Текст книги "Thirty days to win his wife"

Автор книги: Andrea Laurence

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 12 страниц)

The woman had recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. Amelia was a clone of her grandmother. Elizabeth’s flame-red hair was as bright as Amelia’s, but maintained now by a fine salon in Knoxville. Her dark eyes saw everything, with the thin curl of her lips giving away her wry sense of humor. She was sharp as a tack, as nimble as ever and drove her old Buick around like an Indy driver.

The moment her grandmother saw her, she opened her arms up and waited. In an instant, whatever threads that were holding Amelia together snapped. She rushed into her grandmother’s arms and fell into hysterical tears.

“I know, I know,” Elizabeth soothed, stroking Amelia’s hair and letting her tears soak through her sweater. When Amelia finally calmed down, her grandmother patted her back and said, “Let’s go to the kitchen, shall we? I think a time like this calls for a warm drink and something sweet. I, uh...” She looked through the various doorways. “Where is the kitchen? This place is enormous.”

Amelia chuckled for the first time in a long while and took her grandmother’s hand, leading her through the maze of halls and rooms to the kitchen. Elizabeth’s eyes lit up when she saw the kitchen, reminding Amelia of her first day in the house. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Her grandmother nodded. “It’s amazing.” She went around opening drawers and investigating. “If this is any indication of the rest of the house, I’m moving in.”

“It’s available for rent,” Amelia said with a sad tone in her voice. “The current occupants will be out by the end of the week.”

Elizabeth spied the pot of cocoa on the stove. “You sit down. I’m going to finish this cocoa and you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”

Amelia did as she was told, climbing gingerly onto a stool and watching her grandmother cook the way she had as a child. Her grandmother had passed along her love of cooking to Amelia. Most of her childhood they lived apart, but she had looked forward to summers spent with her grandparents and visits at Christmas. It was her favorite time of year.

Elizabeth restarted the cocoa, stirring it with a spoon before going into the pantry. She came out a moment later with peanut butter, cornflakes and Karo Syrup, making Amelia’s eyes light up with delight.

“Cornflake cookies?”

Her grandmother smiled. “Of course, baby. Now, what is this I hear from your father about you getting married to that little boy you used to run around with?”

Amelia took a deep breath and started at the beginning. She told about the elopement in Vegas, the pregnancy and the whirlwind romance that followed. She ended the tale with its new, sad conclusion. “And now he’s gone, and once I’m out of this house, it will be like none of it ever happened.”

Her grandmother placed a steaming mug of cocoa and a plate of still warm and gooey cornflake cookies on the counter in front of her. “I doubt that,” she said. “From the sound of things, nothing is ever going to be the way it was before.” She pushed up her sleeves and started scrubbing the pans in the sink.

“Just leave those, Grandma. We have a lady for that.”

Elizabeth scoffed at the suggestion. “I think better when I’m working in the kitchen. So what are you going to do now? Move back to your apartment?”

“Yes,” Amelia answered. “Until my lease is up. Then I think I might buy a townhouse, something with a little more space, although not as much as we have here.”

“And what about you and Tyler?”

Amelia shrugged and shoved a cornflake cookie in her mouth to avoid the question awhile longer. “I’m hoping we can still be friends. Obviously we’re not meant to be together romantically. I knew from the beginning he wasn’t my big love. I was just hoping I was wrong.”

“Big love?” her grandmother said with a frown drawing her wrinkled brow together. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

“The big, grand love. The kind of romance that you and Grandpa have. The kind that moves mountains and lifts spirits and makes you certain that you can weather anything with that person at your side. The love that makes you happy to wake up to that person every day. I should’ve known I couldn’t achieve that in thirty days. I mean...how long did you and Grandpa date before you got married?”

Elizabeth considered the question for longer than Amelia expected her to. Her lips twisted together in thought before she finally planted her palms on the counter. “A week.”

Amelia sat bolt upright in her chair. “What?”

“Now, don’t you go running around telling people that. No one knows. Your granddaddy and I met when I was working at the university bookstore. He was there studying to be a lawyer. I thought he was so handsome, but I was too shy to speak to him. One day, he asked if I would join him for the football game on Saturday. We went for ice cream. We went out for breakfast,” she said with a naughty smile, “and the following Friday, we ditched classes to elope at the courthouse.”

This was not the story Amelia had been told all her life. “What about the big church wedding? I’ve seen the pictures!”

“That happened a year later. We kept our marriage a secret and told our families and friends we were dating. Months down the road, we announced that he had proposed, and we set the wedding day for our first anniversary. No one but your grandpa and I ever knew the truth until now.”

Amelia didn’t even know what to say. How was it even possible? “But you and Grandpa have the perfect love! The great romance I’ve always strived for. How could you have possibly known he was the right man for you, your soul mate, in just a week?”

Elizabeth sighed and made her way around the counter to sit at a bar stool beside her. “There is no such thing as a perfect love, Amelia, just like there is no such thing as a perfect person. Your grandpa and I had to work very hard on our relationship. Maybe even harder than other people, because we wed so quickly. There were times I wanted to hit him with a frying pan because he kept leaving his slippers where I could trip over them. There were times I’m certain your grandpa wished he’d taken me on a couple more dates before he proposed. But we made our decisions and we made the best of it.”

The cornflake cookies felt like lead in her stomach. It was as if she’d just been told the truth about the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa all over again.

“In the end, yes, marrying your grandfather was one of the best decisions I ever made. I acted on instinct, on passion, and I was right. If I had overthought it, we probably never would’ve married. We had ups and downs like any couple, but I don’t regret a minute of the time we’ve spent together.”

Tyler’s words popped into her mind. We might end up being totally incompatible, and if we are, we end it and you can go back to your quest for the White Buffalo. The White Buffalo. Magical. Rare. A fantasy. She’d spent the past ten years of her life chasing a myth and she was the last to realize it.

“I think part of this is my fault,” Elizabeth admitted. “When you were little, I filled your head with romantic stories, treating our marriage like one of your fairy-tale books. When you were older, I never thought to go back and tell you differently. I guess I imagined you’d grow up and shelve those fantasies with Cinderella and her glass slipper.”

“No,” Amelia spoke at last. “No, it isn’t your fault. You were right, you were telling a little girl stories. When I grew up, I should’ve realized that there’s no such thing as perfection. When I think about all the men I’ve driven out of my life because they weren’t just so... I feel awful.”

“Honey, it’s possible that none of those men would’ve been right for you anyway. But I wonder about this last one. It sounds to me as if he loves you very much.”

Amelia perked up in her seat. “What makes you say that?”

“The way you described him. The way he did so much for you, even when you didn’t want him to. I know that sort of thing can make a girl like you crazy, but you have to understand why he does it. Moving here on a dime, getting this house, doing everything in his power to make you happy, comfortable and safe... Those aren’t the actions of a man who feels obligated because of the child. Those are the actions of a man so desperately in love with a woman that he will do anything and everything to see her smile.”

Amelia shook her head. She wished her grandmother was right, but it just couldn’t be true. “He’s not in love with me, Grandma. He left. He wouldn’t have walked out if he’d loved me.”

“I thought you loved all the fairy tales with the big romantic gestures? The Little Mermaid, The Gift of the Magi, Beauty and the Beast... In each of those stories, the character sacrifices the most valued thing in their life for the one they love. If you think Tyler left because he didn’t care, you’re a fool. He left, and gave you up, because he thought that was what you wanted.”

Amelia felt the dull ache of regret start to pool in her stomach. Was it possible she had driven away the man who loved her, the man she loved, because she was too blind to see the truth?

And more important...would he ever forgive her?

Twelve

Tyler hesitated only a moment before turning the knob and opening the front door of the home he used to share with Amelia. He could see the lights on in the kitchen, but the rest of the house was dark and empty. “Amelia?” he called, hoping not to startle her. “Hello?”

No one answered, so he traveled down the corridor to the kitchen. Amelia was standing at the counter, her wary eyes watching him as he came in. Apparently she’d heard him but hadn’t had anything to say. Or didn’t know what to say. Either way, she wasn’t about to leap into his arms and kiss him. That was disappointing. At the same time, she hadn’t immediately thrown him out either, so he’d count his blessings.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

She looked better than she had at the hospital. Her color was vastly improved and she didn’t look nearly as tired. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, a casual look that went well with her little T-shirt and jeans. The rest of her was anything but casual. Her whole body was stiff. She had a bottle of wine clutched with white-knuckled intensity in one hand, the opener in the other.

“Would you like some wine?” she offered. “I was just about to open it.”

“Sure, thanks. Let me—” he started, and then stopped. His instinct was to offer to open it, but that was the wrong tactic with Amelia. She hadn’t wanted to be helped with everything when she was pregnant; she certainly wouldn’t want to be coddled when she wasn’t. “I’ll get some glasses,” he said instead.

He went to the cabinet and fetched two glasses. By the time he returned, Amelia had the bottle open. He held them by the stems as she poured them each a healthy serving.

“Would you like to go sit outside?” she asked. “It’s been a pretty warm day. It would be a shame to move out of here without at least taking advantage of the backyard once.”

“Okay.” Tyler followed her through the door to the backyard he hadn’t set foot in since he toured the home with the real estate agent. There was a kidney-shaped pool and hot tub with a waterfall to one side. A fire pit was surrounded by stone benches just off the patio. To the right was a large stretch of lawn that would’ve been perfect for a swing set someday.

The thought brought a painful pang to the back of his mind. Since he’d left the hospital, he’d done the same thing Amelia accused him of doing after his breakup with Christine—he’d thrown himself into his work so he didn’t have to think about everything he’d lost. He’d grabbed his computer and a suitcase full of clothes and toiletries and hopped the first plane back to New York. He’d bypassed his empty apartment and gone straight to the offices, where he’d worked until he was blurry eyed and hallucinating at his computer screen. The next morning, he got up and did it again.

Today, he’d woken up missing the warmth of her body only inches away on the mattress beside him. He’d wanted to make her a smoothie and kiss her as she headed out the door. Then he’d realized he was a bigger coward than he’d accused her of being. He got back on a plane to Nashville and came straight to the house to tell Amelia how he felt. Which he would do. Any second now. If he could just figure out how to tell Amelia how he felt.

She’d already rejected him once. He wasn’t too excited to stick his neck back out again and get his head chopped off, but he knew he had to. He’d regret this for the rest of his life if he didn’t.

Amelia strolled out to the stone fire pit and sat down on one of the benches. Tyler resisted the urge to give her personal space and sat right beside her. He leaned forward and turned on the switch the agent had shown him, and there was suddenly a raging fire in the gas fireplace. It was just enough to take the mid-March chill out of the air.

“Nice,” Amelia said, leaning in to warm her face. “As much as I complained, I am going to miss this place. It’s going to be hard to go back to my tiny, plain apartment after this. We never even got to use the movie theater.”

Tyler nodded, but the words fighting to get out of him made it hard for him to focus on conversation. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Okay. I’m still sore and achy, but I’ll live,” she joked with a small smile. “How are you?”

Tyler sighed. That was a loaded question, or at the very least, a loaded answer. “I am...a little numb. A little overwhelmed. Sad. But mostly, I’m feeling guilty.”

“You shouldn’t feel guilty, Tyler. It wasn’t anybody’s fault.”

“I know. But there are plenty of other things that I am responsible for. I told my brother about us when I shouldn’t have. I said things to you that were hurtful. And I walked away from you when every fiber of my being was screaming at me to stay.”

He could sense Amelia stiffening beside him. She hastily took a sip of her wine before she responded, “I told you to go,” she said, her voice flat and emotionless.

“You did. But since when have I ever done what you’ve told me to do?”

Amelia snorted softly, covering her mouth with her hand to smother it. “Practically never.”

“Exactly. I picked the wrong damn time to start doing things your way.”

“Hey, now—” Amelia started in a sharp tone, but Tyler cut her off.

“I didn’t come back to argue, Amelia.”

She looked at him with large dark eyes, taking in every detail of his face as though she were trying to catalog it, memorize it somehow. “Then why did you come back, Tyler?”

Tyler took a deep breath. “I came back to tell you that I’m going to be breaking our agreement.”

Her auburn eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What do you mean, breaking our agreement?”

“Well,” he began, “when all this started, we agreed that when the thirty days were up, if both of us were in love, we would get married. But if one of us still wanted a divorce...we would part as friends.”

Amelia swallowed hard and focused her gaze on the glass in her lap. “So you’ve come to tell me we’re not going to be friends any longer?”

“No. I’ve come here to tell you that divorce is off the table.”

Amelia nervously chuckled, a tone of disbelief in her lyrical laughter. “I think I’ve heard this out of you before. A couple weeks ago, in fact. And look where it got us.”

“That was completely different. The last time, it was because we were having a baby and I thought it was the right thing to do. This time, we’re not getting a divorce because I am in love with you. And you are in love with me, even if you don’t want to admit to it.”

Amelia’s mouth dropped open, a soft gasp escaping her lips. “You what?”

“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’m not going to let you run away from this. I can’t just stand idle while you try to ruin everything we have together. I tried to just sit back and let you lie to yourself and to me, but I can’t do it anymore.”

Tyler set his wine on the ground and turned on the bench until he was facing her. He scooped up her hand and cupped it between his own. “I love you, Amelia. And I loved you long before there was a baby, even before our wild night in Las Vegas. I’ve realized that I’ve loved you since study hall and shared lunches on the lawn by the football stadium. I’ve loved you since the day you called me over to the empty seat beside you in freshman English and introduced yourself. You were the most beautiful, sweet, loving creature I had, or have, ever met in my whole life.”

“How could you have been in love with me all these years?” she argued. “You never said anything. You never acted like you had feelings for me.”

“I didn’t fully realize it. All these years, I knew that I loved you as a friend. I didn’t allow for the possibility of anything more than that. But the feelings were there, simmering under the surface. Every time I dated a woman and something just didn’t click. Every time I saw your number come up on my phone and my heart leaped a little in my chest. Christine knew it, but somehow it took the possibility of losing you forever to make me see the difference.”

Tyler slipped onto the patio on one knee and looked up at her. “You’re everything to me, Amelia. And I want you to marry me.”

“We’re already married, Tyler.”

“I know,” he said with a wicked smile that curled his lips. “But my wife once told me that if I loved her and wanted to stay married, I’d have to propose again—properly—so we could have the big romantic church wedding with our family and friends.”

Tyler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the same black velvet jewelry box he’d offered to her the night they eloped. He opened the box to display the eight-carat diamond they’d used at their first wedding ceremony. Once they’d moved into the house, she’d given it back to him. At the time, she either didn’t think they would make it, or if they did, he wouldn’t want her to have such a large, expensive piece. She was wrong on both counts.

“I gave that back to you,” Amelia frowned. “That was never intended to be my ring. You were supposed to sell that to a dealer in LA so it could become one of the Kardashians’ engagement rings.”

“Whether or not that’s what I intended when I bought it, a fact is a fact. This is my wife’s ring, so it belongs to you. Even if I went shopping for a new one, I wouldn’t be able to beat it. I’ve come across larger stones, flashier stones, well-known stones, but this one is the most perfect specimens of diamond I’ve ever had in my possession. It’s flawless and colorless. The cut is perfect, allowing the diamond to truly shine. It’s a classic beauty, just like you, and it belongs on your finger. No one else’s.”

Tyler felt an unexpected nervousness in his stomach. He’d already proposed to Amelia once. They were already married, as she’d pointed out. But this was different. The last time was a joke that went too far, an adventure they’d never expected. This time was for real. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He swallowed the anxiety rising in his throat and looked up into her eyes. “Amelia, will you marry me?”

* * *

Amelia didn’t know what to say. She was stunned. Well and truly stunned. This was not at all how she’d expected this day, or even this conversation, to go. When she’d heard Tyler’s voice in the hallway, there had been a moment of elation, followed by panic, with caution bringing up the rear. Her conversation with her grandmother had given her a lot to think about. She had been on the verge of pouring a glass of wine to gather her courage to call Tyler. To tell him that she’d lied and she did love him.

Then, suddenly, he was standing in their kitchen and she didn’t know what to think. He probably hadn’t come all this way to fight. Or to get his things. The movers could do that. She figured he wanted to talk in person, without the emotions of the hospital and the miscarriage fueling the discussion. At best, she’d been hopeful they could stay friends. She’d never dared or dreamed for more.

But a marriage proposal?

“I don’t know what to say,” she said with a stunned shake of her head.

Tyler frowned. “I’ll give you a hint. The key word is yes, quickly followed by I love you, Tyler. We’ll try this again. Amelia, will you marry me? Okay, now it’s your turn.”

Amelia smiled. He was right. She felt it. She wanted this. All she had to do was say it. “Yes, Tyler, I will marry you.”

“And?” he pressed with a hopeful grin.

“And...I love you. Very much.”

Tyler slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her knuckles before standing up and pulling her into a gentle embrace. Amelia melted into the safety and comfort of his arms, a place she’d thought she might never be able to return to. She tipped her head up to kiss him, pressing her mouth against his soft lips. The moment they made contact, she felt a rush of excitement run through her body. The thrill of new love, the delight of finally experiencing the moment she’d always dreamed of. His proposal was all she’d ever hoped for and more, because it was Tyler. The man who knew her better than anyone. The man who could make her laugh, make her smile and even make her cocoa.

She had always fantasized about perfection. It didn’t get any more perfect than this.

Breaking away, Amelia clung to his neck, burying her face in the lapel of his suit coat and breathing in the warm scent of his skin. She sighed in relief as he held her, grateful she hadn’t lost him with her foolish fears.

“You know what?” he asked. “It’s Wednesday. Day thirty.”

Amelia smiled up at him. He was right. Everything had ended just the way it was supposed to. “It looks as though we’ve made it. It’s kind of hard to believe it, but a lot has happened in the past month.”

“It certainly has. And one of the things I’ve learned over the past few days is that I don’t want to keep this a secret. We need to call our families. Tonight. We can’t make that same mistake twice.”

“You’re right. But let’s wait a little while longer so I can bliss out in this moment.”

“Okay. And I’m sure after that, we start planning the big wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Do you still have that giant notebook?”

Amelia shrugged. “I do, but you know, I’ve done a lot of thinking since you left. The idea of that isn’t as appealing anymore. My big wedding plans were focused on everything but starting off a new life with the man I love. I’d rated cake and flowers over the groom. I guess it’s because I was planning a wedding when I wasn’t in love yet. Now that I am, I don’t think I need all that anymore. We’re already married. We love each other. I think that’s all I need.”

One of Tyler’s eyebrows raised curiously at her. “You say that now, and it’s sweet, but I know you’ll regret it later. One day, ten years down the road, we’ll have an argument and you’ll throw out there that we eloped in Vegas and you were wearing black and you never got to have your dream wedding. Somehow it will be all my fault. You’ll be a total Momzilla when our daughter gets married as you try to live the dream you lost. No way. We’re having a wedding. I insist.”

Amelia twisted her lips in thought. “Okay, then. Maybe we can come up with something in between. Not quite as grand an affair as I have in my notebook, but one with a white dress, a pastor that doesn’t look like Elvis and our friends and family there to share the moment with us.”

Tyler smiled and pulled her into his arms. “That sounds like the perfect wedding to me. Plan whatever you like. All I ask is that you don’t make me take dance lessons.”

Amelia laughed aloud. Tyler was a confident, powerful businessman, but he had zero rhythm. “I’ve seen you dance before, Tyler. No amount of lessons is going to help.”

“Hey!” He laughed. “Okay, you’re right. Just tell me when to show up and what to wear.”

“It’s so easy for men.”

Tyler laughed. “That’s because we’re far more interested in the honeymoon.”

Amelia laughed, then felt the light moment fade. When she looked up into his pale blue eyes, she felt the urge to tell him everything. Why she’d done what she’d done. Why she’d lied. “Tyler...” she began, running her fingers through his messy blond hair. “I’m so sorry for how I’ve acted. I was terrified of being in love with you and not knowing if you felt the same way. I just couldn’t believe that you were here because you loved me, so I convinced myself it was just because of the baby.”

“That’s my fault,” Tyler admitted. “I was afraid, too, so I tried to focus on the baby because no matter how you and I felt about each other, the child was going to be a part of my life. I felt things for you that I’d never felt for another woman, but I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I thought that if I kept my feelings locked inside, when you pushed me away, it wouldn’t hurt as badly.”

Amelia winced. “And I did push you away. I fulfilled your biggest fear.”

“And it didn’t hurt any less by keeping my secret. It probably made it worse. I should’ve just said it right there in the hospital room and not cared what you might say. If I’d told you I loved you and I wasn’t going to let you push me away, would you have still told me to go back to New York?”

She wasn’t sure. Would she have believed him? She didn’t know if her heart had been strong enough in that dark moment to take the risk. “It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “We can’t change the past, and I think this happened the way it needed to. Being apart helped us both realize how much we love each other and want to be together. Sometimes that’s what it takes.”

“I know it made me realize I hate my apartment in New York. I can run my business from here just as easily as I do there. I really don’t want to give up this house. I know it’s too big, but...”

“We’ll work on filling it up,” Amelia said with a smile. She didn’t want to get rid of the house, either. It would take some time, but eventually it would be filled with children and laughter and life, and it wouldn’t feel so large and empty. Losing the baby had made her realize how badly she really did want children. Searching for the perfect mate had put that dream on hold. The doctor said they should wait a few more months, but when it was time, she wanted to try again.

“You know, I grew up with five brothers and sisters crammed into a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment. We’ve got thousands of square feet to work with here. If you want to fill this place up, we can fill it up.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” Amelia laughed.

“I don’t know,” Tyler warned. “For a girl so focused on perfection, you may find a house full of kids to be a very messy prospect.”

“I’ve decided that perfection isn’t so perfect after all. While you were in New York, I had a much-needed and enlightening conversation with my grandmother.”

Tyler looked at her with surprise. “The one with the perfect, long-lasting marriage I’ll never live up to?”

“The one I thought had a perfect marriage. To make a long story short, I had apparently been given the romantic fairy-tale version for little girls. But in reality, I think I got what I wanted anyway. I’ve always dreamed of having a marriage like hers and, ironically, we’ve gotten pretty close to achieving that. At least the start. We’ve just got fifty-some odd years of togetherness to go.”

Tyler smiled and kissed her again. “I can’t wait.”