by Loree Lough
“Hi,” Billie said. “How’s the birthday girl?”
“I can’t find places for my new toys. My room looks awful. When Daddy saw it, he said, ‘Think like Billie. She’s the most organized person I know.’” Alyssa sighed.
Surely, Noah didn’t really expect her to go over there, help his daughter put her room in order. The better question was what if Alyssa was lying about this, the way she’d lied about the allergy pill? Why, Billie would look like a fool, barging into his home to rearrange his little girl’s room!
“Will you take the phone to your dad for me?”
Billie heard the receiver hit the kitchen counter with a clunk. A small voice, a baritone…then heavy footsteps.
“Hey, Billie. What’s up?”
“Couple of things, actually. Wondering what you’re going to do with your invitation to Jeff’s New Year’s Eve gala, for starters.”
“RSVP a polite no, of course.” He hesitated, then said, “Why? Are you going?”
“No.” She felt like a fool admitting it, even to herself, but she didn’t want to go if he wouldn’t be there, too.
“You could come over here. Alyssa has been pestering me to call you all day, to see if you’d help her figure out how to arrange things in her room. I don’t expect you to, of course,” he quickly added. “But I’m sure she’d get a kick out of watching the ball drop with us.”
Billie spotted some tickets on her desk, where they’d been since last week when a client had given them to her. “I have tickets to watch the fireworks from the top of the science center. I was going to give them to Jeff and his family, since they’ll be downtown anyway, but if you think she’d enjoy it…”
“She’d love it.”
If he thought she was going into that crowd with Alyssa by herself, he had another think coming!
“I have four tickets.” Hopefully, he’d get the hint.
“What time do we need to be at the Inner Harbor?”
“I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty,” she said. “That way, you don’t have to worry about getting behind the wheel with Percocet in your system.”
“I can skip a dose.”
“But you won’t. I have parking passes, so that’ll save you having to walk from one of the garages.”
A long pause followed her offer, and Billie wondered what excuse he was cooking up to back out. She stood straighter. If he thought she was going to let him hear regret in her voice, well, he had another think coming on that score, too!
“Why wait until nine-thirty to come over? If you get here at six or seven, we can order a pizza.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Her instant reply didn’t surprise her nearly as much as the disappointment she felt, looking at the clock and realizing it was only four o’clock.
*
HE HADN’T EXPECTED a visit from Max.
“Don’t you have any life of your own?” he asked when she let herself in. “It’s New Year’s Eve, for the love of Meb.”
“For your information,” she sniffed, “I have a date.”
Only when she opened her coat did he realize she hadn’t worn her hip-length leather jacket.
“Wow,” he said, taking in her sparkly red dress. “Tight as that thing is, where will you stow your badge?”
She patted the small purse hanging from a thin strap draped over her shoulder. “Be quiet and sit down,” she said, faking a sneer. “I stopped by to give you some good news.”
Max reminded him that several weeks earlier, O’Malley’s nephew had walked into the wrong room at the wrong time during a visit to Stateville, and never walked out again.
“Seems the senator didn’t appreciate having his only conduit to the real world shut down that way,” she continued. “He picked a fight with the inmate he thought was responsible for Nigel’s death, and ended up in the infirmary…where he died of a stroke a couple of weeks ago.”
Noah wished he’d taken her advice to sit down, because the news rocked him.
“No way.” He’d been looking over his shoulder for so long, he wondered if he could stop. “O’Malley is dead. Really?”
“Really.”
She was smiling, but only a little, and Noah didn’t know what to make of that. He dropped heavily onto the seat of his recliner and looked up at her.
“Does that mean I get my life back? Or did that… Did he pay someone to keep the heat on, in case he died in prison?”
Max sat across from him. “I’ve spent the past two weeks on this, Noah. Not just me, three other marshals, too. With Nigel gone, there’s no one left to deliver orders…or payments. So near as we can tell, it’s over.”
When he first went into the program, Noah used to dream something like this would happen. But as the months turned into years, he’d decided it was healthier—and less painful—to accept his fate. But now?
“You’re sure. O’Malley is really dead.”
“I can probably sneak the death certificate over here if you need proof.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.” He shook his head. “I just can’t wrap my mind around it.”
Max got up, and halfway between the couch and the recliner, she nodded. “Happy New Year, Noah Preston,” she said, sitting on the arm of his chair. And sliding an arm across his shoulders, added, “Unless you’d rather go back to being Nate Judson.”
She told him it was safe to reconnect with his family. Safe to take Alyssa back to Chicago. Safe to admit his feelings for Billie…
And make Alyssa’s Christmas wish come true.
But first things first. He picked up the phone and dialed his parents’ number.
*
BETWEEN RECONNECTING WITH his family and physical therapy, Noah found the weeks sped by. When he called to reserve a small, private dining room at Tersiguel’s, he expected to hear that, this close to Valentine’s Day, the restaurant was fully booked.
“You’re in luck,” said the reservations clerk. “We just had a cancelation.”
Noah didn’t ask if there was a waiting list, or why the top name on it didn’t qualify for the special table. He saw it as a sign, and jumped on it. Then he called Max, who was only too happy to stay with Alyssa. After making two additional calls, he went and found Alyssa in her room, humming as she rearranged furniture in her Barbie town house.
He sat on the corner of her bed. “Hey, cupcake. Come sit with me for a minute,” he said, patting the mattress. “I have a question to ask you.”
“What?”
“Remember at Billie’s on Christmas, when you wished she could be your mom?”
His daughter frowned and went back to moving tiny tables and chairs. “Yeah, I guess that was a dumb thing to say, wasn’t it?”
Noah hadn’t known what to expect. Surely not that. “What do you mean?”
She sat back on her heels and looked up at him. “Do you think it made Mommy sad, hearing me say I wanted a new mother?”
“Aw, baby.” He sighed, pulling her onto his lap. “No. No way. Your mom knows how much you love her, that you’ll never stop loving her. But she knows you need somebody in your life. Somebody who can tell you things and teach you things that I don’t know anything about, because, well, because I’m a guy.”
“Somebody like Billie…”
“Somebody like Billie,” he echoed. “It won’t hurt Mommy’s feelings if you love Billie. In fact, I believe if she could, she’d tell you how happy she is that a really nice lady has come into your life, to take care of you, to love you, to help you do girl stuff.”
Alyssa stared at him for a moment, then said, “Whew.” She tugged at a loose string hanging from a button on his shirt. “Bet Mom’s glad for someone to take care of you, too.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. I bet she is.”
“Do you miss her, Daddy?”
Noah swallowed. Dangerous territory, he told himself, considering…
“Yeah, I do. I guess I always will, in some ways. But you know what? I don’t miss her nearly as
much as I used to. Thanks to Billie.”
Alyssa laid her head on his chest. “Me, too.”
He kissed her forehead. “So if it’s okay with you, I’m going to ask her to marry me. Tonight. Over dinner at Tersiguel’s.”
She hopped off his lap and stood in front of him. “Really?” She rested her palms on his knees. “Really?”
“Really.”
She glanced around her. “I hope we can live at her house. After the wedding, I mean.”
He took the ring from his pocket. “Can you keep a secret?”
Eyes wide, she stared at the minuscule jewelry box. “Yeah…”
Noah opened the box. “This is Billie’s engagement ring. Well, it will be, if she says yes.”
“Oh wow, it’s so sparkly!” And then Alyssa climbed onto his lap again. “If she says no, I’ll take it!”
Laughing, he hugged her tight.
“Do you think Billie will wear a pretty white dress and a long white veil? And she’ll hold a big bouquet of roses? And we’ll have a giant cake all piled up with frosting flowers?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. She has to say yes first.”
“Oh, she will. Why wouldn’t she?”
He could think of a dozen reasons without even trying. For one thing, he intended to tell her the whole ugly truth. But with any luck, Billie would overlook it all.
“So anyway, Max is going to stay with you tonight.”
“Too bad Max can’t cook. We could make a special cake while you’re gone. One that says Happy Getting Married, You Two!” One tiny forefinger popped up. “Hey! I know! We can make one of those—what do you call those giant signs, like the ones that say Welcome Home and Happy Birthday?”
“A banner?”
“Yeah. We’ll make a banner. And hang it so it’s the first thing you see when you get home.”
“You’re that sure she’ll say yes, huh?”
“Oh yes. Because she loves you, a lot.”
He might have asked how Alyssa knew such a thing, if she hadn’t darted off to dig through her art supplies. Might have pointed out that Billie had never said she loved him. That he hadn’t said the words, either. Oh, he’d dreamed about saying it. Dreamed she’d echoed the words.
Tonight, Alyssa’s wish and his dreams would both come true…if Billie said yes.
*
“OH MY,” SHE SAID, opening the door, “you clean up pretty good.”
“And you…you’re a knockout.”
She’d spent two hours, showering and fussing with her hair and makeup, trying on dresses, matching them with heels and jewelry.
“Oh, this old thing?” she said, lifting the corner of her skirt. “I just grabbed the first thing I saw in the closet.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Now get your coat. We have ten minutes to make our reservation.”
He helped her into it, and after she locked up, he offered her his arm. “Gorgeous night for a walk, isn’t it?”
“I love living here, where you don’t feel completely dependent on a car.”
“And walking is great exercise.” He looked down at her and winked. “Not that you need it.”
“It’s supposed to snow tonight,” she said as they made the turn onto Main Street. “Might not be such a pleasant walk home.”
“We’ll see. Worst case scenario, I’ll call us a cab.”
“To go a few blocks? That’s silly.”
“Well, you can’t walk in the snow in those shoes.” He pointed to her three-inch heels and they both laughed.
The maître d’ escorted them up three flights of stairs to a small dining room. Ornate draperies cloaked windows that overlooked Main Street. The paintings and dinnerware echoed a Parisian theme made warmer by the fire crackling in the tiny woodstove in the corner.
“Oh, Noah,” she said, “it’s beautiful.”
Once their waiter left to place their order, Noah reached across the candlelit table, blanketed her hands with his own.
“There are so many things I want to talk about. I really don’t know where to begin.”
“You know what they say….”
He nodded. “I know…start at the beginning. See, that’s the trouble. There isn’t just one beginning in my crazy life.”
Maybe she should spare him the ordeal of reliving his painful—sometimes shameful—history.
She picked up her water goblet, took a small sip. “I talked to my folks today….”
His eyes widened slightly, confirming her suspicions that they’d talked to Noah earlier, just as she’d suspected. Her mom had no talent whatever for keeping secrets. Good thing she’d never need to disappear into the program, Billie thought.
“Oh? How are they?”
“Fine. Dani is pregnant, and Mom is over the moon at the prospect of becoming a grandmother.”
“That’s great news.”
“Did you know that Troy has a girlfriend?” She told him all about the woman who’d made her “I love kids” brother consider a future without any of his own.
“How’s your leg?” she asked.
“Almost as good as new.”
“You’re amazing. Seems like only yesterday I sat beside your hospital bed, worried that I might lose you. I think you must be part cat.”
One eyebrow lifted, and then he nodded. “Never thought of it that way before, but I guess it does seem like I have nine lives, doesn’t it?”
Their dinners arrived, and as the waiter stood by to make sure they were well attended, the conversation turned to less personal things. The weather. The price of gasoline. Congress’s latest tax hike.
The waiter cleared the table, then delivered dessert. “May I get you anything else?” he asked.
“Just a little privacy.”
The men exchanged a knowing glance.
“You know him?” she asked when the young man left them…and closed the door.
“A little. He bought a bike from me.”
Billie had a feeling that this was more than a Valentine’s Day dinner. More than their first official date. More than his way of thanking her for everything she’d done for him and Alyssa since the accident. But she and Noah hadn’t exactly shared a normal relationship. And he wasn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill man. Making assumptions about the real reasons for this dinner might come with a serving of major disappointment.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Sorry? This night has been perfect! Sorry for what?”
“That I can’t get down on one knee.” He dragged his chair to her side of the table and sat down beside her. “So I guess we’ll have to settle for this….”
He took her hand in his, placed a tiny box onto her palm—a perfect cube, wrapped in shiny red paper, topped off with a silver bow.
“It’s almost too pretty to open,” she whispered.
“Billie. You’re killin’ me here.”
She removed the bow. He looked puzzled when she tucked it into his shirt pocket.
“I have a feeling I’m going to think of that as a keepsake,” she said, peeling away the wrapper. She added it to the pocket. “That, too.”
She removed the top of the glossy red outer box, shook the red velvet box inside it onto her other palm.
Noah relieved her of it. “Your hands are shaking. Let me take it from here.”
His hands were shaking, too, as he pulled back the creaking lid.
“Your dad said if you say no, you’re grounded.”
She couldn’t decide which shimmered more, the round diamond in the box, or the tears that misted in his beautiful, loving eyes.
“If you don’t put it on my finger, right now, you’re grounded,” she said.
And then she kissed him.
EPILOGUE
Noah and Billie’s 10th Anniversary
“HOW DID YOU arrange this?” she said as they entered Tersiguel’s Tower Room.
“Pulled a few strings, buttered a few palms, worked a little magic….”
“Well, it’s t
he best present you could give me,” she said. “Dinner in the same place where you proposed.”
“Getting the room was easy compared to talking Alyssa into babysitting. I had to promise she could use the car, three weekends in a row.”
Billie laughed. “I still have trouble believing she’s old enough to drive, let alone wrangle deals like that.”
“She wants to be a lawyer. Guess she figures she needs the practice, wrangling.”
“Speaking of practice, the twins will start soccer practice in a few weeks.”
“Think they’ll both make the same team?”
“They’d better. I do not want to drag a lawn chair from field to field, like I did last year.”
“What will you do with Buddy while the girls are on the field?”
“There’s a playground beside the practice field. If I position my chair just right, I can watch all of them.”
“Funny, I was thinking about the original Bud the other day.”
“Wondering what he’d say if he knew we named our li’l guy after him?”
Noah nodded. “Well, we couldn’t name the kid after me.”
“We could have, if you had let me flip a coin. Heads, Noah. Tails, Nate.”
“Either way, he’d be a junior. I went to school with a boy named Junior. Kids can be mean. No way I want Buddy going through that.”
“So what’s in the box?” she asked, pointing.
“Yeesh.” He laughed. “You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you?”
“That isn’t what you said last night.” She wiggled her eyebrows, then reached into his pocket and withdrew a box…exactly like the one he’d given her that night, right here at this same table, a decade ago.
“Your mom called this morning,” she said, fiddling with the bow. “Wished us a happy anniversary, and asked if it’s okay for them to fly out next week.”
“I’m glad they haven’t developed a fear of flying. With the kids’ schedules, it makes it easier to see them often.”
“It would be easier still if they’d move in with us. I mean, we chose our house because of the in-law suite.”
“They might. Someday.”
Billie opened her purse and withdrew a narrow rectangular box that she’d wrapped to match the one he’d just delivered.
They opened their gifts: his, a stainless-steel calendar watch; hers, one-karat cushion-cut diamond earrings to match her engagement ring. Billie wasted no time putting them on.
