Her Best-Kept Secret
Page 21
“I love you, Jenny.”
Her throat was tight again, but she managed to respond. “I love you, too.”
“Enough to marry me?” he asked. Then, with his free hand, he pulled a box out of his pocket and flipped open the lid.
She gasped softly and took an instinctive step back.
“That’s not quite the reaction I was hoping for,” Richard said.
Her gaze darted from his face to the gold band sparkling with diamonds, and back again, while the music continued to play in the background. “You can’t mean it.”
“Why can’t I?”
“Because you don’t want to get married.”
“I’ve got a ring right here that says otherwise,” he told her.
“You don’t have to do this, Richard.”
“I want to.”
She swallowed. “Why?”
“Because I love you, and I’m hoping you’ll overlook all the things I’ve done to screw up our relationship and marry me anyway.”
This time her heart did sing with joy, but she forced herself to show some restraint. She didn’t want him to feel pressured or coerced in any way. She needed to know that he wanted this as much as she did.
“We both screwed up,” she said softly.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make a very romantic sounding proposal.”
She smiled. “You have a point.”
“And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“I don’t remember actually hearing a question.”
His gaze was unwavering, the love he felt shining clearly in his eyes. “Will you marry me, Jenny?”
She exhaled an unsteady breath.
“You better mean it,” she warned him. “Because if I put that ring on, I’m not ever taking it off.”
He reached for her hand and slid the circle of diamonds onto her finger.
It fit perfectly.
Jenny didn’t know what time it was when Richard shook her awake, she only knew that when she opened her eyes it was still dark and, therefore, obviously not morning. She closed her eyes again.
“If you don’t get up, you’re going to miss the sunrise,” he warned.
“It’ll happen again tomorrow,” she reminded him.
“I want to see it today,” he said. “And if you don’t get up and get dressed, I’ll carry you outside naked.”
She didn’t doubt it. After last night, she wasn’t sure there was anything he wouldn’t do. She pushed herself up and tried to stifle a yawn. “I thought you weren’t a morning person.”
He smiled. “I wasn’t—until I had the life-altering experience of making love with you as the sun rose.”
“Life-altering?” she said skeptically, tugging on the clothes that had been hastily shed beside the bed the night before.
“Absolutely.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Come on, I’ve got coffee on.”
She stifled another yawn as she followed him down the hall. She took her cup of coffee outside, cradling it in her hands as she snuggled against Richard’s chest. Despite her teasing, she understood what he meant about life-altering experiences, and she knew that meeting him had been such an experience for her.
He’d helped her to face her past and inspired her to look forward to their future. He’d shown her what it was to truly love and be loved. He’d done so much for her, she’d wanted to do something for him in return. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she wasn’t sure if he’d appreciate her effort or think she’d overstepped her bounds.
In either case, she wasn’t going to embark on a future with any secrets between them.
“There’s something I meant to tell you last night—before we got distracted.”
“What is it?”
“When I went to the States, I didn’t just go to Chicago.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Crooked Oak, North Carolina.”
She felt the tension in the arm that was wrapped around her, although his voice was neutral when he spoke. “I didn’t know you knew anyone there.”
“I didn’t,” she admitted. “Not until I met your mother.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I thought, since it was a trip about mending fences, that I would make the effort.”
He sighed. “I appreciate what you were trying to do, Jenny, but you don’t know my family.”
“She misses you, Richard. She knows she was wrong to say the things she said, to make the demands she made. She just doesn’t know how to bridge the gap she’s created between you—or even if you want her to.” She turned to face him. “She didn’t even know you were in Japan.”
He shrugged, but she saw the flicker of guilt in his eyes. “I haven’t talked to her in a while.”
“You should call her.”
He hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Will you?” she asked, pressing for verbal confirmation.
“I’ll call her,” he agreed.
She smiled and leaned forward to press a brief kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
“I should probably be thanking you,” he said. “But I’m not convinced this is going to work.”
“It will,” she said confidently. “If I can overcome the barriers of twenty-five years to patch things up with Helen, you can reconcile with your mother.”
“This really matters to you, doesn’t it?”
She nodded. “Because you reminded me how important family is, and I know how much yours means to you.” She smiled. “And because I want a big traditional wedding and they’re your family.”
“Except that you couldn’t have known I was going to propose when you went to see my mother.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I figured I owed you some interference after you made me confront my past.”
“You can spend the rest of your life interfering in mine,” he told her.
“I will,” she said. “Forever.”
Gold and crimson light spilled into the sky as their lips met—the signal of a new day and the promise of a new life together.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to
Brenda Harlen for her contribution to the
FAMILY BUSINESS miniseries.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1826-0
HER BEST-KEPT SECRET
Copyright © 2006 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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