by Barbie Ray
He makes no move to stop me as I walk out the door.
Chapter Thirteen: Alisha
It is a beautiful sunny day for our groundbreaking for the Hannah Henry Haven at Lake Okeechobee. An acoustic band has donated its time and about a hundred supporters mingle on the banks of the lake and look over the blueprints and models of what the resort will be one day. I am surprised that several of Nikos’s guests from the retreat weekend have shown up and made generous donations.
I am worried about his lawsuit, of course. I have heard nothing from him since I visited him at his Palm Beach office. I am standing behind a microphone on a small stage and finishing up my announcements of our plans for the resort when I look up and see Nikos walking over the grass in my direction. My knees wobble. He is as handsome as always. Seeing him makes me realize how much I have missed him. My body has missed him. His eyes are on me. Cutter scurries several feet behind him. I feel fear.
Nikos steps up on to the small stage just as I finish my remarks. Many of the guests recognize him and they greet him enthusiastically. They think he is here in support of our resort. I do not think so at all. Until I look at Cutter’s face. I expect him to be brimming with schadenfreude. But he looks uncomfortable. He does not want to be here. I look back at Nikos.
He simply looks at me. There is the slightest ever hint of tears behind his eyes. What is happening?
He steps to the microphone. “Hello, fellow supporters of Hannah Haven’s Resort.”
I know this man. I know him. He can be ruthless. But he is not cruel. My heart does not know how not to hope.
“I hope you all know that I and Alisha have been dating. Because she can be independent and I can be jealous.”
I cannot stop looking at him. I want to see every move of every expression that crosses his face.
“I come here today for two reasons. One, to express my whole-hearted support for HomeU with a donation sufficient to cover all construction costs for Hannah’s Resort.”
I am crying. I am trying not to sob. So, I cover my mouth with my hands.
“And two, to give that whole heart to Alisha Padgett.” He turns and looks at me. “If she’ll have it.”
“Oh, she’ll have it,” I try to say. But I am not sure if he can understand me. I have a tennis ball in my throat and my mouth will not properly form words.
“She’ll have it,” he says quietly.
The guests laugh and clap and I have to turn away from them to try to pull myself together.
“I love you,” he says as he wraps his arms around me. “I thought you could not love me. I was scared you did not love me.”
“I know.”
“When you came to my office and said you loved me, I was afraid to believe. But then I thought about you. I’m always thinking about you. And I realized that you told me about the sex contract so I would know you would not lie to me. You actually loved me.”
“I actually love you.”
“We love each other.”
“We love each other.”
