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by Debbie Macomber

  “You should call him,” Jazmine suggested again.

  Shana refused to do that. “I phoned last time. It’s his turn.”

  “Oh.” Her niece sounded distressed.

  “What’s wrong?” Shana asked, unsure what had brought the woebegone expression to Jazmine’s face.

  Jazmine sighed deeply. “I was just hoping you liked Uncle Adam the same way he likes you.”

  Now Shana was the one frowning. “I do like him. It’s just that two people don’t always see eye-to-eye.” This was difficult enough to explain to an adult, let alone a child. “Sometimes it’s best to simply leave things alone.”

  “It is?” Jazmine squinted as though confused. “Is that how you felt about Brad?”

  Shana thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, in the beginning. When I first broke up with him.”

  “But you went to see him again ’cause you didn’t like the way it ended, right?”

  “Right. I regretted the fact that I’d run off in a fit of righteous indignation. It was over, and I wanted him to know that in a civilized manner.”

  “You aren’t being impulsive now? About not phoning Uncle Adam?”

  Coming out from behind the counter, Shana slid onto the stool next to her niece. Sighing expressively, she said, “You’re pretty smart for a kid.”

  Jazmine flashed her a bright smile. “How come?”

  “You just are.” Her niece had told her what she needed to hear. She’d refused to phone Adam strictly out of pride. Their last conversation had been painful. She’d been lighthearted and hopeful when she called him, but his gruff responses had short-circuited her joy. He hadn’t phoned her since and she hadn’t phoned him, either. They were behaving like children.

  “That’s what I don’t understand,” Jazmine murmured, returning to her original pose, chin cupped in her hands, elbows splayed. “You went to talk to Brad, but you won’t go see Uncle Adam.”

  “He’s in Hawaii.” It wasn’t like he was a three-hour drive down the interstate. “It isn’t that easy to get to Hawaii.”

  “Don’t they have ninety-nine-dollar flights there?”

  “I doubt it.” More than likely it would be five hundred dollars. Shana sat up. Then again, going to see him in Hawaii might help clear up this misunderstanding—resolve this stalemate—and she wanted that. She believed he did, too. One of them had to make the first move and it might as well be her.

  Shana was shocked at herself. She was actually considering this. She’d spent all that money on the dress she’d worn to see Brad, and now she was about to spend more. She supposed she could always wear her new dress when—if—she went to see Adam. Why not?

  “You could check the computer,” Jazmine said confidently. “There are advertisements on TV all the time about airfare deals over the Internet.”

  “You think I should?”

  Jazmine nodded eagerly. “If you find a cheap ticket to Hawaii, you should go.”

  “I can’t close the restaurant.”

  “You don’t need to close it. Catherine ran it when we went to Portland,” Jazmine reminded her. “And that was just to see Brad.”

  She opened her mouth to claim that seeing Brad was different. Well…it was and it wasn’t. She’d been willing to make arrangements and a few sacrifices in order to talk to him. And she cared about Adam a hundred times more than she did Brad.

  “Remember Tim, the single dad who wanted to go out with you?” Jazmine asked.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I saw him in the park. He’s back with his wife and he said it was because of you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yup—he said you were the one who told him he was still in love with her. He knew you were right but the hardest part was telling Heather—that’s her name. He’s really glad he did, though.”

  “I’m glad, too. But why are you—”

  Before Shana could finish the question, Jazmine blurted out her reply. “Because the hardest part is you telling Uncle Adam how you feel—so do it!”

  “I will.” Shana closed her eyes. She wanted this relationship with Adam to work. All the years she’d been with Brad, friends and co-workers had said he didn’t deserve her, and she’d refused to listen. Now the people she loved and respected most were telling her that Adam was a dream come true—and once again she hadn’t been listening. But that was about to change.

  “It all depends on whether Louis and Catherine can work while we’re away,” Shana murmured, biting her bottom lip.

  “They can,” Jazmine said immediately. “They love it here. And if you marry Uncle Adam, they want to buy the business.” She leaned close and whispered conspiratorially, “I heard them talking about it.”

  Now that the idea had taken root, Shana was convinced it was the right thing to do. She knew that if she sat down with Adam for five minutes, they’d get past the false impressions and false pride. She wanted him in her life; it was that simple.

  “We’re going to Hawaii?” Jazmine asked, her look expectant.

  Shana smiled and slowly nodded. Yes, they were going to Hawaii. Adam might think this relationship was over, but she wasn’t willing to lose out on her best chance for happiness yet. If everything went as she prayed it would, she just might end up with a Navy husband.

  * * *

  Adam’s bad mood hadn’t improved in a week. A dozen times, probably more, he’d lifted the receiver to call Shana. This estrangement was his fault. But for reasons he didn’t want to examine, he’d been reluctant to phone.

  Okay, it was time to own up to the truth. He’d been waiting for her to break down and phone him. After more than a week, he might as well accept that it wasn’t going to happen.

  “You feeling better?” John asked when Adam arrived at the office Friday morning.

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “What do you think are my chances of hitching a transport to Seattle this weekend?”

  John perked up. “You’re going to see her?”

  Adam nodded. As best as he could figure, this was the only way he and Shana would ever make any progress. He was ready to take responsibility for his part in this fiasco and admit he’d overreacted. After all, she’d said it was over between her and this Bernie character.

  From today, from this moment forward, he chose to believe her. His next task was to tell her he’d been wrong. He didn’t like apologizing, but having Shana in his life was worth a few minutes of humiliation.

  “This is good news,” John said, grinning broadly. “Finally.”

  Adam leaned back in his chair. He’d get to Seattle one way or another, even if it meant paying for a commercial flight.

  “Are you going to let her know you’re coming?” John asked.

  “No.”

  “So you’re going to surprise her?”

  “I believe I will,” he said, already deep in thought.

  He pictured the reunion: Shana would be at the ice-cream parlor with a dozen kids all placing their orders at once. She was great with kids, great with Jazmine, patient and generous.

  She’d be scooping ice cream for all those kids, and then she’d look up and there he’d be, standing in the doorway. He’d wear his uniform. Women were said to like a man in uniform, and Adam decided he needed all the help he could get.

  He returned to his imagined scenario. Naturally Shana would be astonished to see him; she might even drop the ice-cream scoop. Their eyes would meet, and everything else in the room would fade as she came around the counter and walked into his embrace. Adam’s arms suddenly ached with the need to hold her. Until this very minute, he hadn’t realized just how badly he wanted Shana in his life. He’d felt the need to link his life with a woman’s earlier that summer, and that need had grown stronger, more irresistible, ever since he’d met Shana.

  “You really think surprising her is such a great idea?” John asked skeptically.

  “Of course it is,” Adam said. Why wouldn’t it be?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

&
nbsp; “I am so bummed,” Jazmine muttered, sitting in front of the computer after e-mailing her mother.

  Shana was disappointed, too, but she tried not to let it show. She’d spent half her day on the Internet, searching for last-minute bargain tickets to Honolulu. Apparently there was no such thing. It didn’t matter what she could or would have been willing to pay. There simply weren’t any seats available for the next few days. The best rates were for the following week.

  “Waiting a week won’t be so bad,” Shana assured her niece.

  “We should let Uncle Adam know we’re coming.”

  That meant Shana would have to pick up the phone and call him, which was something she hadn’t managed to do in more than two weeks. Jazmine was right, though. It probably wasn’t fair just to land on his doorstep and expect everything to fall neatly into place.

  The doorbell rang and Jazmine was out of the computer chair and racing to the front door. Shana walked briskly behind her, uncomfortable with the girl flinging open the door without first checking to see who was there.

  Her worries were for nothing. Jazmine stood on the tips of her toes, peering through the tiny peephole. She stared for the longest moment, then her shoulders sagged and she backed away. “It’s for you,” she said in a disappointed voice.

  Shana moved in front of her niece and opened the door. She was in no mood to deal with a salesman or a nuisance call. When she found Adam Kennedy standing on the other side, she was stunned into speechlessness.

  “Adam?” His name was a mere wisp of sound. He looked good, no, better than good. Great. He was a thousand times more compelling than she remembered, and her heart felt in danger of bursting right then and there. If their disagreement had given him a minute’s concern, his face didn’t reveal it. He seemed rested and relaxed.

  He smiled, and Shana’s knees started to shake. It shouldn’t be like this, the rational part of her mind inserted. She shouldn’t be this happy to see him or this excited. But she was.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” Jazmine was the one who answered. The nine-year-old slipped around Shana and held open the screen door. Judging by the broad smile on the girl’s face, anyone might think she was ushering in Santa Claus.

  Shana frowned. “You knew about this?” she asked her niece.

  Jazmine shook her head, denying any knowledge. “But I fooled you, didn’t I? You didn’t guess it was Adam.” Then she grinned at the man in question. “We were coming to see you, only we couldn’t get a flight for this weekend. We have tickets for next week.”

  “You were flying to Hawaii to see me?” Adam’s eyes probed Shana’s.

  She nodded, and found the shock of seeing him in the room with her nearly overwhelming. Placing her hand on her chest, she felt her heart hammer against her palm. Even with the evidence standing right in front of her, she had a hard time taking it in.

  Reaching for Adam’s hand, Jazmine led him into the living room. “You can sit if you want.”

  Adam chose the sofa.

  “You, too, Aunt Shana,” Jazmine said, orchestrating events as though she were moving figures on a chessboard. She took Shana’s hand next and led her to the overstuffed chair.

  “Okay,” Jazmine said, standing in the middle of the room between them. “You two need to talk. I can go to my room or I can stay and supervise.”

  Shana’s gaze didn’t waver from Adam’s. “Your room,” she murmured, hardly able to catch her breath.

  “Your room,” Adam echoed.

  “Really?” Jazmine’s frustration echoed in her voice.

  “Go.” Shana pointed down the hall, although her eyes were still on Adam. She was afraid that if she glanced away he might disappear.

  Jazmine started to walk in the direction of her bedroom. “I’m leaving my door open, and if I hear any yelling, I’m coming right back. Okay?”

  Adam’s mouth quivered with the beginnings of a smile. “Okay.”

  After Jazmine left, there was a moment of awkward silence—and then they both started to speak at once.

  “I’m so sorry….”

  “I’m an idiot…” Adam held up his hand and gestured for her to go first.

  Shana moved to the edge of the cushion, clasping her hands together. “Oh, Adam, I’m so sorry. I wanted to call you, I really did. I thought about it so many times.”

  “I was afraid of losing you.”

  “That won’t happen,” she told him. “Don’t you know how I feel about you?”

  When he didn’t reply, she said, “I wasn’t planning to fall in love again, but—”

  “You love me?” he interrupted.

  Shana hadn’t meant to declare her feelings so soon, and certainly not like this. The way she’d envisioned the scene, it would be a romantic moment over dinner and champagne, not in the middle of her small rental house, with her niece standing in the bedroom doorway listening to every word.

  “She does,” Jazmine answered for Shana. “She’s been impossible ever since you went to Hawaii.”

  “Jazmine,” Shana warned.

  “Sorry,” the girl muttered.

  “Maybe it’d be best if you closed your door,” Adam suggested.

  Jazmine stamped her foot and shouted “Okay,” but when Shana’s gaze shot down the hallway, she noticed that her niece’s bedroom door was only halfway shut.

  “You were saying?” Adam said and motioned for her to continue.

  “I forget where I was.”

  “I believe you’d just declared your undying love for me. I’d like to hear more.”

  “I’m sure you would,” she said, smiling despite their interruptions, “but I was thinking it would be good to hear how you feel, too.”

  “You will, I promise,” Adam assured her, “but I’d appreciate if you finished your thoughts first. You were saying you hadn’t planned to fall in love…”

  Shana lowered her eyes. It was difficult to think clearly when she was looking at Adam. The effect he had on her was that powerful. “I think sometimes love finds you when you least expect it. As you might’ve guessed, my opinion of the opposite sex was somewhere in the basement when I came to Seattle. And then Jazmine arrived. At first I envied the easy relationship you two shared. And my sister couldn’t stop singing your praises.”

  “You weren’t in the mood to hear anything positive about a man. Any man.”

  “Exactly,” Shana concurred. “But you were so patient with Jazmine and…you were patient with me, too.”

  “I was attracted to you from the moment we met.”

  “Really?”

  “You knocked my socks off.” They both grinned at that. Then his expression grew serious again. “Having this surgery wasn’t a pleasant experience.” He pressed his hand gently to his shoulder. “I was in pain, and my life felt empty, and all of a sudden you were on the scene. I felt as soon as we met that I could love you.”

  “You did?” Her voice lifted with joy.

  “And I do love you. I recognized that I had to give you time. Coming out of a long-term relationship, you were bound to need an adjustment period. I understood that. But I don’t think you have any idea how badly I wanted to be with you.”

  “You love me,” she repeated, hardly hearing anything else he’d said. “You love me!”

  “I know you wanted to marry Bernie—”

  “It’s Brad, and no…not anymore.”

  “Good, because I’m hoping you’ll marry me.”

  Jazmine’s bedroom door flew open. “Aunt Shana, say yes. I beg of you, say yes!”

  “Jazmine!” Shana and Adam shouted simultaneously.

  “Okay, okay,” the nine-year-old moaned and retreated back inside her bedroom.

  Adam hesitated only briefly. “Well, what do you think?”

  “You mean about us getting married?” Just saying the words produced an inner happiness that radiated from her heart to every single part of her. “Being your wife would make me the happiest woman alive.”

  Ad
am stood and she met him halfway. Seconds later, they were locked in each other’s arms and his mouth was on hers. From the way he kissed her, she knew he’d been telling the truth. He loved her! After several deep kisses, Adam raised his head and framed her face with both hands. His eyes bored intently into hers.

  “One question, and if my asking offends you, I apologize in advance. I need to know something.”

  “Anything.”

  His eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Why was it necessary to talk to Ber—Brad?”

  Shana sighed and kissed his jaw. “I wanted to say goodbye to him properly.”

  “And you intended to see me next week.”

  She nodded, then caught the lobe of his ear between her teeth and gently bit down on the soft flesh. The shiver that went through him encouraged her to further exploration.

  “What were you going to say to me?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper.

  “Hmm…” she responded, her thoughts clouded with desire. “Hello, and that I’m crazy in love with you.”

  “Good answer.” Adam directed his mouth back to hers, and soon they were deeply involved in another kiss.

  The sound of a throat being cleared broke into Shana’s consciousness several seconds later.

  “Did you two forget something?” Jazmine asked, hands on her hips. “Like me?”

  Shana buried her face in Adam’s shoulder.

  “Howdy, squirt,” he managed in a voice Shana barely recognized as his.

  “This is all very good, but we have a wedding to plan, you know.”

  “A wedding?” Shana lifted her head and murmured, “We have plenty of time to work on that.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jazmine insisted. “We’ll be in Hawaii next week. We should do it then. Let’s get this show on the road!”

  “Next week?” Shana looked questioningly at Adam, not sure that arranging a wedding in such a short time was even possible.

  “Would you be willing?” he asked, catching Jazmine’s enthusiasm.

  Shana nodded. “Of course, but only if Ali can be there. I want her at our wedding.”