He drew in a deep breath and tried to get his head around the fact she’d contacted her uncle, and what they could do about it. Not much until he knew more details. “Exactly what do you expect him to do?”
She walked over and sat down on the sofa. “Exactly what I asked him to do. You just have to make sure Joe doesn’t leave town.”
Not understanding why she’d want that, he walked to the sofa and knelt down in front of her. “Joe and I went to see Walter this morning. He’s drawing up custody papers for Grace. Forever. Joe can’t care for her, but we can. That’s what’s best for Grace. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Yes, it is, and I also want what is best for you. That’s why I contacted Uncle Vinnie.”
There was so much emotion in her face, in her voice, his heart ached for her. He laid a hand on her cheek. “You are what’s best for me. I love you, Helen.”
She closed her eyes and leaned against his palm. “I love you too, Jack. So very, very much.”
He had to let her know they’d get through this, somehow, together. The ring was still in his pocket. A pale blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. He’d wanted it to be romantic, which this wasn’t, considering they were still in the middle of an argument, but they were no longer shouting at each other. He stuck his hand in his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the jeweler’s box.
“I not only love you, Helen, I need you. Grace needs you.”
She opened her eyes, looked at him with such sweet sorrow, his insides sank. All the times he’d blamed Joe for being selfish were nothing compared to what he was doing right now. She’d contacted her uncle because of him. The dangers of that were real, but that hadn’t stopped her. All because she loved him. Loved him beyond all else.
Something dawned on him them. He loved her just as much. Had anyone else delivered Grace to his office, he’d have kept the baby and sent them on their way. He hadn’t, because from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d known she was different. Special. Unique.
“I want you to know that Grace isn’t the reason I love you, Helen. The reason I need you.” Keeping the box enclosed in his palm, he pulled his hand out of his pocket. “I love you for who you are. The most beautiful, the most amazing woman I’ll ever meet. My life was empty until you came along. I didn’t know what was missing until you filled a void deep inside me. An emptiness I didn’t know existed. I used to resent the responsibilities I felt toward Joe, and then I met you. And saw how you cared for Grace. A baby you weren’t responsible for. One you didn’t have to love. But you did. Did wholeheartedly. Through you, I’ve learned what love truly is, and that all the sacrifices we make are based on that love. Until you, I didn’t understand that. I wasn’t complete. But I am now.”
He lifted the box before her, and opened the lid. Never taking his eyes off hers, he asked, “Helen Hathaway, will you marry me? Make me the happiest man on earth for the rest of my life?”
She pressed the back of one hand over her mouth, covering a half gasp, half sob, sound. Then, with a single tear slipping out of one eye, she grasped both of his wrists.
“I want to marry you, Jack, very much, but...”
“But what? I swear to you, Helen, I will forever strive to give you the best life possible. Everything you want. Everything you need.”
“You already have, Jack.” Her eyes glistened as she looked up at him. “You’ve already given me more than I’ll ever want. More than I’ll ever need. That’s why I contacted Uncle Vinnie. Because you’ve already given me so much, I wanted to give you something in return.”
He still didn’t know exactly what she’d asked of her uncle, but had to make her understand. “There is nothing I need Helen.”
“Yes, there is. I watched you and Joe last night. You love him.” She brushed the pad of her thumb over his lips. “You want what’s best for him as much as you want that for Grace. And me.”
After the conversation concerning Grace last night, he and Joe had visited for hours, talking about old times. Trials and errors, good times and bad. He’d missed that. Missed Joe. His brother had been all he’d had for years.
“I thought about that all night,” she continued. “How the two of you had laughed, how much pride you had in your eyes when you talked about Joe’s acting, how famous he’d become. And I saw the sorrow, the frustration when you spoke about him being blackballed.”
They had talked about that too, he and Joe, with regrets, but also acceptance. “That’s behind us, Helen. Both Joe and I have moved on.”
“It’s time everyone else does, too.” Her chin was up, her eyes serious. “That’s why I asked Uncle Vinnie to have Joe’s name removed from the blackball list.”
An icy shiver rippled through him. He could understand why she would do that. She had a heart of gold, but there were consequences. Major consequences.
“The Outfit can do that. Easily.”
His nerves were jittery, his insides swirling. Still holding her wrists, he stood, bringing her off the couch at the same time. “I’m sure they can do that, but your uncle specifically said that I wasn’t to expect special treatment. And I don’t want special treatment. Not of any kind.”
“I know you don’t.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “But I can’t change who I am.”
Confused, he shook his head. “Change who you are? What are you talking about?”
* * *
Helen drew in a deep breath. It was hard to explain, but inside she fully understood. This was the life she’d been given, and she refused to run from it any longer. Instead, she was going to live despite it. Perhaps even embrace it at times. “You taught me things too, Jack. How truly wonderful life can be. That there are things I can’t change, but that I can change the way I looked at them.”
He frowned.
She bit her lip. The desire to simply say yes, yes, she would marry him was so strong, but she couldn’t do that until he knew what marrying her meant.
After sending a message to Uncle Vinnie, she’d waited for the car she’d known would arrive. A taxi, so it looked like she was merely getting a ride to the studio, which is where she had been dropped off. After speaking with her uncle.
It hadn’t been a regular taxi, one that would pick up anyone looking for a ride, and she hadn’t been driven directly to the studio.
Uncle Vinnie had been in the backseat of the car.
There had been an inkling of fear inside her, but it had been overshadowed by determination. For Jack, she’d do anything. Including crossing a line she’d never crossed before. This was her life. His life. Their life. And nothing would stop her from making it the best one ever.
Lifting her chin, she nodded. “I’m a member of the Outfit, Jack. The daughter of a gangster. The niece of a mob boss. That will never change. I can’t pretend it will or act like it doesn’t matter.”
He grasped her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does,” she said honestly. Accepting that had been what she’d struggled with for years. She glanced to the sofa, to the ring box he’d set down. “It’s who I am. If you can live with that, I’ll marry you.”
“Live with that? How?”
“I’m not going to start carrying a tommy gun, or spout my heritage from the rooftops, but I’m not going to ignore it, or forget it, either. We can keep it just between us, and Uncle Vinnie, but if you, or Grace, or anyone else that I love needs protection, they are going to have it. It’s like what you said about there being good and bad in everything. It’s how we look at it. Well, I’m going to look at the good in my connection with the Outfit. I’m going to do good with who I am. I want to do good with it.” She laid a hand on his arm. “Not all gangsters are bad. In fact, plenty are rather normal people.”
Jack rubbed his chin, then reached down to picked up the ring box.
Her heart shot into her throat, hoping he understood. Hopi
ng he could accept her for who she was, because deep down, she knew she couldn’t change. It would be like hiding her entire life, and she wanted to be done with that. Had to be done with that so she could focus on loving him for the rest of her life.
Once again, he held the ring box out in front of her.
“So you will marry me?” she asked.
He laughed. “I thought I was the one doing the asking.” The ring he pulled out of box was gorgeous. A pale blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. As he slid it on her finger, he said, “I don’t care who your uncle is. I don’t even care if you do shout your heritage from the rooftop or carry a tommy gun, because I love you. Every part of you. Your past, your present and your future. The only thing I do care about, is that I’m your husband.”
Stretching on her toes, she brought her lips next to his, where his breath mingled with hers. “I love you, Jack McCarney.”
“I love you, too. Now and forever.”
“I won’t—”
His kiss prevented her from vowing that she wouldn’t carry around a tommy gun, and by the time their lips parted, her thoughts had shifted to other things.
His had too. “Did you know that my office door locks?”
Perplexed, she asked, “Why would I need to know that?”
“Because since the moment you walked into this room, I’ve been thinking about one thing.”
The teasing glint in his eyes had grown into a shimmer, one she was very familiar with, but only at night, in their bedroom. A thrill shot clear to her toes, and up again. She bit into her bottom lip as the sensations erupted inside her. “What one thing might that be?”
He kissed the side of her neck, just below her ear. “How about I show you?”
She tilted her head, giving him access to trail kisses along her neckline. “Right now?”
“Yes.” He kissed his way up her neck, to her chin. “Unless you’re afraid.”
He was looking at her now. His eyes glowing. She lifted her chin, looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
She wasn’t, would never be again, and was more than willing to show him that, over and over again.
Epilogue
“It’s a good thing we don’t have neighbors yet. They’d turn us in for disturbing the peace.”
Helen laughed, and leaned back against Jack, loving the feel of his arms around her. The backyard was full of people, eating, laughing, celebrating. “Julia outdid herself, the food is fabulous.”
“If I recall,” he said, kissing the top of her shoulder, right where it met her neck, “my wife had a lot to do with all this. Not only the food.”
Helen glanced down at the double-tier cake she’d spent most of yesterday baking and frosting, and had just topped off with a single candle. “Grace will only turn one once.”
Jack laughed. “From the looks of it, we’ll need a bigger house by the time she turns two.”
He was referring to the large pile of gaily wrapped presents in the center of the large tent that had been erected and which took up a large portion of the backyard.
“We have six bedrooms,” she needlessly reminded him.
He caressed her stomach. “I know. Two down and three to go.”
Only the two of them knew that in about seven months they’d once again have a baby in the house. Dr. Baine had confirmed it last week, and Jack hadn’t stopped grinning since. She either. It felt so good to think about the future, and know it would be every bit as wonderful as the present.
She rubbed her hands along his arms. Everything about her life was so wonderful. She was not only Jack’s wife, and would soon be the mother of his child, she was also his assistant. Had her own office at the studio and worked along with him on every aspect of making movies. Especially the special effects. She was become renowned for them. Jack claimed that all of the praise for a shipwreck scene in their latest movie was because of her work, that she was invaluable to the studio. She was proud of that, but was more proud of being invaluable to him.
“There is only one gift that I’m wondering about.” Looking past the tent, to where Joe was holding Grace and showing her what he’d bought her, she asked, “Where on earth are we going to keep a pony?”
“Don’t worry about that. Joe already talked to Sherman Majors. You know Sherman, we used stock from his stables in that scene a couple of days ago. He has plenty of room for a pony.” Jack twirled her around to face him. “And if the time comes that he doesn’t, we’ll build a new house, with a stable and even more bedrooms.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Every little girl needs a pony.”
The teasing glint in his eyes had her shaking her head. “Joe didn’t buy that pony. You did.”
He shrugged.
“When were you going to tell me that?”
“No one said Joe bought the pony, he just delivered it.”
“Jack McCarney.” She playfully slapped his chest. “We will need a bigger house, because I have a feeling every child we have is going to have a pony.”
She couldn’t resist looking over at where Joe was currently holding Grace in his arms. So much had happened in the last few months. True to his word, Uncle Vinnie had cleared Joe’s name and he was no longer blackballed from Hollywood. Joe had even received a job offer from the Wagner brothers, but he had turned them down, saying he’d only ever work for Star’s Studios...for his brother. Joe had needed to return to South Carolina for a while, saying that he’d made promises he had to keep. Insisting that he’d broken too many in the past, and wouldn’t break any more. But he’d returned in time to be the best man at their wedding.
Looking back up at Jack, Helen grinned as he brought his lips down to meet hers. Jack didn’t care who might be looking. She didn’t care, either, and returned his kiss with one that promised more to come, later, when they were alone.
A bit breathless afterward, she held on to his hand with both of hers as he led her around the table and into the center of the tent.
“Joe, bring Grace over here to open her other presents!” he shouted.
Others gathered close, stars, crew members, the girls from Julia’s diner and many others who were friends of Jack’s, and hers, as Joe carried Grace over and set her down near the large pile of presents.
“Oh, ducky!” Beverly exclaimed as Grace toddled toward her presents. “When did she start walking?”
“Last week,” Helen answered proudly.
Both she and Jack moved closer to their daughter, just in case she needed them.
Grace stopped near a big present.
“Looks like this is the one she wants to open first,” Jack said, poking a hole in the paper so Grace could rip it away.
With giggles of delight, Grace tore away all the colorful paper. Jack opened up the box and lifted out a shiny red pedal car.
“Who is that from?” Joe asked as Jack settled Grace on the seat of her new car.
Helen looked at Jack, and sharing a secret, they both smiled.
“The State theater,” Jack answered.
Both of them knew that this, like their wedding present and Christmas presents that had arrived several months ago, were from Uncle Vinnie. No one else would ever know, but they did.
They knew.
* * *
Whilst you’re waiting for the next book in the
Brides of the Roaring Twenties miniseries
be sure to find these other great reads
by Lauri Robinson
Winning the Mail-Order Bride
Married to Claim the Rancher’s Heir
In the Sheriff’s Protection
Diary of a War Bride
Keep reading for an excerpt from Reunited with His Long-Lost Cinderella by Laura Martin.
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Reunited with His Long-Lost Cinderella
by Laura Martin
Chapter One
Surveying the ballroom, Ben found himself unable to believe he was actually there. Dressed in the finest evening wear, cravat tight around his neck and jacket tailored to precision across his broad shoulders, the son of a land steward was attending one of the most exclusive balls in London.
‘I’m not sure these masks conceal our identities,’ George Fitzgerald said from his position beside him.
Ben shrugged. ‘I’m not sure they’re meant to.’
They were standing at the perimeter of the Scotsworths’ ballroom for what Ben had been informed was an annual masquerade ball. The women were dressed in flamboyant outfits and their masks were nearly all elaborately decorated. Many of the men had gone for a more subtle and less time-consuming approach of wearing their normal evening jackets and adding simple black or single-coloured masks that covered their eyes. Ben’s was black, but did have a rather annoying feather protruding from one edge that every so often would flop in his face and tickle his forehead.
Baby On His Hollywood Doorstep (Brides 0f The Roaring Twenties Book 1) Page 23
