A moment of silence fell, then, “I know how much that place means to Amy. I also know that she has feelings for you—” Tim was quiet a moment “—as I do for her.”
Paul felt a moment of regret for all the times he had wondered if Tim really cared for Amy. What he had just done showed Paul that he did, and in spite of previous antagonism, he felt sorry for him. “I don’t know what to say, Tim, but I’m really glad you called. Is it Rick or Judd I should deal with on this?”
“Judd signed power of attorney over to Amy a number of years ago. You’ll have to talk to her.”
Paul felt his heart lift. He and his father had been considering the Kincaid place and couldn’t come to an agreement. Danyluks’ wasn’t as large, but it would work better into their operation. “I’ll do that. Thank you.” He said goodbye, hit the Talk button on the handset to hang up and clenched his fists. “Yes,” he shouted, punching the air. “Thank you, Lord.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I feel terrible, leaving you alone tonight.” Noreen buttoned up her coat and then yanked her briefcase off the table. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I’ll try to cut the meeting as short as possible.”
Amy shook her head and pushed the sleeves of her peach-colored corduroy shirt up her arms. She got up and walked to the door. “No. I don’t mind one bit. It’s been a long time since I spent an evening alone. I think I might like it.”
“Well, I’ve spent far too many of them, and I really begrudge the time.” Noreen smiled regretfully at Amy. “But I am consoled in knowing that you’ll be here when I get back.” She reached over and stroked her daughter’s cheek.
Amy smiled back and caught her mother in a hug. “I’m so glad I came, Mom.”
Noreen straightened and nodded. “I wish I could tell you what a blessing you have been to me. I thank God for bringing Tim into your life.”
Amy frowned. “Sorry, Mom. I missed that. You mean Paul don’t you?”
“No. Tim. If you hadn’t gotten engaged to him, the notice would never have been in the Vancouver papers. And I wouldn’t have had the nerve to call you otherwise.” Noreen smiled at Amy. “I guess any mother can’t resist getting in on their daughter’s wedding.”
Amy sighed, thinking how close it had been. She would have missed this time and any future times. For the past few days she had wondered if being engaged to Tim had been wrong. Even if it was, God had used it for good. “Then I’m glad I got engaged to him, too.”
Noreen smiled and glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to go.” She opened the door and paused. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I could just cancel the interview.”
“And sit here feeling guilty the rest of the evening.” Amy laughed. “I don’t mind, Mom. Just go. I’ll have tea ready when you get back.”
Noreen nodded, turned and closed the door behind her.
Amy waited a moment, relishing the quiet sounds of her mother’s condo. No noise from outside intruded, and inside, the only sound was the quiet hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the bubbling of a large fish aquarium dividing the living room from the formal dining room.
The space and luxury of the condo was still unfamiliar, even after three days. But what had been the best surprise was the enjoyment she had, being with her mother. They browsed through the designer boutiques on Robson Street, visited the Granville Market, saw a play at the Queen Elizabeth Theater and on the one clear day they had, walked around Stanley Park.
The days went by far too quickly as she caught a glimpse of her mother’s life, the loneliness she had lived with and how she had filled it. It was almost sad to see how much Noreen enjoyed each minute they spent together.
And each evening Paul phoned. He never asked, and Amy didn’t volunteer, but in the back of each conversation hovered the question, When are we going to be together? She felt so torn. Each smile her mother directed at her, each hug that occurred with increasing spontaneity, anchored another tiny barb of regret for all that her mother had missed out on because of Judd.
But now, alone for the first time in a few days, Amy felt her love for Paul overwhelm her. She ached to be with him, yet a new emotion had reared its head.
She was afraid to make herself vulnerable to him. As she and her mother talked, she was reminded again of herself as a young girl, hanging on Paul’s every word, stealing pictures that she placed under her pillow at night. Again she felt the way it had been to be treated as a younger sister, and she wondered if that would ever go away.
She dropped onto the couch, the cordless phone beside her, and picked up the book she had been trying to finish.
After about an hour she put it down and glanced at the clock. Eight-thirty. Paul still hadn’t called. Amy picked up the TV remote control and flipped through the various channels, turning up her nose at what was offered.
When the phone rang beside her, she jumped. “Noreen Danyluk’s residence, Amy speaking.”
“You always answer the phone so primly, are you sure you didn’t take secretarial training?” Paul’s deep voice reverberated through the lines, sending shivers down Amy’s back.
“Hi.” She leaned back, curled her feet under her, relaxed and smiled.
“So what are you and Noreen doing?”
“Mom’s gone to an important interview, and I’m trying to find something equally exciting to watch on television.” Amy fiddled with the remote and finally shut the television off.
“So you’re all alone.”
“Yah. What about you. What are you up to?” Amy lay back and closed her eyes, letting his deep voice wash over her and soothe all her apprehensions.
“I’ve been traveling.”
Amy listened, positive she could hear the sound of a police siren on the phone. “Where are you? Williams Lake?”
“No. Not Williams Lake.” He was quiet a moment, and the siren died down. “Why don’t you get up and look out your window?”
Amy jumped to her feet and ran to the patio doors. She pulled the vertical blinds aside and squinted into the darkness. All she could see was her pale reflection, her face framed by her hair hanging loose. She cupped one hand and held it between her face and the window.
And then she saw him, standing by the pay phone across the street, looking up at her, waving.
“Can I come up?” his voice asked in her ear.
Amy nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her. “Yes, please,” she said breathlessly.
“I’m going to hang up now. I’ll buzz you.”
“Sure,” was all she could manage.
The click in her ear galvanized her into action. Paul was here. He was coming.
She whirled around the apartment, trying to clean up an already immaculate room. She clapped her hands to her head. Her hair! She had just pulled it up into a ponytail and left it. She would look a fright.
She spun around and headed down the short hall toward the bathroom when the phone rang. Skidding to a halt, she looked left then right. Paul was waiting, but she looked terrible. What to do?
She ran to the phone and picked it up. “Yes?”
“It’s me.”
Amy hit the buzzer to let him in, hung up the phone and headed back down the hallway.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her pale reflection staring back at her. Were her eyes really that big? She looked like she hadn’t slept. And her hair was a mess. At least the shirt was clean. Its pale peach color was a perfect complement to the earth-toned jeans she wore.
Amy yanked on her ponytail, jerked open the drawer and pulled out a hairbrush. But her hair wouldn’t cooperate. She grimaced at it, still holding the brush when the doorbell rang.
He was here already!
Amy dropped the brush, rammed her fingers through her hair, wincing as she hit a tangle.
The doorbell rang again and again.
“Oh, brother,” she sped out of the bathroom, ran down the hallway, her heart hurrying her along, her insecurities holding her back. She stopped in front of
the door, took a deep breath, smoothed her hands over her hair and opened the door. Paul stood in the hallway, his hands shoved in the pockets of faded blue jeans, tiny droplets of water shining in his hair and misting the shoulders of a cream-colored cotton sweater, the tension around his mouth relaxing as he saw her.
He stepped inside, closed the door behind her and without speaking a word gathered her into his arms. He buried his face in her tangled hair, pressed her close and whispered her name over and over.
She clung to him, her eyes closed, one hand clutching his back, the other his neck as they rocked slightly, clinging to each other, filling the emptiness of the past few days, no, months.
Paul straightened, only enough to cup his hand behind her head, then lowered his head and finally kissed her. And Amy’s heart leaped against her chest, her own fingers tangled in his hair, holding him close.
Paul pulled away slightly, ignoring her small sound of protest as he dropped featherlight kisses on her cheek, her eyelids, her temple, his fingers traveling over her face as if remembering each feature.
“Paul,” she whispered, enjoying the sound of his name. “I missed you.”
“I know,” he said confidently, pulling away.
Amy frowned, then saw his grin. “You are terrible.”
He looked down at her, his blue eyes suddenly serious as they traveled over her face. He sighed once and shook his head lightly. “I can’t believe you are actually here.”
“In Vancouver? In my mother’s condo?” she asked, letting him know that two could play his game.
“No.” He gave her a little shake. “In my arms.” He touched her hair, running his fingertips over her hairline, traced her eyebrow, down her nose and then touched her lips. “I love you, Amy,” he said softly. “I have loved you longer than I even knew I did.”
Amy looked up at him, at the face that had been in so many of her dreams, the face that she had thought of in so many of her waking moments. “I’m not dreaming, am I? I’m not going to wake up and find you gone, back to a place I can’t reach you.”
He shook his head and kissed her again. “Let’s go sit where we can talk.”
Amy laughed, caught his hand and pulled him toward the couch. “Will this do?”
Paul tilted his head to one side, glanced at the television, then back at the couch. “Who gets the remote?”
“I hid it.”
He laughed, dropped on the couch and pulled her beside him, cradling her shoulders with his arm, pressing a kiss against her temple. He drew her against him and sighed.
“You drove all the way up from the ranch?” she asked, pulling back to better see his beloved features.
He leaned back on the couch and rolled his head to look at her. “Yes. I have a question to ask you.” He straightened and reached into his back pocket.
Amy felt her heart lift. He had already asked her to marry him at his parents’ place, and she hadn’t quite believed it. This time it was going to be official and real, she mused.
She frowned when he pulled out a long white envelope. She had expected a small velvet box. “What’s that?”
Paul waggled his eyebrows at her. “You don’t know?” He tapped her on the nose with the envelope and then opened it up. “This is a very important document pertaining to our future.”
“A marriage license?” Amy asked carefully.
“Almost as good.” Paul spread the paper on his knee and handed her a pen. “This is an offer from Paul Henderson to purchase the Danyluk property from one Amy Danyluk, who holds the power of attorney granted her by her father…blah, blah, blah.”
Amy snatched the paper from his hands and held it close, scanning the contents. She lowered the paper, shaking her head. “What…” She couldn’t figure this out. “I thought the Drozd boys were going to buy it. They just had to sign the papers.”
“They had trouble coming up with the money.” Paul leaned back, grinning. “I got the information from a very trustworthy source.”
“Who?”
Paul’s face became serious and he took her hand in his, rubbing her fingers. “Tim phoned me to tell me. He thought I would be interested. He knew how important it was to you, and he knew how important you are to me. He told me he did this because he loved you.”
Amy smiled a bittersweet smile. “I thought he would hate me for what I did—” she looked up at Paul “—just weeks before the wedding.”
Paul touched her lips with a finger. “Like my mother told me when I broke up with Stacy, ‘Better before the wedding than after.”’ He smiled down at her and reached into another pocket, this time to pull out a small velvet box.
He carefully opened it and pulled out a golden ring with a blue sapphire bracketed by delicate swirls of gold. He turned it in his hands a moment as it caught the light. Then he carefully slipped it on her finger replacing the diamond that had been there only a week before. “Will you marry me, Amy Danyluk?”
Amy watched as he slid the ring over her knuckle, then she curved her fingers over his. She felt her heart lift, her breath shorten and her throat tighten. “Yes,” she whispered, reaching out for him. “Yes, I will.”
They embraced again, kissed again and laughed again.
“And will you sell me your ranch?” Paul asked, cupping her face in his hands.
“I’ll have to talk to my dad about that,” she said, her mouth almost sore from smiling. She laughed, pulled Paul close and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I thank God for you, Paul Henderson.”
Paul grew serious at her words. “Not as much as I do, Amy. Not as much as I do.” The moment stretched out like a prayer.
Then Paul pulled Amy closer. “When can you come back?”
Amy rubbed her cheek against the soft wool of his sweater. “As soon as possible.”
“Tonight?”
Amy hesitated, suddenly thinking of her mother and her loneliness. But as she looked up at Paul she also realized where she wanted to be with all her heart. She opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment the door opened and Noreen came in.
She stopped, looking first at Amy, then Paul. “So you did come.”
Amy frowned at Paul, then looked back at her mother. “Did you know?”
“Oh, yes,” Noreen said, dropping her briefcase on the floor and shaking the droplets of water from her coat. “I phoned him and told him to come.”
Amy bit her lip and shook her head.
“Hey,” Paul said quietly, touching her trembling lip. “Don’t cry.”
She smiled at him, and in front of her mother leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth. Then she sat back, shaking her head at the two of them. “Thanks, Mom,” she said softly. A gentle quiet was shared by the three of them.
“I figured you had spent more than enough time with me, and I thought it was time Paul came and got you,” Noreen explained, reaching out to touch her daughter’s face. “I knew it was time for you to start the part of your life you’ve been waiting for since you were a little girl.” She stood up. “I took the liberty of packing your bags, hoping you wouldn’t notice. They’re ready to go.”
Amy looked at Paul, then at her mother. She got up and caught Noreen in a fierce hug. “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough.” Amy stepped back and shook her head. “I do love you, Mom.”
Noreen’s eyes grew suspiciously shiny, and with a shaky laugh she turned away. “I’ll get your things and walk you down to Paul’s truck,” she said over her shoulder as she disappeared into Amy’s room.
She reappeared a moment later with two suitcases. Amy had come with one, but her mother had insisted on buying her new clothes, and the increase in her wardrobe necessitated another.
“So, let’s go.” Noreen smiled at Paul, then at Amy.
“Okay.” Paul reached up and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “My truck is across the street.” They left the apartment. The ride down was silent, each lost in their own thoughts. When they came to the bottom, Noreen sniffed, but stepped out of the
elevator and walked across the foyer and out the double doors without a glance backward to see if Amy followed.
“Woman with a mission,” said Paul with a sad smile, hefting Amy’s suitcases and following.
It was still drizzling outside. Paul put Amy’s suitcases in the cab of the truck, next to the window. “You’re sitting beside me,” he said with a grin.
Amy winked back, her heart overflowing with thanks and love. She turned to her mother and for a moment regretted leaving her.
“You’ll come and visit?” Amy said, clutching her mother’s shoulders as if to force the concession from her.
“Of course. As much as I’m allowed.” Noreen caught Amy close to her in a fierce hug. She kissed her on the cheek and then stepped away. Paul bent over and kissed Noreen soundly on the cheek, wrapping one arm around her in a casual hug.
“So we’ll see ya later,” he said, “Mom.”
Noreen smiled, then flapped her hands at them. “Get going. You’ve got a long ride ahead of you.”
Amy stepped into the truck, Paul right behind her, and as they drew away, she turned to look out of the back window, much as she had only a few days ago, only this time she was beside Paul, heading home and it was her mother that stood on the pavement. She felt a measure of sadness and at the same time she thanked God for having had the time with her. There would be other times. She turned around, catching sight of Paul watching her.
“You’ll see her again, you know.”
Amy nodded, for the second time that night close to tears.
Paul drew her against him and negotiated the busy streets, one-handed. They said nothing until he turned onto the Trans-Canada Highway, his windshield wipers creating a hypnotic rhythm.
Amy straightened and reached up to touch Paul’s cheek. “I love you, Paul Henderson, and I’m glad you let me have the space I needed to be with my mother.”
Paul turned his head slightly, his eyes still on the road, and kissed her hand. “I love you too, Amy. And I praise God that He sent me home.”
He sighed, pulling her close to him with one arm while the other held the steering wheel. “I want to tell you something else. I’ve learned a lot from you. You always challenged me in one way or another to be a better person than I wanted to be. I’ve had girlfriends, I can’t deny that. But none of them have ever been as much a part of me as you were and are. I never asked any of them to marry me because I knew none of them measured up to you.” He pressed a kiss on her head. “You who were always so worried about being faithful…”
Ever Faithful Page 25
