“You too, Dad. Good-bye.”
Heather brought the plates back to the table. “Here you go. The eggs may be rubbery since they’ve been in the microwave, but at least they’re not cold.”
“I’m sure they’ll be okay.” He smiled at her. “Luke said the boys can’t wait to see Grammy and Poppa. Seems they’ve taken to each other.”
She grinned. “Aren’t they the most precious boys on earth?”
He nodded, then said, “I need to ask you something, Heather.”
“Ask away.”
“Will you marry me?”
Heather dropped her fork, stared at him a few seconds, then threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, Alex. I’ll marry you. I’ll marry you anytime you want me too.”
“How about today?”
She pulled back and looked at him. “Not today. Our sons aren’t here.”
“Oh, yeah. We do want them to be a part of this don’t we?” She nodded and he added, “Then how about tomorrow? If we can get all your business done, we could go to the beach tonight.”
“I think we need to give the kids time to get used to the idea.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Besides, we have a few things we need to talk about.”
“Well, when?” He pulled her into his lap and looked into her eyes. “You said you’d marry me anytime. When will that anytime get here?”
“How does Friday sound? Friday has always been my lucky day. My Daddy even recognized me on a Friday and was able to tell me good-bye.”
“Friday sounds like a great day to me.”
CHAPTER 26
They finished her business faster than expected on Monday. It was four o’clock when they had their bags in his car and headed for Myrtle Beach. As soon as they were on the road, Heather pulled out her laptop and got ready to write. They’d decided they’d discuss their wedding and make their plans on the ride down.
By the time they reached Rockingham, they had completed the prenuptial agreement, which she insisted they have. “It’s only fair to Luke, honey. Your businesses should go to him,” she’d said.
He agreed. “And the royalties from your books should go to Tim, as well as your house and the condo at the beach.”
They worked out a plan for the two grandsons and for future grandchildren to have a substantial inheritance when they reached age twenty-five. Then they turned to making plans for the ceremony.
“I’d like to get married in a church, Alex. What do you think?”
“That’s fine. We’ll call around in the morning and see if we can find one which will let us use their sanctuary. We’ll also see if the minister is available to perform the nuptials.” Alex chuckled. “I hope Tim doesn’t get mad because we raided his closet and found a navy suit for him to wear.”
“I’m sure he’ll forgive us.” She smiled. “Would you object if
I bought all you guys a tie the same color as my dress?”
“What color is your dress?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t bought it yet.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I have a feeling you’re going to be doing a lot of shopping before Friday.”
“Not too much. I already have the flowers, you know.” She indicated the pot of wild flowers she’d brought from home. “Enough of them are still alive to make a nice bouquet. If we have to buy some fresh ones, we will.”
“Well, then. You buy whatever color tie you want to sweetheart, and I’ll wear it.”
“We’ll have to go to city hall and get our license. There’s a twenty-four-hour waiting period in South Carolina.”
“Looks like you’ve done some advance planning,” he kidded her.
She playfully punched his shoulder. “I had to look it up for a book I was writing. I had a couple elope to South Carolina, so I had to know the laws concerning marriage.”
He reached for her hand. “I can’t wait to tell my friends about you.”
She kissed the back of his hand. “Good. Those single mountain women need to know you’re no longer available.”
When they were near Myrtle Beach, Alex called to let everyone know they were going to get dinner before coming in.
“Oh, no. Don’t do that,” Brenda said. “Juanita and I have cooked spaghetti. We’re expecting you to eat with us.”
“In that case, we’ll be there in less than thirty minutes.” Alex hung up the phone. “Brenda says we’re to come eat spaghetti with them.”
“That’s nice.”
“I think so, too. We’ll be able to tell them all our plans tonight.”
When Heather and Alex arrived, they found the spaghetti ready to put on the table. The boys insisted on sitting between Heather and Alex. More of the sauce got on their faces than in their stomachs. Everyone in the Hargrove family had a good laugh when Heather leaned down and wiped Jacob’s mouth and he said, “Grammy, you’re good. You’re not grumpy like Kate.”
“I don’t see how anyone could be grumpy with a sweet boy like you.” She smiled at him and lifted her eyebrow at Alex.
Alex smiled at her. “Kate didn’t want to mess up the napkin to wipe his face.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. We voted.” Jacob was ready to tell her the story.
“What did you vote on?” Heather smiled at the innocent face looking up at her.
“Poppa can’t marry her. I voted, too.”
“Poppa can marry Grammy,” Ben said.
“Yes, he can. We like Grammy,” Jacob said and turned back to his spaghetti.
“It sounds as if you boys have conspired to get Poppa and Grammy together,” Brenda said with a laugh.
“What’s conspired?” Jacob asked.
“It means we made the plan, Jacob,” Ben explained.
“Well, I have news for you boys. Poppa is going to marry Grammy. How do you like that?” Alex looked at the two with a twinkle in his eyes.
They both nodded vigorously.
“That is, after she finds out about this Kate person.” Heather rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think she’s anyone you should worry about Heather,” Luke said. “But maybe we should explain.”
“She don’t smile like you do, Grammy,” Jacob butted in. “She looked mean.”
“Now, Jacob. She wasn’t mean. She doesn’t understand little boys like Grammy does,” Brenda said.
“Grammy loves little boys,” Ben said. “She’s never mean.”
“Poppa loves them, too,” Jacob added.
“We sure do love little boys,” Heather said.
“Yes, we do,” Alex added.
“Are you through Jacob? I wanna go play.” Ben who was sitting beside Alex nudged his friend. “I already have our cars in a semicircle.”
“What’s that?”
“A half circle.”
“Okay.” Jacob grinned.
“Don’t you boys want some dessert?” Juanita asked.
“No,” they said almost in unison and started to get up.
“Wait a minute, Ben,” Alex said. “Let Poppa clean the sauce off your chin.”
“Okay.” He turned his face toward Alex.
After the two children were seated in the living area of the condo with their trucks, cars and stuffed animals, Alex moved to the chair beside Heather. “Here are two people who’ll have dessert,” he said.
Before their wives could stand, Luke and Tim were on their feet. “I’ll get the pie if you’ll do the coffee, Tim.”
“It’ll be my pleasure.”
Alex looked at Heather. “We didn’t do so bad raising our boys, did we? See how nice they are to their wives.”
“Yes, they’re special guys.” She looked at him and smiled. “But I don’t think you did it alone. I’m sure Anna had a lot to do with the way Luke turned out.”
“She was a wonderful mother.” Alex squeezed her hand.
“She was always proud of him.”
“I’m sure she was.”
Luke was setting pie in front of everyone. Wh
en he came to Heather, he leaned down and kissed her cheek and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For mentioning my mother.”
When he was seated and Tim had served the coffee Heather said, “Luke, your father has told me what a wonderful wife and mother Anna was. I’m glad you had a loving and happy family for as long as you did. I know if I’d known your mother we would’ve been friends.”
“It means a lot to me that you feel this way, Heather.” He glanced at his Dad. “If we took a vote on Heather tonight, I bet it would be a unanimous yes.”
“I think Jacob has already submitted his vote,” Brenda said. “And I second it.”
“Coming from this side of the family, I can say we feel the same way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom any happier than she looks right now.” He reached for his mother’s hand. “She was also a fantastic Mom. She’s always been there for me, no matter what, and I know whatever happens in the future, she’ll still be there.”
Heather smiled at her son. “Much more of this flattery, and we’ll sprout haloes won’t we, honey?” She glanced at Alex.
“I feel I should adjust mine right now.” He reached up and pretended to move a halo. “Now, before you heap any more praise on us, we have something to tell you.” Everyone looked at Alex.
“On the drive down, we made some plans—and we’d like to share them with you.” He got up and went to a side table where he’d placed Heather’s laptop and her vase of flowers. “We’ll run this off and get it notarized tomorrow, but in the meantime, we want to see if you approve.”
He handed her the laptop. She booted it up and pulled up the copy she’d made of their prenuptial agreement. She slid the computer around so they could see it.
After reading the agreement, Luke was the first to speak. “I think it’s a well thought out agreement, but I’m surprised you decided to do it, Dad.”
“To be honest, it was Heather’s idea. She thought it only fair that if I went first, you’d be the one to get the businesses. Of course, she’ll have life time rights to everything else.”
“I think it’s a good prenuptial, too,” Tim said. “The one thing I don’t understand is why you’re deeding fifteen acres of your land to me, Alex. I’m grateful and I love the idea of having land in the mountains, but I’m shocked.”
“Well, Tim, there’s nothing your mother would like more than for you and your family to have a house in the mountains.
And who knows, you might want to move up there sometime. As you can see, we’ll make our home there because that’s where my work is. And with her writing, she can pursue it there as well as in Wynburg.”
“It would be lovely having you closer, Juanita,” Brenda said. “Look at those boys.” They all glanced toward the living room. “It’d be wonderful for them to grow up together.”
“They consider themselves cousins already.” Juanita smiled at them.
“There’s one thing you might consider adding,” Luke suggested. “In case of a divorce, you should put in a settlement for Heather.”
“There won’t be a divorce, son.”
“I hope not, but just in case.”
“I agree with Luke,” Tim said. “I don’t think you’ll ever separate, but who knows. This Kate person might come back into your life.”
“We don’t like Kate,” Jacob yelled.
Everyone laughed. “And you think they aren’t listening,” Brenda said.
“Okay, since it has been brought up again, I want to know about this Kate. How important was she to you?” She tried to look fierce at Alex. She didn’t succeed.
He put his arm around her shoulder. “I can tell you all about her in a few sentences. I took her out twice, I think. Once out to eat. When I screwed up and asked her to go out to eat again, Luke and Brenda insisted I come to their house for a cook out. At church the next morning, Luke leaned over to me and whispered, ‘We took a vote. Kate’s not the woman for you.’ He didn’t know I’d already decided she wasn’t. As soon as I got home from church, I called you and we went on our picnic. From that moment on, I was a one-woman man.”
She touched his face. “I am the one woman, aren’t I?”
“Nah. I’m stringing you along.” He wrinkled his nose at her.
“You two remind me of my teenage years.” Brenda shook her finger at them.
“They say as you get older, you get silly,” Juanita teased.
“And sometimes being silly is fun,” Alex added and gave Heather a quick kiss.
Luke shook his head and chuckled. “Let’s get back to business. How about that divorce statement.”
“Okay, okay,” Alex said and turned the computer around. “Let’s see. I’ll put it here.” He blocked off a space. “Now.” He looked at Heather. “How much should I give you if we get a divorce?”
She arched her eyebrows at him. “How about your entire manhood?”
“Boy, you can be tough, can’t you?” He said and began typing while everyone else laughed.
Alex turned the computer back to Luke. “How’s that?”
Luke nodded. “Good with me.” He showed it to Tim.
Tim’s eyes got big and he nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, what did you give me?” Heather demanded.
“I’m not going to tell you. It might entice you to leave me.” She stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed the computer. When her eyes rested on the two million dollar figure, she grew serious. “Alex, that’s too much money.”
“What difference does it make? We’ll never get a divorce. I could put any amount in there and it wouldn’t matter.”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “We’re going to be together until one or the other of us meets our Maker.”
“Now, this is settled,” Alex said. “Let’s tell them the rest of our plans.”
CHAPTER 27
“You have more plans?” Tim looked at his mother.
“Yes, son.” She reached for Alex’s hand for support. “We decided to get married this week while we’re here on vacation.” All four of them stared at Heather and Alex.
“I believe we surprised them,” Alex said.
“Shock might be a better word,” Luke finally said. “Are you sure about this, Dad?”
“I’m very sure, son.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, Tim. Alex and I love each other and we see no reason to wait. You know, at our age, time goes awfully fast and we want to spend what we have left together.”
“So what plans have you made?” Juanita asked.
“Heather wants to get married in a church, so we’re going to call around in the morning to make arrangements. We hope to find a Methodist since that’s what we’re used to. We then have to get a license.” He smiled at Heather and added, “My lady, here, wants to go shopping for a dress so I’m leaving that up to you girls.”
“Tim, we went by your house and brought your navy suit. We knew Luke already had the one he wore to Daddy’s funeral. Alex gave me permission to buy you guys matching ties. I’ll also get matching outfits for the boys.”
“So, we’re looking at maybe Saturday?” Luke asked.
“Or earlier. We said Friday, but we’ll know more after we talk to the church.” Alex looked at the young men across the table. “Not that we’re going to let it change our minds, but we’re now ready to hear your objections.”
After a minute Tim said, “Don’t you think you need to spend more time getting to know each other?”
“We added up all the hours we’ve spent together and on the phone since we met and we figure it equals a good six months of steady dating.” Heather smiled at her son. “If I remember correctly, you proposed to Juanita after only four months—and I think it turned out pretty well.”
“But how well do you know the little things about each other? Things that could become an issue between you?” Luke looked at them.
“I know we have our differences, but we compromise easily. Yesterday, wh
ile I watched the race on TV, she went into her office and wrote. Then we cooked dinner and enjoyed being together. We talked about a few things coming down. She’s into classical music and likes to go to plays and such. I can deal with that because she likes country music, too. She wasn’t making it up when she said she liked the group Alabama. She also swears she’s going to let me teach her the two-step. I promised to take her to a couple of Broadway shows a year and we’ll check out the local little theater group. She’s going to learn to ride so we can take the horses out at home. Anything else we’ll tackle when it comes up.”
Heather added, “There’s one thing that’s important to us and that’s our faith in God. I enjoy going to church and fellowshipping with other Christians as much as he does.” She smiled at Alex. “I do have to admit I was glad to learn he was a Methodist, because that’s the denomination I’ve belonged to all my life. I feel I’ll fit into your church quite well.”
“Oh, dear. I just thought of a problem concerning church,” Luke said with a mischievous grin. “What’s this wedding going to do to poor Minnie Cox?”
“It will rock her world, won’t it?” Alex chuckled.
“Now, wait a minute. Is there another woman in your life I should know about?” Heather put her hands on her hips and eyed Alex. It was all she could do to keep from laughing.
He did laugh. Out loud. “Yes, dear, you’re going to have to be nice to poor Minnie Cox because she’s going to be devastated when I show up with a wife.”
Luke and Brenda laughed too. “He’s right,” Brenda said. “She’s been after Alex ever since he’s been available. I think the poor woman thinks she’ll eventually wear him down.”
“Heather, she showed up on Dad’s door step with a casserole inviting him to come to her house for a home cooked meal a few days after we lost Mother.”
“She still comes almost weekly with something or other to eat. And I’ve never been to her house, and I’ll never go.” Alex was still grinning.
“She sure hasn’t given up, though,” Brenda said. “At church one Sunday, she was trying to get him to postpone the trip to the beach so he could go to some sort of dance.”
Alex reached for the back of Heather’s neck and pulled her over to him. “See, I could have already given Luke a stepmother, but I was waiting to meet you.”
Stalking her Dreams (A Coverton Mills Romance Book 1) Page 13
