Then he ran his hand over his hair, smoothing that, too. He’d played plenty of roles over his years in the LAPD. He shouldn’t be this uncomfortable over posing as a love-struck fiancé in a bogus engagement.
“They ought to be here any minute,” Andi said.
Last night, they had decided to break their news to Ginnie and Jed before they told the rest of the family. Andi had asked them both to meet her here in Jed’s den this morning.
She sat quietly on the couch on the other side of the room, looking as cool and collected as if she made announcements like this every day of the week.
“I didn’t bring you a ring,” he told her.
That shattered her composure. She sat more upright and looked away. “A ring’s not necessary. We can always say you wanted me to choose my own.”
“Where’s the romance in that?”
She stared at him. “There is no romance here, Mitch. You said this is all fake, remember?”
He took a seat beside her. “I remember. And you remember what else I said—when you’re undercover, your best bet is to do what’s normal in the circumstances.” He reached for her hand and found it cold. She’d had him fooled with her unruffled facade. Maybe she would be better than he’d thought at handling a covert op. “Nervous?” he asked.
“Normal,” she said. “Bride-to-be jitters are expected.”
He laughed. “And grooms-to-be are very good at calming those jitters.” With his free hand, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Then he did what any normal groom-to-be would have done. He lifted her chin and leaned down.
He intended to give her a kiss as cool as her previous composure, as light as their conversation and as swift as it necessarily had to be, considering they were about to have company. But the first touch of her lips against his sent him straight to hot and heavy. And slow. Slow enough to notice he wasn’t the only one doing the kissing.
It took them both a while to notice the sound of Jed clearing his throat to get their attention.
With a gasp, Andi tore herself away from him. When she rose, he did, too, slipping his arm around her to make sure she didn’t go far.
Jed grinned, Ginnie looked at them with a puzzled expression, and Mitch suddenly wished Andi’s impending announcement could be the real deal.
“Well,” Jed said, “we’re right on time for this meeting, but I’m guessing you two would rather put it off for a while.”
“Yes,” Andi said. “I mean, no, we don’t need to postpone the meeting, and yes, you’re on time. We have some news,” she added brightly, “and we wanted to share it with you first. Mitch asked me... Mitch and I...” She laughed without a trace of nerves this time, with nothing but a show of bride-to-be happiness. “We’re engaged.”
Jed responded with a back slap that almost made Mitch stagger. Ginnie’s hug was much more low-key, but whatever her thoughts, she put on a decent show.
Jed swept them out of his den and down the hall to the dining room, where the family had already assembled for breakfast.
At Andi’s announcement, Cole grinned at Mitch, as if saying he had known all along his best friend didn’t stand a chance of escaping matchmaker Jed.
Mitch gave his best groom-to-be grin.
“You two need to celebrate, big-time,” Cole said.
“You need to celebrate in style,” Tina agreed.
“Heck,” Jed said, “you two need some privacy.”
When the laughter at his pronouncement finally faded away, Ginnie said quietly, “Jed’s right. I think a trip to Santa Fe would be just the thing to...to give you some time to think about things. My treat.”
“Oh, we couldn’t—” Andi began.
“I think you should,” Ginnie said stubbornly. “You’re making a big decision here. You need to make sure—” She cut herself off, then she added, “I’ll get on the phone after breakfast.”
* * *
ALONE IN THE bridal suite a short while later, Andi sat at the desk and watched Jane, overcome with laugher, plop onto the bed.
“Wow. When I said you two should take a chance, I had no idea you’d come up with a scheme like this one.”
“It was Mitch’s idea,” she blurted.
“Then that proves my point. He’s still interested.”
“It only proves he wants to help me out of a bad situation.”
“Because...he’s still interested.”
“Jane. This is serious.”
“So am I.”
Feeling a sudden chill, Andi rubbed her arms. She didn’t have the power to warm herself the way Mitch had with just a touch. And she was rapidly losing the will to keep thinking of this a
s just a farce. “I went along with him. I let him convince me. But I hadn’t thought everything through.”
“What’s to think about?”
“For one thing, everybody in the family now believes we’re really engaged.”
“And all of Cowboy Creek will know in no time.”
She stared. “What do you mean?”
“Tina and Paz plan to go into town to shop either today or tomorrow. If they make a stop for coffee...” Jane didn’t need to finish the sentence.
Andi groaned. “Once the word hits SugarPie’s, it will be all over town. What am I going to do?”
“You could get Tina aside and tell her the truth. You’d have to let Paz in on it, too. And Grandpa. But that’s still no guarantee Sugar won’t hear about it.”
“This just gets worse.” She slumped into the chair. “And then with Ginnie talking about a trip...”
“You’ll have to tell Mitch’s family, too. You might as well just stay engaged.”
“Thanks.” She glared. “I brought you up here to talk because I thought you might be able to help.”
“I am helping. Don’t you see how right this could be?”
“No. Not when it’s all wrong.”
“I don’t know why—”
At the sound of footsteps in the hallway, Andi waved to cut Jane off. She reached for the notepad on the desk, hoping that whoever was approaching the suite would think she and Jane were busy working.
Her mother-in-law appeared in the doorway and gave them a small smile. A smile. Andi couldn’t understand Ginnie’s reactions. She had expected her to be upset, or tearful, or at the very least, resigned. Between Ginnie’s odd insistence at first on their need to talk things over, now this tentative acceptance, and Mitch’s suggestion that had started all this, she didn’t know what to think of anything anymore.
“I have news,” Ginnie said. “I know you didn’t want to be away for long. I found an inn right in Santa Fe and arranged a one-night stay.”
“Oh-h-h...” Andi couldn’t catch her breath.
“That’s great,” Jane said. “Wait till Mitch hears. Right, Andi?”
The Lawman's Christmas Proposal Page 13