Gib could feel Agatha’s gaze on him as he lifted his luggage out of her trunk. She’d insisted on driving him to O’Hare. Had filled his ears the entire way on I-94 with complaints about her new boss. But now her silence was even louder.
“Out with it, woman. You’ve never been shy about expressing your opinion. I can tell you’re itching to lay some last bit of wisdom on me before I leave. It had better not be a reminder to wear my raincoat.”
She shook her head, making the cream tassel on top of her knit hat bounce. “No advice. I’m just worried about you. The way I’d worry about my own son.”
Certainly far more concern than his own mother had ever shared. God, he’d miss Agatha. “No need to worry. After all, I’ve hit bottom. In one fell swoop, I’ve lost a job I loved, the true family I forged here, and my best friend.” He dropped his suitcase to the curb, crossed his arms over his chest. Grimly continued to recount the cesspool his life had become. “To top it off, I know I’m head over heels in love with Daphne. She is the only woman for me.”
“You should know. You’ve certainly comparison shopped enough for three men.”
Gib ignored her jab, just like he had every other disapproving comment over his dating choices she’d sent his way. “And I love her too much to drag her off to share an uncertain and jobless future. For God’s sake, she’s a partner in two businesses here. Has family she actually cares about. I’m certainly not enough of a prize to yank her away from all that. My family situation’s shit and my job’s at the mercy of my brother’s mistress. I would give anything to stay with Daphne. The old, selfish Gib would’ve stuffed her into my suitcase and taken her to England. But I won’t ask her to sacrifice her happiness for me.”
Matching crinkles of approval bracketed her eyes and lips. “Oh, Gibson, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You truly are a good man. I’m sorry your current reward for that is life pissing all over you.”
He ratcheted his lips into a tight smile. “So if you think about it, I’ve nowhere to go from here but up.”
Agatha enveloped him in a tight hug that strained the seams of her wool coat. “Good luck, Gibson.”
“I’ll miss you.” He waved as she pulled into traffic. Basked in what was probably his last sunny sky for a while, then trudged inside. If anything, the noise level increased. The loudspeaker mumbled loudly almost nonstop. Every line for security stretched out to the check-in counters. Gib couldn’t have picked a busier afternoon. Suddenly, exhaustion washed over him. Looked down at the gray-and-white checkerboard tiles, and couldn’t summon the energy to go any farther. He sank onto a bench. The bloody endless lines would still be there when he was ready. Gib just needed a moment to regroup.
Shrugging out of his overcoat, he laid it on top of his pile of suitcases. Rolled his head to stretch the crick in his neck, and saw Sam, of all people. Looking more than a little ridiculous, as he held two tall stalks covered with flowers as bright blue as an Easter egg out in front of him.
“Damn it, I told you I didn’t want a big send-off.” But he’d grab at any excuse to spend a few more minutes with the guy. As Gib stood, he felt a grin stretch wide across his face. “What’s with the mini bouquet? It’s a little on the small side to give to Mira. You might want to get Daph to fill it out with some roses or something.”
“It’s for you.” Sam shuffled his feet. Looked up at the skylights while he handed over the flowers. “They’re forget-me-nots. In the language of flowers, they mean true love.”
Gib looked down at the vibrant splotches of yellow at the center of each flower. He’d never been more confused. “Pardon me?” When he looked back up, Mira was only a few steps away. She picked up the pace when she caught his eye, her long legs stretching across the checkerboard tiles. Needle-sharp heels clattered with a distinctive ping.
She handed him a sprig of white flowers. Delicate purple veins spread across the bottom of each petal. “These are white violets. They say let’s take a chance on happiness.”
Gib looked from Mira to Sam, then back again. “I think you’re both off your rockers. Definitely the weirdest going-away presents ever. Thanks, though. Nice of you two to come see me off.”
“Oh, there’s more than just two of us,” said Mira. She pointed back toward the entrance.
Panting slightly, Ben jogged through the doors and over to them. “Sorry. Parking was a bitch. Sweet ride, though,” he said with a wink.
Panic shot through Gib. He’d left the keys to his precious Moll Davis with Ben. And the first thing he’d done was stick her in rush-hour traffic? “Airport parking lots are a free-for-all. Do you realize how likely it is she’ll get dinged?”
“It was an emergency. I didn’t have any choice.”
“What? What the hell was an emergency?”
“This.” From behind his back, Ben produced a clutch of light purple, five-petaled flowers. “It’s lungwort. Most hideously named flower ever.” He looked at Mira. “I feel like an idiot. Do I really have to say it?”
Before she could answer, Ivy scooted in next to her fiancé. Her cheeks were flushed as if she’d run from the parking lot, too. The ends of the pink ribbon around her ponytail flapped against her neck. “Yes. Romance won’t kill you, Ben. We’ve been over this.”
“Fine.” He thrust the flowers at Gib. “In the Victorian flower language, these mean thou art my life.”
Gib was picking up on a theme. He just didn’t know what to make of it. “Thanks. I think.”
Ivy whipped a long, trailing cutting of ivy out of her shoulder bag. “Wedded love and fidelity.”
He took it from her. “Same to you?” Was anyone going to explain what the hell was going on? There were two hours to fill before his flight, but this was downright weird. Weirder still when Milo pushed his way out of the stream of travelers along with a tall, older man Gib had never seen before.
“Coral roses signify desire.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and rolled his hips as he handed the long-stemmed blossoms to Gib.
“We slept ten feet away from each other for how many years, and you wait to seduce me in an airport?” Gib heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Bad timing, mate.”
“Well, I know a lost cause when I see one. Besides, my unrequited desire’s not the issue.”
The loose semicircle formed by his friends parted. There stood Daphne. The sight of her stole his breath away. And shattered his heart all over again. She wore the white sweaterdress that she’d worn to the magazine party. The one that clung to her like a sexy second skin. Her hair fell in loose waves down her back. And in her hands was a single yellow flower, its stem wrapped in florist tape as a boutonniere. As she pinned it to his lapel, she said, “This is a jonquil. It translates to return my affection.”
He grabbed her hand. Drank in the unexpected sight of her before him. Helpless to respond with anything in that moment but the truth, he said, “I do.”
Eyes bright, she triple blinked. “A week ago, you jokingly said something to me. At the party. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you were on to something.”
What the hell had they talked about at that party? He racked his brain to think, but he couldn’t. Gib could only stare at Daphne, grateful for every extra second he got to spend with her. And pretty damn relieved she didn’t seem ready to clock him anymore.
“So I’m going to repeat it to you, word for word. With a slight twist. I’m not joking.” Daphne rubbed her hands together, then dropped them at her sides. “The solution’s right in front of you. Gib, I’m giving you a reason to stay.” Awkwardly, she dropped to her knees. Then she grabbed his hand. “Will you marry me?”
He didn’t believe her. Half expected a camera crew to pop out from behind a ticket counter. For the life of him, Gib didn’t know what to say.
“You see, I was upset when I said all those horrible things to you.” She rushed on, her words spurting out faster than a shaken-up soda. “But I heard what you said, too. I should’ve had more faith in
myself. I should’ve realized you only left me to protect my heart. It doesn’t matter that you hooked up with Debra after.”
“But I didn’t,” he protested. The truth might as well come out now. Gib couldn’t hold anything back from her. Not anymore. “When we quarreled that night, I thought it would be easier for you to hate me than to pine for me. It was why I let you walk away. Hell, why I goaded you to walk away. That was stupid.” He dropped to his knees to look her in the eyes. Laid the flowers on the ground so he could take both her hands. “Please, you have to let me explain.”
“It’s not necessary.”
Yes, it was. He couldn’t let any speck of hurt or doubt linger in her heart. “It is if I want a clean slate. Look, I had every intention of going to Flower Power. As I was leaving, my brother showed up unannounced.”
All his friends gasped. It was almost funny. “Good surprise or bad?” asked Daphne.
“I’d call it the emotional equivalent of the napalm drops back in Vietnam. By the time Gerald left, I was a wreck. I placed an emergency call to Doc Debra so she could help me deal with it. She stepped back into her role as my therapist. All she did was help me—as a professional and as a friend—come to terms with returning home. Aside from saying goodbye, nothing physical happened.” Gib gripped her hands even tighter, trying to squeeze the naked truth in his words straight into her. “It couldn’t, because I’m so in love with you, Daphne.”
Her smile broke across her face with the soft promise of a rainbow. “That’s the first time you’ve said it.”
More fool him. “I’ll tell you every day, every hour, if you’ll let me.” He moved her hand onto his chest. “Do you feel that? You’re the reason my heart’s beating so hard. You’re the reason it wants to beat at all. It was a hollow shell when I moved here. And you, you filled it with laughter and life and happiness.”
“I want to be your reason to stay—and I want you to choose to stay, with me. Gib, we built such a strong foundation of friendship. Then wove together even tighter as lovers. Now I want us to take the final step. Become husband and wife. Not so you can stay in America. But so you can stay with me.”
Without her hand there, his heart might very well fly right out of his chest. “I’m not much of a catch.” Gib thought of the behind-the-scenes machinations his brother had already engineered once. Who’s to say he wouldn’t try again? “There’s no guarantee the Cavendish will slot me right back into Chicago. Doc Debra offered to hook me up with a part-time job teaching hotel management at the college where she’s on the faculty. It wasn’t enough of a job to legally keep me here, but now it could give me a foothold while I continue to search for something more.”
“It’ll all work out. As long as we’re together. I love you so much, Gib.”
“I promise to make you proud of me.” He shook his head. “No, more importantly, I promise that you are now, and will always be, more than enough woman for me. There’s no one in the world better for me.”
“And believe me, he’s looked,” deadpanned Milo.
As of right now, he was closing the book on that chapter of his life. Starting fresh. Starting over as a one-woman man. The only woman for him. He stood, and tugged her up with him. “Call me traditional, but I want to do this right. Your proposal means the world to me. But you have to know how much I want to be with you. You’ve been brilliant, knocking against my thick skull. Making me fall in love with you just by being yourself.”
Daphne swiped at the tear trailing down her cheek. “If I’d known all I had to do was be myself, I’d have kissed you in the dark and set things in motion years ago.”
“I’ve cocked this up so many times. Been a blind, buggered idiot. I need to start fresh with you. Please, let me make the grand gesture. Let me prove to you, for once and for all, that you take precedence over everything and everyone else. That you are my whole life.”
More tears sparkled in her eyes. She nodded wordlessly.
Gib dropped back down to one knee. Took her left hand and cursed the lack of a ring. She deserved the bloody Crown Jewels for putting up with him. But all he could do for now was press his lips to her fourth finger, where he’d soon put a diamond to seal their love.
“I didn’t know I could be so full of love. That I could look at you and see a future of happiness reflected back at me. Will you marry me? Promise to always be my best friend and lover? Vow to let me adore you with all that I am for all the days to come? Because nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you, Daphne.”
Another nod. A sniffle, then a tight squeeze of his hands. “Starting right now, I hope. Right here. We’ve brought along Judge Henderson to perform the ceremony so you can legally remain in the country.”
Looked like Daphne was one step ahead of him, yet again. How’d they manage to scoop up a judge and drag him out to the airport? “You’ve got a judge on retainer now at Aisle Bound?”
“You aren’t the only one in this town with connections,” said Ivy. “He’s a friend of my father’s. There’s some paperwork to be cleared up, and you’ll have to go a few rounds with the INS. But it’s all legal and binding, I assure you.”
The gray-haired man stepped forward. “Judge Martin Henderson.” Shook his hand. “Daphne convinced me to help with this unusual ceremony by explaining that you’ve been best friends for years. That should smooth over most any wrinkles that arise.”
“She’s my very best friend. And always will be.” Gib stood, pulling Daphne up with him. Wanted to sweep her into his arms, but Ivy pulled them apart.
“We’ll do the ceremony in a chapel over in Terminal 2. Don’t worry, it’s outside the security checkpoint.” Ivy picked up the flowers and handed them to Daphne. “There’s your bridal bouquet.”
“I should’ve known you’d have a plan.”
“Yes, you should have,” she sassed back.
“I made the same mistake once,” said Ben. “Look where that got me.” He kissed Ivy’s finger, right above her engagement ring.
“We’ve got you covered for the rings, too.” Sam unfolded a handkerchief. Inside were two green rings, plaited out of flower stems. “At least for today. You might want to upgrade to something less biodegradable soon, though.”
“They’re perfect.” He twined his fingers through Daphne’s. A simple act he’d done time and time again. This time, it felt like coming home. England hadn’t been home for a long time, and neither was America. It was Daphne that was his home.
“Of course, we’ll throw you a bigger, better wedding.” Mira patted his arm. “Just give us a few months to pull it together.”
Gib looked at his friends—no, his family—clustered around him. Looked down at the beautiful woman who’d poked holes in the casing around his empty heart, and cascaded love into it. Knew that he’d never, ever let her go. “This is perfect.”
Ivy’s ubiquitous schedule would have to wait. A man had priorities, after all. So there, in the middle of the airport teeming with strangers and surrounded by friends, Gib kissed Daphne. Claimed her as his friend. His lover. His bride. His one and only.
Thanks for reading Friends to Lovers, book 3 in the Aisle Bound series. Up next is book 4, A Matchless Romance - keep reading for an excerpt.
To learn of my next release, please sign up for my newsletter: http://www.christibarth.com/home/contact/
Finally, to see other books I’ve written, turn the page!
The Aisle Bound Series
Planning For Love
A Fine Romance
Friends To Lovers
A Matchless Romance
The Bad Boys Gone Good Trilogy
Bad For Her
Never Been Good
Got It Bad
The Bad Decisions Trilogy
The Opposite of Right
The Reverse of Perfection
The Other Side of Wrong
The Naked Men Series
Risking It All
Wanting It All
Giving
It All
Trying It All
Having It All
The Shore Secrets Trilogy
Up To Me
All For You
Back To Us
The Sexy Misadventures of Royals Trilogy
The Princess Problem
Ruling The Princess
Tempting The Prince
Beach Duet
Love At High Tide
Love On The Boardwalk
Act Like We’re In Love
Carolina Heat
Check My Heart
Cruising Toward Love
Never Too Late
The Do-Over
Christmas novellas
Ask Her At Christmas
Tinsel My Heart
The Magic of Christmas
Acknowledgments
Hugs to the MRW Scribblers for their invaluable help. Don’t forget to notice that Gib’s slippers made it to publication! Gratitude to my beta readers; Eliza Knight, Lea Nolan, Joya Fields and Stephanie Dray, who heroically carved out the time to read this during the holidays. And thanks to my wonderful editor Angela James. She not only squelched my addiction to similes, but helped me turn this from a two-tissue ending to a pass-the-whole-box ending!
Friends To Lovers
© 2020 Christi Barth
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Friends To Lovers (Aisle Bound Book 3) Page 30
