“Andy!” Her mother rushed up, letting go of her suitcase handle to hug her. Enveloped by Grace’s soft perfume, Andrea closed her eyes and lost herself in childhood memories.
Pulling back, she delicately hugged her father around his bags. “Hey, Dad, Mom.” Turning, she gestured to Benton. “This is Benton Grant. Benton, David and Grace West.”
Benton immediately relieved her father of the two bags before the other man could protest, and said, “Hello. Welcome to Seattle.”
Her father grunted. Bit out a “Thanks,” and was elbowed by her mother until he returned the greeting.
“Hello, Benton,” Grace said with a wide smile, offering her hand. “How nice to finally meet you.”
Benton returned her smile as he shook her hand, amusement evident, to Andrea at least.
“Let’s get you guys in the car,” Andrea said. “It’s cold.”
Benton loaded the luggage in the back and her parents climbed into the Jeep. Once everyone was properly secured, Benton pulled back into the thick traffic. Her parents were talking in low voices to one another, and she held in a sigh. Her mother was probably telling her father to be polite. Andrea doubted her father would listen.
“So,” her father began, and she held her breath, “what do you do for a living, Benton?”
“I’m a bodyguard and driver for Andrea’s boss, Deacon Cross.”
“Hm,” was all her father said. And then, “What did you do before that?”
“I was in the military.”
“Oh yeah? What branch?”
“Army. Rangers.”
“Dad, honestly,” Andrea interrupted, throwing him a look over her shoulder.
“What? I’m just curious. Can’t a man ask his daughter’s fiancé what he does? I didn’t know, now did I?” He added, his tone far more innocent than his words implied.
“David.” Grace warned.
“Women,” her Dad muttered beneath his breath, but not quiet enough for them to miss.
Andrea caught Benton grinning, catching her father’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. What they exchanged, she wasn’t certain.
“Where’s your ring?” Her father asked next, barely a moment after his insult to the women in his family.
“Dad, I don’t know if I should tell you. You know us women.”
Grace laughed and her father grumbled something she didn’t think she wanted to hear.
Benton eased onto the freeway. “I’m going to let her pick it out.”
“Wise man,” her father said.
“Unlike the women,” Andrea teased.
“I didn’t say that. Anyhow, Benton, I was a Marine.”
While Benton and her father talked military, Andrea listened with half an ear. It seemed they were getting along well enough. With her father it could be difficult to tell. She doubted he considered his conversation with Benton finished until both men had time alone. The fact that Benton carried the title of ex-Military wouldn’t harm anything.
Nerves assaulted her as she realized barely two days existed between her and getting married. It would be nice to have her parents here, even if the wedding was fake. She did regret that her mother couldn’t be a part of the planning. And it hardly made her feel better to consider her mother could help her plan the next one.
* * * *
Benton sat in Deacon’s garage next to Andrea’s father, both smoking cigars as they stared out into the frosty night air. Though he rarely smoked, he wasn’t going to turn down the offer from the man whose daughter he was marrying. Since this morning, he figured this moment would happen at some point. While Andrea and Grace cooked dinner, they would have whatever conversation David wanted private.
“When did Andrea move in?” David asked, half of their cigars gone.
“A couple of weeks ago.”
David nodded. “You two sleeping together?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“She’s a special lady,” Benton said, meaning it.
“You don’t have to tell me.” David sighed, lifting his eyes to the drifting smoke. “I would’ve liked her to live more life before getting married. But,” he continued, looking at Benton, “if she has to marry anyone, I don’t mind that it’s you.”
Benton nodded, finding the reply didn’t need words.
“You seem like a decent man.” David grinned around his cigar, “But, I was in the Vietnam war. We had to do things I wouldn’t even whisper to virgin ears like yours.”
Benton only nodded again. “Noted.”
David looked around the garage. “Nice place. Take it the limo belongs to your boss?”
“Yeah.”
“You plan on living on his property forever?”
Benton shrugged. “No. I’d like my own place with a decent shop.”
“You work with your hands?”
“Cars, and wood.”
“Yeah? Next time you and Andrea get around to coming to Colorado, I’ve got a few things I’ll show you. Built a hutch for Grace, and occasionally I’ll build something for a neighbor.”
Benton didn’t mention he doubted there would be such a trip if Andrea had her way. He only nodded again.
“You aren’t a man of many words, are you?” David asked.
Benton blew out smoke. “Not really.”
“That’s good. A man that talks too much usually doesn’t have much but bullshit to say.”
He shared a grin with the other man. “True.”
Though he hadn’t planned on it, he liked Andrea’s father. He liked her mother too. A thought had slowly been creeping in these last few days, a seed, planting itself deep enough to grow roots. Once they were married, he had really no intention of letting Andrea go easily. Though he hadn’t shared it with her, his need for her had only grown over these weeks. He knew she felt cautious, and understood her reasoning for it. But his sense of possession grew dangerously, and the thought of ever giving her to another man didn’t sit well.
“You look pretty serious there.”
Benton watched the smoke be pulled by the wind. “I usually am.”
“You’re going to do right by my girl, aren’t you?”
It wasn’t a question. Looking directly at David, he said, “I plan to.”
“I can tell. It’s the way you act around her, the way you treat her. Like I said... You have my blessing. But...”
Benton smiled around his cigar. “I know.”
David clapped him on the back. “I like you. Good thing. I was worried she’d met some suit at her job and was going to bring a fool home. Should’ve guessed my girl had more sense than that.”
“Not all suits are bad.”
“No, I guess your boss probably isn’t or you wouldn’t work for him.”
“Deacon is a good guy, yeah.”
“Guess we’ll be meeting him on Christmas.” David looked at him. “Why such the rush to get married?”
Benton figured that question would come up sooner or later. He could offer him an answer that carried a note of truth in it.
“A woman like Andrea...” He looked David in the eyes. “A man doesn’t want to lose that.”
David stared at him a beat before nodding. “I can see that.” Rising, David stretched. “Guess we better put these out and get in and eat. Dinner should be done by now.”
Following his lead, Benton could see the questions in Andrea’s eyes when they entered the house. Since neither of them looked like they had been fighting, though, he doubted she would push for answers right now.
David threw an arm around Grace. “Smells good in here. What’s for dinner?”
“Pork chops, potatoes and corn.”
“Good old-fashioned food.”
Andrea gathered plates, handing one to him and David. “Here, Dad, pile it up.”
He waited until David had filled his plate, noting that both women held back. Finding it old fashioned, though sweet of them, he brushed a hand across Andrea’s back in thanks before gathering food. The four
of them sat at the table, eating and talking. The moment was one he strangely enjoyed, never having had dinner like this with his parents when he was young.
Sipping from his milk, David smiled at first Grace and then Andrea. “It’s good to have a meal cooked by both my girls.”
He could see the happiness in Andrea’s expression.
“I missed you guys. I wish you could stay longer.”
“We don’t want to interrupt your work after Christmas,” Grace told her.
“I don’t want to ask Deacon for too much time off,” Andrea agreed. “I know he would give it to me, but it’s hard to get people to fill my position.”
David waved his fork. “It’s all right. You two can come see us soon.”
Andrea exchanged a glance with him, but said nothing. Benton knew what her thoughts held; he wasn’t going to confirm or deny it though. He had yet to share with her his thoughts and he didn’t know if he would anytime soon.
Chapter Twenty-One
Surrounded by her friends, Andrea sat on Ashlyn’s bed as Kate worked on her make-up and Josh her hair. Josh claimed having two sisters made him an expert on hair and judging by the approving expressions of Ashlyn and Emme, she would have to agree. Over the bathroom door, her dress hung in beautiful lines, a reminder of what was to come. Her stomach felt twisted in knots so tightly she hadn’t been able to eat, let alone drink even a glass of milk.
Ann poked her head in the room, a glass of Deacon’s wine in her hand. “How is it going?”
“Perfectly,” Josh replied, pulling pins from his mouth and slipping them into her hair.
“You look beautiful, Andrea,” Margaret said, from behind Ashlyn’s mother.
“Thank you,” Andrea managed, only realizing how cold her hand was when her own mother squeezed hers from where she sat next to her.
Ann and Margaret left, and Andrea glanced out across the room at all her friends and family. Since moving here, her circle had grown to include people she never would have met were it not for Deacon. She felt grateful to have these people care for her and help her prepare for this day. If only she didn’t feel like she was marching to a death sentence.
Grace squeezed her hand again. “Are you all right, honey?”
Compressing her lips to warm them up, Andrea nodded. “I’m just nervous.”
“That’s perfectly normal,” Ashlyn told her, looking radiant in her silver-blue dress, her rounded stomach gently protruding. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to walk out to the chapel, much less down the aisle.”
Her mother hugged her. “Honey, even I was nervous when I married your father, and we courted for at least a year.”
“There!” Josh exclaimed, climbing from the bed. “Now it’s my turn to go get pretty.” Winking at Andrea, he rubbed her shoulder and slipped from the room.
Fingering the edges of her silk robe, Andrea shifted, feeling the pressure of the garters on her legs. Her friends insisted she buy delicate, but obviously sexual, undergarments even though she wouldn’t be showing them to Benton. The thought of Benton removing her wedding gown and looking at what was beneath infused her with a warmth that undid some of the tangles. It also heated her cheeks, and Kate joked that whatever she was thinking looked good on her.
Embarrassed, Andrea pretended not to hear her.
“Josh did a wonderful job on your hair, Andy.” Her mother fingered a curl near her ear. “Wait until Kate finishes and you see yourself in the mirror.”
Emme slipped a bracelet onto her wrist. Smoothing the front of her own silver-blue dress, though in a different style than Ashlyn’s, she spun in front of the mirror. “I don’t look bad, if I do say so myself. The rest of you are going to knock them all dead.”
Ashlyn laughed. “I hope not. I haven’t even had this baby yet, much less been married a year.”
“There.” Kate stepped back. “Very beautiful, Andy, but understated. I didn’t want your make-up to compete with your dress.”
“Thank you.” Rising, she impulsively hugged Kate. “Thank you, all of you.”
Emme waved her hand in the air. “What are friends for?”
Taking a calming breath, Andrea looked at herself in the mirror. Josh had curled her hair, twisting it into an intricate braid around the back and then leaving the rest half down. With Kate’s make-up skills, she almost didn’t recognize herself. Accepting the jewelry, she placed the earrings and let her mother help her with the necklace while Emme placed a bracelet on her wrist.
Last, came the wedding dress. Slipping into is this time, she knew it would be real, no more playing dress-up. When she walked out of this room, it would be single for the last time. Panic choked her for a moment, and as Emme fastened the back of her dress, she pressed her hand to her throat and forced herself to breath before she fell on the floor.
Ashlyn came up next to her, hugging her across the shoulders with one arm. “It will be okay, Andy. Benton is a good man. Whatever happens, I think you’ll be surprised.”
Strangely, that was what she felt the most afraid of. Being married to Benton, spending all her time at his home, how complacent would she grow? Would she get so used to his companionship that when it came time to leave it tore her apart? Worse, would she slip and fall the rest of the way?
Kate helped her slide her feet into her shoes, and she turned, looking at all the women around her. “Well, do I pass?”
Grace clasped her hands together, unmistakable moisture in her eyes. “Oh, Andrea, you look like a princess.”
“Mom, don’t cry. I’ll cry and then Kate will beat me for ruining her make-up.”
Kate laughed. “I’m good at fixing messed up things.”
Emme lightly elbowed her friend. “It comes from being a nurse.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Josh poked his head in. “Ready, ladies?”
Ashlyn was the nearest thing, so Andrea grabbed onto her friend’s arm as she swayed. There could be no more hiding out in Ashlyn and Deacon’s room. It was time.
“Andy, breathe,” Emme reminded her. “Everything will be all right.”
“All right girls!” Kate passed out the bouquets and Josh offered his arm to Grace, so that he could walk her to the living room first. As he did, her father came in. When he saw her, his face changed to one of wonder and simultaneous pain.
“Oh, Andrea. You look beautiful.” He held out his arm. She took it, not mentioning the suspicious moisture at the corner of his eyes. He squeezed her arm against his side. “Ready, Princess?”
“I think so.” She nodded. “Yes.”
Slowly, they followed the other girls down the hall and as she held her breath and gently expelled it, they rounded the corner to the living room. Near the gleaming silver and gold of the Christmas tree, the men stood. At the head of the tree, the priest who married Deacon and Ashlyn waited with a bible tucked in his arms. When she dared raise her head fully, she saw Benton surrounded by Deacon, Ryan, Josh and Alex.
He stood tall, hands folded in front of him. His dark gray suit fit him well, pronouncing the breadth of his shoulders and the trim lines of his waist. Beneath the vest, tucked under the jacket, he wore a black, striped tie that somehow off-set the gray and brought his eyes into sharp focus. His calm, steady gaze was on her face and she felt pulled into him, a sense of warmth followed by a shiver of attraction slipping through her.
The closer she drew, the warmer his eyes became. Something burned in the gray depths, and she felt all at once stripped beneath his scrutiny. There was undeniable heat in his gaze and in that moment, she felt as if she were the only person in the room aside from him. Her chest constricted and it felt difficult to draw a breath around the tightness. When the priest asked who gave her away and her father answered, she heard it all from as if far away.
As she stood across from him, reaching for his hands, her engagement ring twinkled in the light from the tree. The simple, solitary stone was neither gaudy nor pauper. It was perfect accompanied by white gold, soon to be comp
limented by the delicate band encrusted with a stretch of small diamonds across the top.
Her hands felt small in his large, warm ones and the touch heated her in all the places nerves made her cold. This close to him, she felt the desire to melt into his strength, to absorb everything he could offer. But she stood strong across from him, lost in the moment so that everything faded away until she felt herself reciting the vows as if another person entirely.
The Proposal Page 15