Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of a large, three-story townhouse. Hope seemed to snap out of her trance and look around. “Wow. I didn’t realize that Allison and Matt lived in such a place.”
“I guess business is booming,” Ted said as he climbed from the car. He reached into the backseat and pulled out a bottle of champagne.
“I’m so glad you remembered some of the manners mom tried to teach you,” Hope said with a chuckle as she closed the car door. Looking at her reflection in the car window, she had to admit that Merry didn’t do a bad job with the dress. It was a classic little black dress – sleeveless and came to just above the knee and showed off her curves. Paired with her black stilettos and a red pashmina, Hope felt like she was looking pretty festive.
As if reading her mind, Ted came up beside her and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful. Thank you for being my date tonight.”
She hugged him and laughed. “What an exciting pair we are, sibling dates for a New Year’s party. Let’s make a pact right now to never do this again.”
Ted laughed out loud and turned them toward the house. “Deal.”
They rang the bell and waited. Hope shivered from the cold. “I probably should have worn a…” The words died in her throat as Beckett answered the door. She stared at him and then at Ted. “What…? I…I don’t understand.”
“Please come in,” Beckett said with a serene smile. “I know it’s cold out there tonight.”
Hope’s feet were frozen to the spot. With a little nudge, Ted got her to move and step up into the house. He smiled and shook hands with Beckett before moving into the house and greeting people. Hope still couldn’t seem to make herself follow.
Beckett stepped in close and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re freezing,” he said softly. “Please come inside and warm up.”
She snapped out of her stupor and looked up at him. “No…no, I…I need to leave.” Doing her best to move away from him, she found that Beckett’s hands held her in place. She sagged as her eyes filled with tears. “Why? Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “I live here.”
Straightening slightly, she frowned. “But…Ted said that Matt and Allison lived here. Why would he…?”
“Lie to you?”
Hope nodded.
“Because I asked him to. I knew you wouldn’t come if I asked and if you knew that you were coming to a party that I was hosting, you wouldn’t come. So we concocted a story that would get you to come out tonight.”
And suddenly, she wasn’t sad, she was angry. “Why? Are you bored? Looking for a way to pass the time? It’s New Year’s Eve, Beckett. I’m sure you could have gone to any number of parties and found a nice…distraction.” She sneered the word and wanted to kick him for making her remember the horrible things he’d said.
His hands skimmed down her arms until his hands could clasp hers. “You were never just a distraction to me, Hope. I’m so sorry that I said that. You’re so much more to me.”
“But…”
“I promise that we’ll talk about this, but there are some people I’d really like you to meet first.”
“Beckett, I…I really don’t want to meet anyone. I want to leave. Please. Maybe we can talk some other time. I…I just can’t deal with this right now.”
“Five minutes,” he said quietly, resting his forehead against hers. “Just give me five minutes and if you still want to leave, I’ll tell Ted to take you home. I promise.”
Hope sighed and had to fight against the urge to lean her entire body against his. How was it possible that she was still so mad at him and yet so attracted to him at the same time? Oh, yeah. She was still in love with him.
Dammit.
“Fine. Five minutes,” she said, but refused to meet his gaze. Hugging the pashmina close, she allowed Beckett to take her by the hand and lead her into the large living room where there were about a dozen people milling about. She spotted Ted immediately and saw him talking to…Merry. Merry? What in the world? There was an older couple standing beside them and Hope had to assume that those were Merry’s parents.
Great. Now she’d have an audience of future family members to witness her running out of here. Fabulous.
Beckett stopped and Hope pulled her eyes from her brother to see why they were stopping.
“Hope, this is Logan, my brother. Logan, this his Hope,” Beckett said affectionately.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Logan said. He was a younger version of Beckett but a little bit stockier. He took her hand in his and shook it. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m glad you were able to make it tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said and cursed the tremble in her voice.
“This is my fiancée Debbie,” Logan said as a petite blonde came to stand beside him.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Debbie said with a big smile. She clung lovingly to Logan’s side and Hope couldn’t help but smile back.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” she finally said.
They didn’t move but Hope noticed a few other people moving in their direction. Beckett tucked her close to his side, his arm around her waist. “Julie, Colton, I’d like you to meet Hope. Hope, this is my sister Julie and her husband.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hope said, shaking each of their hands. Julie had the same dark hair as Beckett and Logan and an easy-going smile. She was also very pregnant. Hope couldn’t help but look at her belly and Julie chuckled.
“We’ve still got another month to go,” she said and smiled as Colton stepped closer and rubbed his hand over her belly. “Colton keeps saying that it’s twins, but the doctors assure me there’s only one in there.”
“We’ll see,” Colton said with a wink.
“Oh, Hope! You’re here!” Norma came over and quickly embraced her. “I was hoping that you’d make it. I still have your Christmas present waiting for you. I put in under the tree over there so don’t let me forget.” She kissed Hope on the cheek. “And thank you for the lovely bath set. I love all of those salts and scrubs and lotions. It feels like I have my very own spa.”
“You’re very welcome. I’m glad you liked them,” Hope said as she found herself relaxing. Ted walked over and handed her a glass of wine and kissed her on the cheek.
“When you get a minute, I’d love to introduce you to Merry’s parents. They’re very excited to meet you.”
She nodded in agreement and continued to look around the room as conversation flowed around her. Beckett leaned in close, his lips against her ear. “Do you still want to leave?” he whispered.
“I…I don’t know,” she said honestly.
“Will you all excuse us for a few minutes?” Beckett asked the group and they all waved them off and smiled and went about their own discussions. Beckett led her from the room and up the stairs and didn’t stop until they were in his bedroom.
“The bedroom? Seriously?” she asked, pulling her hand from his.
“It’s just the quietest place at the moment,” he said with ease. “Do you want to sit down?”
She shook her head, thankful for the glass of wine in her one hand while the other was still clutching the pashmina. “What’s going on, Beckett? I don’t understand any of this.”
“When Ted went on his little tirade on Christmas Day, he made me take a hard look at my life. I knew I was a hard-ass; I actually enjoyed being one, but to listen to the way he talked about me, it bothered me. A lot. It was like every bad thing I ever thought about myself was confirmed. When you ran out of the room, he laid it on the line and told me that if I wasn’t ready to give you everything you deserved, then I should let you go.”
He took a nervous step toward her. “So I said all those horrible things to push you away. I needed you to make the decision to leave, to hate me, so that maybe it would make it easier on you.”
“It was horrible, Beckett,” she cried. “You have no idea how much it hurt to hear you say those things.”
&nbs
p; “I know, sweetheart, I know. And I’m so sorry. I wish I’d been stronger. I wish that I was more confident about myself and being capable of being the man you deserve.”
“So what’s changed?” she asked quietly, staring at the wine in her glass.
“I missed you. I don’t think I’ve ever missed someone the way I missed you. From the minute you walked out the door, I felt like I was dying. I should have stood up for myself, for you, for us. I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you, but I want the chance to try. Please, Hope. Tell me I’m not too late. Tell me that I didn’t ruin this.”
“What about all the things Ted said? What about your work schedule? The people in your life?”
“I called Logan and Julie on Christmas Day. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’ve never asked anyone for their forgiveness, but I did to both of them. We all cried and then laughed and today is the first time I’ve seen both of them in years. I missed so much of their lives because of my own stubbornness. I don’t want to keep missing out on life.”
She gave a small shrug. “Okay, so…you made some calls to your family. That’s an easy one.”
“I gave Jerome his job back,” he said, taking another step toward her.
“I know. We stopped by the office on our way here. Ted wanted to surprise me. Jerome told me how you called him personally and how you’re going to help them find a specialist for his wife.”
“Arlene,” he said. “I’m hopeful that with the right doctor that she’s going to start feeling a lot better.”
Hope nodded. “I hope so. Jerome’s a sweet man. I’m sure his wife is a good person too.”
“I have to admit, though, I didn’t give your brother his job back.”
Her head snapped up. “What?”
He shook his head. “Ted’s overqualified for the job he had. He’s now the vice-president of our finance department. Less hours, paid vacations and holidays. He should have plenty of time to spend with his family and he’s even going to have his wedding at our hotel on the Outer Banks. It was Merry’s request.”
Hope chuckled. “Just as long as she doesn’t cater it, I’m sure it will be lovely.” She took a sip of her wine. “Let me guess, Ted didn’t tell me because you wanted to surprise me with it.”
He nodded and finally closed the gap between them. “That’s the last secret, Hope. Everything else is out there for the world to see.”
“What about you? And your hours? Are you planning on cutting back?”
“Absolutely. I’ve promoted most of my executive staff. They’ll all be taking on the responsibilities that should have been theirs before, but I kept holding on and trying to control everything. They’re all qualified to run the company in my absence.”
“Absence? Why? Where are you going?”
“I plan on taking a very lengthy vacation. The plan is to spend a month traveling and visiting as many of our resorts and hotels as possible just to check in.”
She nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. There could be a lot of work involved in that. Just because you’re not doing it from your office, it still counts as work.”
Slowly, Beckett took the wine glass from her hand and placed it on the bedside table. Then he carefully unwrapped the pashmina from around her shoulders. And finally, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. “There won’t be any time for work. I’ll be too busy pampering the woman I love the way she deserves to be.”
Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him, her mouth forming a perfect “o.”
“I don’t suppose it’s possible that your boss would be willing to give you a month off for such a trip, is there?”
She smiled. “I have an in with the boss. I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Beckett visibly sagged with relief. “So that’s a yes, right?”
Hope nodded.
“I love you, Hope Cooper. I love you more than I ever thought a man could love a woman. Thank you for coming into my life and saving me and giving me my life and my family back.”
Reaching up, Hope cupped his cheek. “And I love you, G.B. James,” she teased. “Thank you for showing me that there is some goodness in the world and for giving me my hope for the future.”
“That’s what you are to me, my Hope.”
Epilogue
Three months later…
“I thought you were done working.”
“I am. Almost. Just a few more minutes, I swear.”
Sigh. “We had a deal. No work after six. It’s almost seven. Besides, dinner’s just about ready.”
“Okay, okay…I just need to do this one last thing and then I’ll be done.”
“Hope,” Beckett said with mock annoyance. “I’m beginning to feel like you’re taking me for granted. How can I compete with your computer? I mean, I slaved away in the kitchen and you can’t even look away from your work.”
“Aww…you’re feeling neglected?” she teased as she shut down the computer and stood up and stretched. Walking over to him, she reached up and thoroughly kissed him on the lips. “I have this very demanding client that gave me a specification list a mile long.” She sighed. “Honestly, he’s a complete beast to work for.”
“Hey!” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “That list is not a mile long!” And he couldn’t keep from laughing. “Okay, maybe it’s a little bit long but I just know what the resort website needs. I want to make sure we don’t miss anything. I want you to pay special attention to the café.”
“I’m not going to miss a thing,” she promised. “I do this every day and you need to trust me. And in case you’ve forgotten, I have a vested interest in that café. My name’s on it.”
“Of course I trust you,” he said and wrapped his arms around her as he lowered his head to kiss her. “I just need to make sure it’s right.”
“Oh, you!” she said and pulled out of his arms. “Just for that, I’m going to use all bright, cartoony colors and forget to put the directions, address and name of the resort on there!”
Beckett swatted at her bottom and she screeched and ran from the room. He caught up with her instantly and scooped her up into his arms. He carried her to their bedroom and promptly dropped her on the bed.
“Okay, if I promise to stop bugging you and hovering over the work you’re doing on the website, then there’s something you’ll need to do for me,” he said seriously.
She looked up at him in confusion.
“Hope Cooper, I want you to marry me.” He dropped to one knee beside the bed and pulled a black velvet box from his pocket. “I wanted to wait to ask you when we were up in the mountains next weekend, but I couldn’t wait. I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life and I don’t want to wait anymore. Will you? Will you marry me? Be my wife?”
She couldn’t speak. Instead, she sat up and launched herself into his arms as they tumbled to the floor. Beckett rolled her beneath him and kissed her thoroughly, until they were both gasping for breath.
“I love you, Hope.”
“I love you so much, Beckett. And there’s nothing I want more in this world than to be your wife.”
“I know it would kind of be stealing Ted and Merry’s thunder, but I don’t want to wait. Tell me how long it would take you to plan a wedding and let’s do it. Whatever you want, I’ll make it happen. I promise.”
She chuckled. “Does it snow in the mountains in March?”
Beckett looked at her quizzically. “Sometimes. I guess. Why?”
“Because if I were to plan our perfect wedding, all I’d want is to be back up at your house in the mountains, with a million stars in the sky to match the millions of twinkly lights you have in the trees and to be married in the gazebo.”
A wide grin crossed his face before he leaned in and kissed her again. “Your wish is my command. You name the date and it’s yours.”
“Next weekend.”
“I don’t think there’s snow in the forecast.”
; “We’ll pretend,” she said, looking up into his dark eyes in amazement at the changes she’d seen in him since that fateful week they spent together.
“Or I can rent a snow machine and make sure that the ground is covered.”
“Baby, as long as you’re waiting for me in the gazebo, it doesn’t matter if there’s snow or not.”
“I want to make all of your dreams come true.”
“You already have, Beckett. The biggest dream come true of them all.”
One Night in the Ice Storm
Noelle Adams
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Noelle Adams. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.
One
Rachel Cole’s day was getting worse by the minute.
Her boss had given the office the afternoon off, since no work was getting done on the day before Christmas Eve anyway. The weather had been fine when she left Richmond—overcast but dry—but then the sleet began and kept getting worse. By the time she’d reached her mother’s house, the roads were barely passable. She’d spun out once and was fortunate not to have ended up in a ditch.
The trip took an hour longer than normal, and she’d arrived to discover her mother wasn’t even home.
“Just great,” she complained, frowning into the phone, although obviously her brother couldn’t see her expression. “So I’m stranded out here alone in the middle of an ice storm?”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Brad replied. “No one expected the storm to come up so quickly. But mom and I are stuck in town. We’re at my place now, but we’ll try to get to the house this evening when the ice slacks off.”
Rachel tried not to grumble, since it wasn’t Brad’s fault. It had been nice of him to take their mother to do last-minute Christmas shopping.
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