“This is completely last minute, but would you please do me a favor?” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Adam has me worried about my speech, too. I realize it’s too late to do any major rewrites at this point—the wedding party is making its grand entrance in a few minutes, but . . . It would mean a lot to me if you were there when I had to give my speech.”
“It would?”
“Yes.” Eric nodded. “It’d be nice to have one friendly face I could count on seeing amongst the hundreds of people. For moral support.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks.” He released a sigh. He turned to walk back outside but hesitated a moment. “You’ll be there.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good. I’ll see you then.”
She nodded again and stared in a daze as he retreated. What had just happened?
Chapter Twenty-Four
“A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.”
~ Ruth Bell Graham
IN THE CRAZINESS SURROUNDING dinner preparations, Elliot almost missed the speeches. She slipped inside the grand tent in time to hear Adam deliver the final lines of the speech they’d written together half an hour earlier.
“. . . I’m taking this journey with the greatest teacher and student. I love you, Sadie Crawford. Will the rest of you join me in raising your glass to my beautiful bride?”
Through the sea of champagne flutes, Elliot ignored the smiling faces wiping tears from their eyes until her sight landed on her target. She vaguely noticed two cameras follow her into the room, but she paid them no attention. She’d come to support Eric as promised.
Eric stood up from his table to take the microphone. The men shook hands, and Adam whispered something in Eric’s ear. Whatever was said made him smile as he lifted the microphone.
“Good evening everyone,” he said, then pulled the microphone to clear his throat nervously. “I’m the brother of the bride, and I speak for my mother and our family when I tell you how happy we are to celebrate Sadie’s marriage. Let’s have another round of applause for my new brother.”
The guests applauded, and Sadie leaned over to kiss her husband. While they cheered, Eric scanned the tent until his gaze landed on Elliot. She raised her hand in a silent greeting. He winked in response, which sent flutters to her stomach. Taking a deep breath, and without breaking eye contact, he continued his speech.
“I hope you don’t mind if I piggyback off of my new brother-in-law, when I share a few lessons I’ve learned about love.” Adam gave him a thumbs up, and murmurs of laughter roamed the crowd. “As your new older brother, I wish I had words of wisdom to share with you as you embark on this next chapter in your life. But in reality, Sadie, you’re the one who has taught me a lesson.”
The tent fell silent. “You’ve taught me that love matters more than anything else in the world. You’ve taught me that love is about hope, faith, and forgiveness. You’ve taught me to recognize that when it comes to matters of the heart, and probably everything else, a man should accept that his woman is usually right.”
His sister led the laughter, and others followed. “And most importantly, you’ve taught me it’s never too late to fight for the person you love with every ounce of your being.” His heart shown in his eyes when he said, “Especially when you love them more than you ever thought possible. And you should say, ‘I love you’ as often as you can, and ‘I’m sorry’ when you make mistakes. There’s no shame in admitting failure, not when there is still hope for so much more.”
He paused to stare into Elliot’s eyes a moment longer, before turning to Sadie and Adam. “If I had any advice to offer, it’s this: Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re an inspiration.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to you, Sadie and Adam.”
While the groom’s father stood to make his own speech, Eric quietly left his table and moved across the tent. He smiled politely at a few of the guests, but didn’t stop until he stood a few feet away from Elliot.
“You came,” he said.
“You asked me to.” She moistened her lips to buy another moment. “You did a great job.”
“Thanks.” Eric ran a hand through his hair. He glanced behind her toward the garden. “Can we talk?”
Now probably wasn’t the best time. Dancing started in ten minutes, and she should check in with the band leader. But . . . “Okay.”
Smyth suddenly appeared at her side. “I have everything under control. Go take a break.” He clapped Eric on his back. “It would seem the two of you have a few things to discuss.”
Taking her hand, Eric led Elliot out the tent. On their way to the garden, he unclipped his microphone pack and waited for Elliot to remove her pack, too. He handed both to an associate producer and nodded to Chase and Marissa as they walked past them into the gardens.
Once they’d moved far enough away from the tent, Elliot stopped and faced Eric. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“What?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t go with you to California.” She released a shaky breath. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I had.”
He took a step toward her, and she took one back to keep space between them so she could finish what she had to say. “Mom’s death affected me more than I ever admitted. I only recently realized how deeply. My mourning interfered with my life then and still does sometimes now. Every time I try something new, or dream about my future, I’m terrified. I have too many questions running through my head, I can barely process them. Can I move on without her? What if I get cancer, too? Should I make any plans for a future if I won’t have one?”
“No one’s future is guaranteed.”
“I understand that, but the end result is the same.” Elliot closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose. She opened her eyes and met his gaze to finish. “I blamed my family when things ended between us, but it was my fault. I was too scared. That’s why I stayed. But I’m tired of sitting back and watching life happen to everyone else. I want to live it. I want to take chances.”
Eric stuck his hands in his suit pockets and cleared his throat. “I'm sorry, too.” He took a step toward her, and this time she did not move. “I'm sorry I asked you to give up everything when all I had to offer was a big gamble. It wasn’t fair.”
“You never said I had to give everything up.”
“I didn't give you a lot of options. You tried to explain, but I didn’t listen. I was determined to do everything my way. Even with financial backers, I wasn’t ever sure the Cav would turn into anything big. My success still surprises me.”
“I never cared if you made millions. I'm proud of what you've done, but it never mattered to me.” Her lips slowly curved into a smile. “I would have happily eaten boxed dinners or canned soup every day if it meant being with you.”
“I don't suppose I ever had a good opinion of myself.” He combed his fingers through his hair, which was growing messier by the minute. “But I should have had more confidence in you and us. When you said you weren't ready to get married, all I heard was that you’d spoken with your family and changed your mind. To me, it meant I wasn’t enough for them or for you. I jumped to the conclusion, because I never believed I was good enough.”
“That was never it. You’ve always been the perfect man for me.”
He stopped and turned back to Elliot. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes when he spoke.
“I’m hardly perfect. Aside from being insecure, I was a jerk,” he said. “Your mom had passed away the year before. You still needed your family and time. Asking you to give up your family and your education was the most selfish thing I’ve done. Pushing you away was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Elliot cupped his cheeks. “Not going after you was the biggest mistake of mine.”
“I wanted to come back, hundreds of times.” He gave a half smile. “Would you have given me a second chance if I’d shown up a week later and apologize
d?”
“Absolutely.”
“A year later?”
“Yes.”
“After you finished school?”
She nodded.
“What about now?” His voice cracked. “Would you give me another chance today?”
“Before I answer, it’s my turn to ask some questions.”
“Of course. Ask me anything you want. Anything.” He ran his hands down her arms and back up to her shoulders. “I’m an open book where you’re concerned.”
“Why did you suddenly shut me out this week?” she asked. “We were getting along and it seemed like we both might want to give this another try. But then you left the catering meeting and ignored me until today.”
He shrugged. “I was stupid and jealous.”
“Jealous? About what?”
“I was angry when your sister showed up to take over the tasting” he said. “I’m still a little sensitive where your family is concerned, but I’ll work on it. And when I realized she was there because she and your father had sold the company, it made me mad. Add in the jealousy, and I was a mess.”
Elliot sucked in her breath. “You heard about the sale?”
“You might find this difficult to believe—and I want to say this without sounding creepy or obsessive—but I’ve had my eye on you this summer.” He offered an apologetic shrug. “I may have had a giant chip on my shoulder when I got here, but once I realized we still had that electricity between us . . .” He rubbed her arms. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
When she still hadn’t responded, Eric tightened his hold on her. “I’m willing to grovel.”
She chewed on her lip to keep from grinning. “What about the jealousy? You said you were jealous.”
“I’ll admit. I was jealous of Ben.”
She frowned. “You were jealous of Ben?”
“Extremely.”
“We went on one date, which barely counted, because I spent most of the time counseling him on his recent breakup.”
“You still went on a date.”
Elliot shook her head and sighed. “Ben’s dating Heloise. He came to the wedding as her plus one, not mine.”
“I didn’t realize wedding planners brought dates.” Eric tried to crack a joke but earned a glare instead. “I still figured you guys were together.”
“Even after I told you I wasn’t?”
“I’ll admit I need to work on listening better.” Eric scratched the back of his head, opening and closing his mouth twice before finding the right words. “At the tasting, when my sister said she’d met him and approved, I assumed she meant for you.”
“Is that why you left so quickly?”
“I figured stepping out of the way of your happiness was the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“What about you and Heloise?” she asked. “The two of you seemed to have something going on most of the summer.”
“I was never going to date Heloise,” he said.
“Why?”
“Like every other woman I’ve met in the past several years, I quickly discovered she wasn’t my type.”
“And what’s your type?”
“You,” he said. “Just you.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I figured I’d missed my chance with you.”
“I did, too,” he said, dropping his hands to rest around her waist. “But after I saw Ben with Heloise together at the rehearsal dinner, and Sadie explained everything, I realized how dumb I’d been.”
Elliot reached up to smooth his disheveled hair. It was still a mess, but looked markedly better.
“I should have told you more about what was going on with me,” she said. “Eight years ago, and then again five days ago. We never used to have a problem talking, but we didn't always discuss what mattered most.”
“We both made mistakes, but they brought us here.” Eric rested his forehead against hers and pulled her closer. “Are you up for giving this a second chance?”
Unable to find her voice, Elliot nodded. He gazed into her eyes, all of the pretenses and masks gone, leaving them—and only them—behind.
“Good,” he said. “We have a lot of lost time to cover. We’ll probably have gray hair and wrinkles by the time we catch up on everything.”
“We’re lucky you’ll make a handsome silver fox, and I plan to age gracefully and elegantly.”
“I’m counting on it.” He squeezed her gently. “So in summary: I’m in and you’re in?”
“I’m in.”
“Good. I got you something.” Eric released his hold and pulled an envelope out of his coat pocket. “Open this.”
Glancing up at him curiously, Elliot carefully removed a piece of paper from the envelope. She blinked once, twice, three times still not completely understanding what was written on it. “You bought back the Engagements name?”
“As of yesterday, yes,” he said. “And the website and the ‘Our Day’ app you were working on.” Eric flashed a grin and tried to shrug it off like it wasn’t a big deal. “I liked your ideas, and after I realized what was happening . . . I put out some feelers.”
“When?”
“After the tasting.”
“But . . . you thought I was with Ben.” None of this made any sense. “Why would you do something like that for me?”
“I could never see you again and I’d still want you to be happy,” he said. “I knew you’d never be happy if your project ended up in the wrong hands.”
Elliot grabbed Eric’s face and kissed him squarely on the lips. If she had any lingering doubts about how much he cared for her, this cleared up everything. “I can’t believe you bought Engagements from Will.”
“I didn’t exactly buy Engagements.” Eric cleared his throat. “Technically, I bought a majority interest in Weddings by Will, which gives me a lot of weight on the board. Yesterday, I told the board I wanted someone else to run the digital division of the company.”
“Will doesn’t own his whole company?” She reviewed the paperwork, and sure enough Will and Eric’s names and signatures were printed in black and white. He’d even had the papers notarized. They were legal.
“It’s a publicly owned company. Will is the CEO—not the owner.”
“I bet he was mad when he found out what you’d done.” That shouldn’t have made her want to laugh, but it did. She supposed that was petty, but she was in too good of a mood to care.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Eric linked his fingers with hers and stared down at their hands. “His new personal assistant seemed pretty ticked off, too.”
“I’ve never been able to figure out why Claire didn’t like me.”
“I’m sure she saw you as a threat.” He raised their hands to his lips and gently kissed each knuckle. “She placed her bet on the wrong team. If either of them gets in your way, I’ll have them fired.”
“No you won’t.”
“I will.”
“I have no doubt.” After this turn of events, Elliot wasn’t sure she’d ever be surprised at any of the decisions he made. “I’d never ask you to fire anyone.”
“Because you’re too nice.” He searched her face. “Is this a yes?”
“Yes to what?”
“Will you run this new virtual division?”
Elliot frowned, pondering the question. “I’m not sure . . . Computers aren’t my thing.”
“You don’t want the job?” Shock flashed across his face.
“It’s not that I don’t want the job. That I’m not appreciative of the offer.” Elliot squeezed his hand. “Won’t people accuse you of nepotism? There are probably better people for the job. And Smyth and I are considering new show proposals from Marissa’s company.”
“Speaking of Smyth . . .” Eric’s thumbs ran across her knuckles. “I asked him to come on board, too. He said yes. As long as he gets to take off time to film the series if the network picks him up. You could have time off for your show, too, though I’ll be curious t
o hear about it.”
“I guess you thought of everything.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not some damsel in distress for you to come and rescue whenever the whim strikes.”
“Of course you aren’t.” Eric slipped his arms around Elliot, tightening his hold when she tried to slip loose. “You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself, but try to think of this as me buying you flowers, because I messed up. I have some making up to do after being such a jerk.”
“I was a jerk, too.”
“Yes, you were. Hey!” He feigned a wince when she lightly punched his shoulder. “I thought we were trying to be more honest.”
She couldn’t argue with his logic. “Did you have something to do with Will and Claire not showing up tonight?”
His lips twitched. “Maybe.” She narrowed her eyes again, and he caved in seconds. “Okay, I may or may not have told him I’d have security remove him if he showed up tonight.”
“We don’t have security.”
“The guy didn’t have a clue whether or not you’d hired security or secret service to work the event.”
He would have if he’d bothered to read the logistical plan she’d sent him. She’d figured he wouldn’t.
“I didn’t want him to botch the event with his inattention.” Eric kissed her forehead and rested his chin against her hair. “I figured he’d not only ruin your night by being around, but he might mess up something. You and Sadie worked hard to make tonight beautiful.”
“I promised your sister a perfect wedding.”
“You delivered.” Their bodies swayed slightly to the music in the distance. “I wish I could promise you an equally perfect, problem-free life together, but I can’t. I can only promise to do my best to make you happy.”
Still grinning, he lowered his face towards hers. She rose on her toes to meet him halfway. There were going to be more compromises and questions in the future, but for now, a kiss seemed like a good start.
They pulled away from each other and glanced toward the music and laughter echoing from the tent. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, Eric pressed his lips against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.
The Marrying Type Page 26