Tears filled Anna’s eyes and clung to her lashes. “Oh, Matt, I just finished my makeup, and you’re going to make me cry. This is the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen.”
He crushed her close, and kissed her deeply.
The hospital staff buzzed around them like bees to a honeycomb. They clamored to hold Melody and catch a glimpse of the woman who’d finally snagged the irresistible Doctor Carmichael. Anna felt like a monkey at the zoo swinging from floor to floor.
They moved through each ward, and Anna noticed how loved Matt was. They oohed and aahed over Melody and welcomed Anna with smiles and chatter. She wished she didn’t feel so self-conscious but couldn’t still the host of butterflies dancing in her stomach.
When they headed to his office, he confided that the girls there had been teasing him about this mysterious woman in his life who never called and never showed up.
“I use your cell, Matt.”
“Yeah, but every other spouse or boyfriend phones the office at some time or another and pops in readily.”
“But—”
“I know, I know … our relationship has been complicated and not public. But I’m just saying, they were most disappointed at the Christmas party when I showed up alone. How was I to explain that we weren’t officially a couple?”
“Yeah, that would be my fault.”
He patted her knee as they drove to the office. “No worries, Anna. Today is a great day to show you off, and we’ll not fret over the convoluted path we took to get here. That’s our business and no one else needs an explanation. I’m just thankful this day has finally come.”
Once again on display, Anna entered his office to meet the ladies who Matt said kept him organized and on point.
Jasmine clapped her hands as she raced from behind the desk. Before Anna could think, Jasmine’s sturdy round frame folded Anna in a motherly hug.
“Well now, isn’t it a pleasure of all pleasures to finally meet the girl of Matthew’s dreams. I’ve worked for Matthew for years, and I’ve never seen him so smitten. When he talks about you and baby Melody, why, his eyes light up like a Christmas tree.” She tucked a chubby arm around Anna and propelled her forward. “Come meet the others.” She giggled like a schoolgirl. “There’s been a fair amount of curiosity about you, my dear.”
Matt winked and smiled at Anna above Jasmine’s head.
Anna lifted her eyebrows as if to employ help.
“Now, now Jasmine, don’t overwhelm poor Anna or she’ll never return.”
Jasmine waved him off. “Don’t you go spoiling all the fun, Matthew. It’s only taken you a year to get this gorgeous thing here. We were thinking she had some warts on her face with hair growing out of them or something worse.” She laughed. “Oh, and give me that precious one.” She snagged Melody from Matt’s arms and began to coo. Melody gifted her with a toothless grin.
“Oh my, how precious,” she drew Melody close and inhaled. “Don’t you just love the smell of babies? Until it’s time to change them of course.” Her laugh echoed down the hall.
“Come,” she beckoned Anna on.
Anna glanced back toward Matt as she followed Jasmine. He threw his hands up in defeat, but the grin on his face clearly told her he was enjoying every minute.
“This is Rose—our accountant. Our office would be in shambles without her. She’s the stickler for organization and keeps the rest of us in line.”
Rose smiled and held out her hand.
Jasmine was out the door and hollering for them to follow. “She’s a bit bossy, but we love her,” Rose whispered.
“Here’s Iris. She’s our Jack of all trades … or shall we say Jill. Can’t begin to tell you all the things this girl can do.” Iris beamed, waved hello to Anna, and joined the group.
Jasmine marched ahead, rounded the corner to another office, but it was empty. “Maxine,” she called, “where are you?” A chic, stylish woman came from a room further down the hall. Her uniform gave away the fact she was a nurse, but the sway of her hips, her updo and manicured nails looked out of place.
“Jasmine, can’t a girl have a private moment in the washroom without your bellowing?” She snickered at Jasmine’s crestfallen face. “Only kidding, Jas, chill!” She laughed with a brashness that irritated.
Her eyes travelled over Anna from top to bottom with a distinct coldness. “So, we finally get to meet the mystery girlfriend, Anna.”
Anna bristled. Just the way Maxine said her name—grated. With a tad too much satisfaction, she corrected the woman. “Fiancée, actually.” She held out the enormous rock on her finger for all to see.
The rest of the women gathered around for a close look and created quite the fuss. It did not escape Anna’s notice that Maxine merely looked down her nose from a distance.
They pulled apart, and Jasmine, in her happy-go lucky way, started a story. “So Anna, you’ve met Rose, Iris, and myself, Jasmine, but—”
Maxine rolled her eyes. “Oh, here she goes again with her poor attempt at humor. She’s going to point out they all have flower names and sing that silly little song, ‘One of these things just doesn’t belong here.’ Jasmine, that is soooo old.”
Jasmine’s face dropped, and her cheeks blazed red.
“I’m sure all is said in the spirit of fun,” Anna said. “Jasmine doesn’t look the type to want to hurt anyone.”
Maxine harrumphed, “Who said anything about being hurt. It’s just so very juvenile, and I don’t have time for such nonsense.” With a flick of her head and a sway of her hips she sauntered away.
Iris raised her head with an expression of disgust. “She thinks she’s the queen bee around here. Since Dr. Carmichael is so easy going, she literally thinks she can boss us around. She even said the other day that the only reason she stays is because the office would fall apart without her. As if! This office ran better before she came on board.”
Rose piped in. “She’s just mad that her good friend Tamara couldn’t sink her hooks into Doctor Carmichael enough to get a diamond out of him.”
“Yeah, but too bad Tamara had as much influence as she did. It’s the only reason Maxine got hired, and now look what we have to put up with,” said Iris.
“Now, now, ladies, we’ll all try our best to rise above this kind of negativity.” Jasmine said, putting an end to the discussion.
“Can’t you see Matthew’s eyes in this little one?” she said, skillfully turning the conversation elsewhere. “She’s sure not afraid of strangers, either, the way she’s let me hold her.”
Iris and Rose took their turns with Melody, and she only too happily rewarded each of them with her winning grin.
“Ahhh, she has a dimple on the same side as Doctor Carmichael,” Rose pointed out.
Anna stood by quietly watching, but her mind wandered elsewhere. Who was this Tamara woman?
February turned into March, and they had not yet picked a wedding date. Matt remained determined Anna meet his family and friends first. He suggested they throw an engagement party, but Anna hated the idea. One-on-one proved difficult enough, but to meet all of them together horrified her, and so she committed to nothing.
Anna knew they were on different pages and needed to talk, so she set up a date for a walk in the park without Melody. Lorena had offered to babysit.
Anna took one look at Lorena and beamed. “You look fantastic, Lorena. What are you now, seven months along?”
Lorena nodded. “Yeah, I’m feeling great, and this little guy is super active, kicking all the time. Hope you’re up to a lively one.”
Anna smiled. “Whatever you decide, Lorena, is good with me, but you may well hold that baby in your arms and never let go.”
Lorena’s eyes filled with tears. “To be honest, Auntie, I think I’m more like my mom than I’d like to admit. The thought of caring for a baby 24/7 scares me to death, bu
t the thought of a degree in microbiology thrills me to the core. Does that make me a bad person?”
Anna pulled Lorena into a hug. “Of course not, Lorena. You’re young and smart and have dreams that are honorable. God uses people in all kinds of ways, and when you’re ready to be a mom, you won’t feel this way. I have to say, though, motherhood is the best job ever.”
Lorena pulled apart and smiled. “That’s exactly why I feel so at peace with my decision, Auntie.”
Lorena had changed from a dark brooding teenager to a cheerful young woman. The transformation was like taking a trip from winter snow to summer sunshine. But the realization she would more than likely have two infants in a couple months hit Anna full on.
Matt arrived a few minutes later to pick her up, and they headed out the door. “See ya in a couple hours, Lorena. We’re going to get a good power walk along the Greenway, and then we’re heading to Moolicks for ice cream. You can reach us on the cell if need be.”
Lorena giggled, “Oh Auntie, you and your ice cream. How come you’re not three hundred pounds?”
Anna laughed, “Because I run it off.”
“No running today, Anna. You did say walk? Lorena’s my witness.”
“Oh, Matt,” she said, with a playful swat to his arm. “I know, I know. You hate running.”
“Just checking, because if the word run is included, I’m really busy.”
“Let’s go. Time’s a-wasting and we want every minute alone that we can get.”
“Now you’re talking.”
She swung an arm around his waist and nudged him out the door.
Anna loved the first hint of spring as the leaves were just budding. She breathed in the scent and stopped short. “That smell, isn’t it glorious?” Her eyes closed and her head lifted heavenward.
He inhaled deeply. “Why don’t we do this more often? I love it out here.”
Needles from the Ponderosa pine crunched beneath their feet as they followed a well-beaten trail through the evergreens. The angry chatter of a mouthy squirrel interrupted the song of birds overhead as they darted and dipped without a care in the world.
Anna stopped and bent low. She reached to pick a yellow flower on the side of the path. “Buttercups,” she said. “My favorite. They’re like finding gold dust.” She stood and thrust the tiny flower his direction.
“Anna, if only you knew how beautiful you are this instant, you would know better than to look at me with those beguiling brown eyes of yours.” He leaned into her waiting lips as she drew him close.
“Why, Doctor Carmichael, I have just the cure needed.” The taste of his kiss took all the tease out of her.
He pulled apart still holding her close. A delicious but dangerous electricity filled the air, and she opened her mouth ever so slightly as he rubbed a thumb across her lower lip. Liquid heat flowed through her body, and she was all too aware of the longing between them.
He captured her face in his hands and groaned. “Anna, what you do to me—” He dropped his arms and turned. “We’d better keep walking.”
“Okay, Matt, I don’t get it. I was ready to marry you in December, and you said there was no argument on your part. Here we are in March, and we still haven’t set a date. I feel you’re hedging. And I don’t like your idea of an engagement party. I want a wedding. Don’t you feel the same?”
He whirled in front of her and came to an abrupt stop. She almost ran right into him.
“Of course, I feel the same. Surely you’re not questioning that?”
“Then I don’t understand.”
“I want a wedding as much as you, but I need you to meet my world, my family …” He paused. “... my past. And it’s taken me this long just to get you to agree to an engagement party.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Anna, I’ve met your friends, I know your family, your sister, your sons. And even if Mark doesn’t like me, I know what I face walking into marriage. You know nothing about my life.
Anna threw up her arms. “Well, whose fault is that? You never talk about your family. I know nothing more than the fact your parents live in Toronto, and you’re an only child. I’ve asked, Matt, but you remain vague.”
She noticed an odd expression flit across his face before he turned to walk, but Anna stood her ground. “Please don’t walk away.”
He quickly turned back. “I’m not walking away, I’m trying to find the words to convey the world I grew up in.” He brushed a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Let’s walk. I can think better when you’re not looking at me with those flashing black eyes like you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset … I just don’t understand your reservation. You knocked my door down. You pursued me. But since I said yes to marriage, I’ve felt like we’re in limbo.”
“You’ve got it so wrong.” He whipped both hands through his hair, causing the waves to spring up and forward.
She ached to kiss the anxiety from his face and smooth the wayward curls from his brow, but this conversation was needed.
“How do I explain to the most loving mother in the world that my mother should never have been one? Thank God she only had me.”
He paused.
“My so-called-mother openly accused me of wrecking her life, Anna. She told me I stole her freedom … but how that was true is beyond me. I had a full-time nanny who raised me.
“And she often went on about my father’s affairs and how having me changed everything. I was only seven and didn’t have a clue what that meant, but I felt her distance and her coldness. As I got older, I realized the fact she sat around all day with her friends eating and drinking had more to do with her extra pounds than having one child.
“Dad was not much better. He was never unkind to me like my mother, but neither was he a father. He cared only about making money and social status. He worked long days and socialized the rest. Went from one affair to another. When he and my mother were together, they fought incessantly.”
“But, Matt, I don’t understand. Your parents are still together, aren’t they?”
“Because of the money. Dad came from a lot of money and Mom didn’t. Mom signed a prenup. If she leaves him, the money stops. And so she stays. There is no love lost between them.
“The fact both of them were terrible parents scared me. I thought I would be the same way, coming from that gene pool. So, I poured my life into my work until you and Melody came along, and I realized I had a deep capacity for love.”
Anna smiled up at him as he pulled her close, and they walked arm in arm.
“My relationship with Christ took me the rest of the way. I realized being a good father and husband has nothing to do with good or bad genes but everything to do with a relationship with Christ. He helped me set my priorities straight. It’s why I booked off Christmas the moment Melody was born.”
“We had a wonderful Christmas. You went all out and literally spoiled us both.” She pulled him close to her waist, and he stopped long enough to plant a quick kiss on the top of her head.
“I have more.” He grabbed her hand and continued walking.
“I left Toronto immediately after grade twelve and attended the University of BC. I wanted to be as far away from my parents as possible. I set out with only one goal—a need to prove my worth. My dad paid for my education because I performed. He made it clear if my grades dropped, the money would stop. He loved to control me and liked the fact he could brag to their friends about his son the doctor.
“But, I didn’t do it for him. I did it for me. I sent every penny back once I became a physician. Then, I received a trust fund from my grandparents and I have more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime.”
Anna gasped. Matt stopped and pulled her to face him. “Yes, Anna, you’re marrying a very wealthy man. You’ll never have to worry about mon
ey again. With no need for a budget, you’ll enjoy vacations, clothes or, quite frankly, whatever your little heart desires.”
“But, but … Matt, that’s not good for anyone. I don’t think I like the idea of that.”
“It’s the truth, Anna, I’m a millionaire many times over.”
Anna blanched. “People will think that I’m a gold digger—”
“Anna, don’t go there. We don’t care what people think. Remember? That kind of thinking previously lead you down a wrong road.”
Anna nodded. “You’re right, Matt. I just wish I’d known … I mean I knew you lived comfortably, but I had no idea—”
“What? You wouldn’t have fallen in love with me had you known?” His lopsided grin and dimple danced as he caught her close and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
“I hope you’re good with giving a good portion of that loot away, Dr. Carmichael, because I for one do not want spoiled, overindulged children.”
“I actually have some good ideas about that,” he countered. “Nice to know we’re on the same page, but that’s a discussion for another day. Let’s head back and I’ll finish the saga … unfortunately there’s more.”
Just the way he said that made a nervous shudder work its way down Anna’s spine.
“As for my parents, the only reason I’m inviting them to our engagement party is because I’ve talked to Pastor Harry, and he not only taught me as a Christian that I need to forgive them, but he encouraged I find a way to honor them. This is my first attempt.”
“But why can’t you just invite them to our wedding? Why do we need an engagement party?”
“The engagement party is not about my parents, although I do want you to meet them before the wedding. I don’t want to give them the opportunity to ruin our special day. Trust me when I say my mom has a spiteful tongue, and she’ll slice you open given the opportunity. You’ll have a fighting chance to manage her on our wedding day if you know what to expect. Most people find her obnoxious and rude, and with my dad continually egging her on … well it’s not pleasant. Their friends call them the Bickersons.”
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