As she sat in front of her computer in her office a few days later, Adrianne tilted her head one way then the other, trying to ease the stiffness in her neck. She felt like she’d been staring at pictures of venues and food menus for days. The plans for the spring fundraiser were well underway, but thankfully, it was still over a month away. Though focusing on the planning had been a good distraction for her, it didn’t always keep her mind occupied. Especially if she hadn’t slept well the night before.
It had been almost two months since Connor had left. Though she had tried to keep her thoughts positive, more and more, recently, the worry and heartache were creeping back in. Just the night before, she’d been sitting on her window seat—still at the mansion since she couldn’t bring herself to move into the house yet—praying for Connor once again when she’d broken down crying. She no longer cared if he came back to her, she just wanted him to come back home. Period.
Her phone chimed a text alert from where it sat in front of her monitor. Adrianne sighed as she reached out to pick it up. She turned it over and then stared in shock at the words on the screen.
Rebecca: He’s home!
Tears immediately sprang to her eyes as she clasped the phone to her chest.
“Thank you, God,” Adrianne whispered through the tightness of her throat. “Thank you for bringing him home safely.”
She sat there, head bent, frozen by the shock of Rebecca’s message. What would happen now? Would he give them a chance?
How was she going to keep from blurting out everything that was in her heart? She’d prematurely let on how she felt once before and had gotten burned. Surely this time would be different.
Adrianne took a deep breath and let it out as she lowered her phone and straightened. She’d been praying so hard for God’s will over the past couple of months. Now was the time to show that she believed that He would work things out and would give her the strength to accept whatever was to come.
More than anything else, she was glad that Connor was safe, and that he was home.
Deciding that she needed to talk with Alex to see what he knew, Adrianne swung her chair around and froze as her gaze fell on the figure leaning against her door jamb. Connor stood there looking so much like he had before he left, except his hair was a little longer on top, and he looked more tanned. He wore a long sleeve, dark green Henley tucked into a pair of blue jeans and in his hands, he held a bouquet of red, white and pink flowers. Only this time, it appeared they were roses instead of carnations.
What was she supposed to do? She knew what she wanted to do—throw herself into his arms and hold on tight. But was that the right thing?
“You’re finally home.” The words came out in a whisper as she got to her feet. She’d kicked off her shoes earlier, but she didn’t bother to put them back on as she rounded the desk and came to a stop a couple of feet from where he stood.
“Yes.” He straightened and held the bouquet out to her. “I am.”
Adrianne took the flowers and dipped her head to smell them, blinking rapidly to keep the sudden rush of tears at bay. It was a wasted effort because when she looked up, her gaze was blurry and as soon as she blinked, she felt the tears slid down her cheeks.
“I’m so very glad,” she said before laying the flowers on her desk. She crossed the final space separating them and wrapped her arms around him.
The ache in her heart was instantly soothed when he without hesitation engulfed her in his arms. His head bent as she tucked her face into the spot where his shoulder curved into his neck, inhaling the scent she would always associate with him. Her hands grabbed fistfuls of the back of his shirt as if she was never going to let go. And she very much wanted that to be the case.
“I missed you.” His words were low and rough, and Adrianne might not have heard them if he hadn’t spoken them so close to her ear.
Emotion had frozen her vocal chords so all she could do was nod her agreement, knowing he’d feel the movement. There was so much to say, but it would have to wait.
After a couple of minutes, Connor loosened his hold on her. Adrianne reluctantly released the grip she’d had on his shirt and allowed him to put a little distance between them. But he wasn’t going far.
Connor reached out to cup her face, tilting it up to his. It was then that Adrianne saw that his eyes were damp and there was a sadness there that she didn’t remember seeing before. She reached up to place her hands on top of his.
“I’ve been in some really dark places over the past couple of months,” Connor said then paused to clear his throat. “I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed before, and I promised myself that if I got out of there alive, I wasn’t going to live with regrets anymore. Yes, our past is a mess. I know I hurt you then, but I hope you are willing to leave that behind and move forward. I love you, Adrianne. Whatever you might feel for me—friendship, casual acquaintance or something more—I need you to know that I love you.”
The tears that had momentarily disappeared rushed back with a vengeance, and suddenly there was no waiting to tell him how she felt. The right moment was right then. “Oh, Connor, I love you too. I think I always have.”
Adrianne moved her hands to touch his cheeks, the scruff on his jaw rough against her palms. When his head bent down, she closed the last few inches to press her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her again and, just like that moment when she’d walked into her home, Adrianne knew that she was where she belonged.
EPILOGUE
Connor stepped out of the door of his apartment into the warmth of the summer day. He took a moment to enjoy the sunshine. After that last mission, he’d committed to being thankful for each and every day that he was able to walk free. He’d never revealed all the details of that time, but they were never far from his thoughts. Betrayal cut deep and the wounds were slow to heal, especially when it was hard to understand why the betrayal had even taken place. To this day, he couldn’t grasp how Jace and his wife had decided that going to work for the very people they’d been hired to defeat was a good idea. And yet, that’s what had happened.
Even though he was angry with Jace for putting their team in jeopardy and, in fact, putting the whole company at risk, he was grateful for what the man had done to secure his freedom. He was fairly sure that Jace had played a role in opening doors—quite literally—so that he could escape from the place where he’d been held captured and tortured almost from the moment he’d stepped off the plane from the Philippines.
The whole experience made him very glad that he’d already retired and could walk away when he’d finally returned to the US. Getting back to Adrianne and Rebecca had been all that was in his mind. And seeing her again for the first time, feeling her move into his embrace so willing, had been a balm for Connor’s weary soul.
Smiling at the memory, Connor headed down the stairs and across the driveway to the main house. Once inside, he listened for the voices of the people he was looking for.
“Hey, Connor,” Alex called out when he walked into the kitchen.
Alex and his dad were seated at the breakfast nook with Jordan. The women had all taken off to go with Melanie while she tried on bridal gowns. She and Tyler had gotten engaged in early spring and it looked like they were planning a winter wedding. Between Rebecca’s pregnancy and Melanie’s engagement, Adrianne’s mom had been over the moon. Thankfully, ever since that night when Alex had basically told his mom to back off from trying to set Adrianne up, she’d stopped pestering her daughter about getting married and having a family.
Of course, it probably helped that he and Adrianne were dating now. They’d let her mom crow about that one for a couple of months. Though Connor had seen how her mother’s actions had bothered Adrianne, he actually enjoyed seeing a mother so involved in her children’s lives. Goodness knows that wasn’t the case with his mom. She was focused on the one child who’d done everything in the right order and in the right time. Their younger sister had gotten married when she was twenty-four to
a successful businessman and had then proceeded to pop out three children, perfectly spaced two years apart. Then there was Rebecca with what they had all assumed was an unwed pregnancy and him with his dangerous job that kept him from settling down at all.
“You guys off somewhere?” Connor asked as he sat down next to Jordan.
“We don’t have anything planned,” Alex said. “I had thought about going into the office for a bit, but that really doesn’t hold much appeal right now.”
Things had settled right down again with BlackThorpe after the shooting. It definitely fit the pattern of past incidents. A big attack and then…nothing. Connor hadn’t even been able to uncover any chatter on the internet that might lead him to believe another attack was imminent. He knew that Alex and Marcus were both frustrated by their inability to flush out whoever was behind it all. They were definitely dealing with someone who knew what they were doing.
“What are you up to?” Jordan asked. “Do you want to go shooting?”
Connor glanced at his nephew. “Sorry, buddy. Not today.” He cleared his throat. “I’d actually like to talk to your grandfather.”
The older man lifted an eyebrow when Connor looked at him. “How can I help you?”
“I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Adrianne.” Though he’d rehearsed what he wanted to say, Connor suddenly found himself scrambling to recall the words. He heard a chuckle and glanced over to see Alex with a big grin on his face. Strange as it seemed, that seemed to calm him down. “I know that Adrianne and I got off to a real rocky start, but I wanted to let you know that I love your daughter more than anything. I’m hoping that you will give me your blessing to ask for her hand in marriage.”
When Jordan let out a little squeal, Alex slapped his hand over his son’s mouth. His grin had turned into something more emotional.
“I would be a fool to withhold that blessing, son.” The older man reached over to lay his hand on Connor’s shoulder. His faded blue eyes seemed to dampen as he regarded Connor. “I’ve never seen Adrianne happier than when she’s with you. I think the fact that you had to overcome so much has made your love stronger, and I would be honored to welcome you into our family. And you know, of course, that her mother will feel the same way.”
“I sure hope so, sir, but I’m not certain how happy she’ll be if I press for a sooner rather than later wedding date. I think we’ve waited long enough.”
“I agree,” Alex said with a laugh. “Someone needs to move into that beautiful home.”
Connor chuckled. Though Adrianne owned her dream house, she still hadn’t moved in. He’d never asked—and she’d never said—but he suspected that now that they were dating, she liked being close to him at the mansion. And, of course, he liked that too. She had slowly been buying stuff for it, but the big items were still missing. Connor suspected she was doing that on purpose. She’d taken him along to look at couch sets and dining room tables over the past few months, but even though she’d seemed to even fall in love with some of them, she’d never taken the plunge.
“So do you have the ring picked out already?” Alex asked. “Are you planning to pop the question soon?”
Connor nodded. “Tonight, in fact.”
“No sense in wasting any time,” Alex’s dad agreed.
Connor stayed at the table with the guys, laughing at the ideas they kept coming up with about how he could propose to Adrianne. Not that he planned to take any of their suggestions. His plan was already in place and ready to go. It wasn’t anything too splashy, but he hoped that she’d appreciate the significance.
And he hoped she’d say yes.
~*~
“You need to buy that dress.”
Those weren’t words that Adrianne had anticipated hearing when she’d agreed to go wedding dress shopping with Melanie. After all, she and Connor had only been dating for a few months and hadn’t even discussed marriage. But when her mom had insisted she try on dresses along with Melanie, Adrianne couldn’t resist. Thankfully, Melanie had been happy to share the experience with her.
Now she stood on a small elevated circular stage wearing an elegant white dress. As she stared at herself in the mirror, she felt tears prick the back of her eyes. This wasn’t the poufy Cinderella style dress she’d dreamed of wearing since she was a little girl. The dress wasn’t strapless like so many styles, but it had thicker straps that formed a v-neck that barely hinted at her cleavage. The empire waist was accented by a silver lace embellishment that had a drop down section on one side. The skirt had slanted ruching along her hips and then flowed out over an a-line skirt. It was a dress that she never would have imagined being her dress, and yet it was.
“It’s beautiful, Annie.” Melanie appeared beside her, still wearing the dress she had said yes to. “You should definitely get it.”
Adrianne lifted a hand to brush at the moisture on her cheek. “Connor hasn’t asked me to marry him. We haven’t even talked about it.”
This time her mom appeared on her other side. She smiled broadly at their reflection in the mirror. “But he will, and when he does, you’ll have this beautiful dress to get married in. If you wait, it might not be here.”
“But it’s that weird? To buy the dress before I’m even engaged?”
The sale woman who had been standing off to the side stepped closer. “It really isn’t. Wedding dresses come and go with the seasons so it’s not unheard of for a girl to snap up a dress if she falls in love with it. Even if she’s not engaged.”
The only person who hadn’t said anything was Rebecca. Adrianne looked over to where her sister-in-law sat on the couch, her hands cupping her very noticeable baby bump. Rebecca gave her a gentle smile and nodded her head in agreement.
Adrianne took a deep breath and let it out. “I guess I’ll buy the dress and pray that it’s not all in vain.”
Her mom slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a side hug. “I think you know that it won’t be. You and Connor haven’t come this far only to fall apart now.’
Adrianne knew her mom was right. She loved Connor and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Maybe she should propose to him. Or at the very least, begin to drop some very unsubtle hints. Perhaps Rebecca would even be willing to drop a hint or two as well.
As she prepared to pay for the dress a short time later, Adrianne waited for panic to set in, but it never did. She was confident that this would the dress she wore when she married Connor, and she couldn’t wait.
~*~
“I can’t believe you found a place playing Galaxy Quest,” Adrianne said as they left the retro theater that he’d found that featured some of the more popular older movies. “After all these years, we finally got to watch it.”
They were holding hands as they walked down the sidewalk to where he’d parked his car. She pressed her head to his shoulder and let out a contented sigh.
“I know you said on Facebook that you only watched it once every ten years, but I’d hoped you’d make an exception in order to watch it on the big screen.”
Adrianne tilted her head up to look at him. “I would definitely make an exception to watch it with you. Big or small screen.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Connor smiled and bent down to press a quick kiss to her lips. “Do you want to grab some dessert?”
“Do you even have to ask? You know I’m always up for the sweet stuff.”
Connor did know and had counted on that. After helping her into the car, he drove to a small café that specialized in desserts of all kinds. He’d found the place when researching where to go for the final part of the evening he’d planned. It was a cozy place and the owners had been more than willing to work with him.
“I’ve never been here before,” Adrianne said as she peered through the paned window into the dimly lit interior.
“Me, either, but it came highly recommended. I think you should be able to find something to satisfy your sweet tooth.”
Once inside, they were led to a small squ
are table in the back corner of the café. Like the other tables, the one they were at had candles, but what the others lacked was the bouquet of roses that sat against the wall at the edge of the table. Since the flowers were off to the side, Adrianne didn’t seem to notice them at first.
Smiling, she took the menu from the waitress and then began to peruse its content. Connor had a pretty good idea of what she would order, but regardless, the stage was set for whatever her choice would be. He wasn’t the most creative guy around, but he hoped that it would make for a memorable evening for her.
When the waitress came and took their order, she gave Connor a knowing smile. He returned it then turned to see Adrianne watching him with an arched brow.
“I think that waitress was flirting with you,” she stated.
Connor immediately felt a knot form in his stomach. No way did he want to have her upset by something that was totally off base, but in order to correct her, he’d have to reveal his plans. Best thing he could do was just placate her in another way.
“Well, sad for her, but I’m already taken.” He smiled at Adrianne and winked. “The most beautiful woman I know has already laid claim to my heart.”
Adrianne stared at him for a moment before she started to laugh as he’d hoped she would. “Well, I’m not sure about that last part, but you are most definitely taken.”
He watched as she looked around the café, waiting to see if she’d spot the flowers and understand their significance.
“If the desserts are good, we’re going to have to come back here again. I really like this place.”
“I thought you might.”
Connor reached across the table and took Adrianne’s hand. The movement drew her attention back to their table and he felt more than saw the moment when she discovered the flowers. Her hand tightened around his as she reached out with her free one to touch the petals of one of the red roses. He watched as she stared at the bouquet and then looked over at him.
Before she could say anything, the waitress returned with a tray. They each sat back, letting go of the other’s hands so she could put their desserts down. She set Connor’s down first and then turned to place Adrianne’s in front of her. Connor reached for the small box he’d put in his pocket when he’d gotten dressed earlier and then waited to see when she’d notice the writing the café’s owner had promised to pipe in chocolate along the rim of the plate.
Beauty from Ashes: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 5) Page 25
