“There are some things I want to say before I take you home.” He led her to the window which overlooked a charming little, walled garden. His arms came around her from behind.
“Tomorrow I’ll come for you at . . . is eight o’clock too early?”
“Eight is perfect. I’m not a late sleeper.”
“We’ll have breakfast, then go buy a ring.”
When she didn’t voice an objection, he continued. “If there is time, I thought we could call your parents, then make some decisions about the wedding. Then we’ll meet the ambassador for lunch.”
“Very smooth,” said Lauren as Jonas outlined their day with no input from her. “Will the ambassador approve of me?”
“Ridiculous question!”
“Well,” she said philosophically, turning to face him. “I’ve learned not to be intimidated by important businessmen used to getting their way. I guess I can handle an ambassador.”
Her words rolled so smoothly off her tongue that it took a moment for Jonas to catch the double meaning. When he did, he grinned. Lauren certainly handled him well! He had also seen her easy way with her CEO, and he had listened quite shamelessly as she effortlessly smoothed the feathers of the ruffled Phil Fine. He had no doubt she would have the ambassador eating out of her hand long before lunch concluded.
“And you wonder why you’re so perfect for me!” he said and punctuated the words with a light kiss.
Her lips only inches from his own, she said solemnly, “Jonas?”
“Mm-hmm?”
“Before you take me home . . .”
“Ye-e-s?”
“May I please finish my éclair?”
He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of depriving you of it!”
“How did it go?”
They had chosen the ring, a breathtakingly lovely one, and Lauren had just completed the phone call to her parents.
“They are in shock, but my mother didn’t faint, and they are still speaking to me. They are looking forward to meeting the man who managed to tame their daughter. Their words.”
He pulled her down beside him. “Did you mention we want to be married in four weeks?”
“No, I’m letting them get used to the engagement first. I thought we could tell them next weekend. We also need to decide what kind of wedding we want.” At the look on his face, she clarified, “Large and inclusive or small and private. Family only, or everyone we know. Or something in-between.”
His hand cupped her cheek. “It’s your wedding. What would you like?”
“It’s our wedding,” she corrected. “I want us both to be pleased.”
“Were it up to me, small and private. But I’ll go along with whatever you want.”
“I vote for small and private but very beautiful.” She thought a minute. “Would you consider a garden wedding? My parents have a large, beautiful yard. It’s my father’s hobby and his pride and joy. I’m sure they would be willing to host it. Or if you prefer, I know of one or two places that do wonderful garden weddings and receptions.”
“A beautiful, small and private wedding in your parents’ garden sounds very nice,” he smiled and ran his thumb across her lips. “With a breathtaking bride in a beautiful dress . . .”
“And a gorgeous groom,” she finished and placed a kiss on his thumb. She hesitated a moment then confessed, “Jonas, four weeks seems such a long way off. I wish I belonged to you now.”
He picked up her hand and ran his finger over her ring. “You do belong to me now,” he said. “We belong to each other, Lauren. Be patient a little longer. We’ll have a beautiful wedding and a wonderful life together.”
She looked at him longingly then took a deep breath and said the most unromantic thing possible. “I have to write my letter of resignation. I want to drop it on Peter’s desk today. Would it be possible to make a detour to his office on the way to the luncheon? I am going to need a couple of weeks to deal with things before the wedding takes place, so it has to be today.”
“No problem.”
“There is my furniture to make a decision about and the apartment to deal with,” she stopped, then a smile lit up her face, “and a wedding dress to buy!”
In Utah, Lauren’s mother looked at her husband and said with certainty, “I have a feeling they are not going to wait long to be married. We’d better start planning.”
Jonathan Hart stared at his wife. “But they only got engaged an hour ago,” he protested. ‘Surely she’ll give herself and us a few months.”
“Don’t count on it,” his wife warned him. “It’s taken Lauren a long time to find him. She knows her own mind and won’t see any reason to wait. She is probably writing her letter of resignation right now.” Mrs. Hart pondered a moment then offered, “I give them a month at the most. We’d better be prepared. I’ll give Janice a call.”
Mr. Hart looked at his wife in consternation. “A month? I’m not sure I’m prepared for my little girl to marry and move across the Atlantic that soon. In fact, I am lodging a protest if that’s what she is planning!”
“Lodge away,” said his wife lightly. “I doubt it will have any effect. Lauren loves him, honey. Let’s try to be happy for her.”
“Be hap . . .” he sputtered. “He’s not even a member of the Church! How can I be happy about it? We always envisioned her married in the temple.”
“Yes, we did, didn’t we?” She sighed, then said optimistically, “Maybe someday she will be. Lauren has always been an excellent judge of character. If she loves him, he is a good man. And she did tell me he is friendly toward the Church. Let’s not judge too harshly until we get to know him.”
Mr. Hart shook his head. “Little Lauren married,” he mumbled, not at all convinced he was happy with the situation.
“Not so little, Jonathan. She’ll be thirty next birthday.”
“But she’s our baby!”
“All grown up,” she reminded him. “I’ll go call Janice now. She doesn’t do many weddings these days, but I’m hoping she’ll agree to do Lauren’s. No one does weddings better than Janice.”
The letter of resignation written, Lauren put the finishing touches to her appearance. She hoped the ambassador would approve of her. She was sure he would mention their meeting to Jonas’ mother and didn’t want them disappointed with her son’s choice.
She certainly had Jonas’ approval, judging by the look on his face when she entered the little living room. She wore a light summer dress that, though modest in cut, showed off her pretty figure. He took both her hands and leaned down and gave her a light kiss. “You look wonderful, Lauren. The ambassador will approve. He is a very modest man who abhors dresses that show a lot of leg and too much cleavage.” Jonas chuckled. “He once commented to me on a certain woman’s attire at a function. He wanted to know if I had any idea why she would think it appropriate to wear only half a dress.”
Lauren smiled. Half a dress was a clever way to describe the abbreviated style often favored by women these days. “He sounds formidable,” she commented.
“He was embarrassed,” Jonas corrected. “The dress barely covered the lady’s bottom and almost covered her breasts. She gave us all quite a show.”
“I hope I never make that mistake. I don’t want your mother to think I am not a proper young lady.”
“My mother?”
“Of course,” she said calmly. “I’m quite sure the ambassador is here to check me out and report back.”
Jonas chuckled silently. He was quite sure she was right.
Joseph was parked at the curb. I could get used to this, Lauren thought, as he gallantly saw her settled in the luxurious car.
“Where are we meeting your step-uncle?” she asked Jonas after they made the detour to Peter Andrews’ office.
He mentioned an upscale restaurant often favored
by well-to-do Manhattan-ites.
“Nice.”
“Have you eaten there before?”
“Once. A man I used to know took me there hoping to impress me enough to find him irresistible.”
Jonas smiled. “Did it work?”
“I don’t find men irresistible based on their net worth. He was so impressed with his own success, he thought it could buy him whatever he wanted.”
“I take it what he wanted was you.”
“I disabused him of that notion,” she said demurely.
He reached for her hand. “Lucky for me you turned him down.”
The ambassador was waiting for them. Silver-haired and medium tall, he had an air of authority about him. Lauren was impressed by his obvious fondness for Jonas, which he displayed by giving him a big bear hug. She received a warm handshake and a light kiss on the cheek as he took in her appearance. His smile reached his eyes. He approved.
Once seated he said, “I hope you don’t mind giving up part of your weekend together to please me, but Jonas’ mother has been very curious about you.”
Not at all offended by his words, Lauren said, “And you have been asked to check me out.” At his nod, she said, “I don’t blame her. My parents are just as curious about Jonas and, in my father’s case, very cautious because we have known each other such a short time. He has agreed to withhold judgment until they have a chance to get to know him.”
“Jonas’ mother is delighted that he has finally met someone special. But she is protective and wants to know that you’ll be good to him.”
Lauren turned to Jonas. The ambassador saw her eyes melt as she looked at him. Jonas reached for her hand as if to reassure her. “There is no one more loving and kind than Lauren,” he assured his uncle.
“We are good to each other,” Lauren added softly.
The love surrounding them was palpable, thought the ambassador as he observed their interaction. He sat back and relaxed.
Lauren found the ambassador very easy to talk to. He was an interesting and accomplished man who had served his country in various capacities before being assigned as ambassador to the U.S. At one point, he commented on Lauren’s knowledge of his language and assumed she had been raised bi-lingual.
“No, we spoke English at home,” she said, to the ambassador’s surprise. “I visited Norway for the first time at eighteen. People generally spoke English to me, of course, but it bothered me that someone always had to translate for me when I was with a group of friends. I fell in love with the country and felt such a connection to it that I knew I would be back. I promised myself the next time I came I would speak the language.”
Jonas smiled with pride. Lauren was accomplished in so many areas.
“And did you?” asked the ambassador curiously.
“I did. When I returned home, I bought a set of language CDs and enrolled in a Norwegian class at the university. Then I found a student from Norway willing to tutor me, which really helped. Gradually it started coming together.” She smiled as she thought of those days. It had taken a lot of hard, dedicated work, but it had been so worth it. “I know I had an accent and my grammar wasn’t perfect, but when I got off the plane in Bergen two years later, I spoke Norwegian to my hosts. You should have seen their faces.”
“Commendable,” said the ambassador, impressed. “You’ll be a welcome addition to our family, Lauren.”
Lauren’ eyes shone. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
Jonas beamed. She had passed muster with the ambassador just as he had known she would.
On his side, the ambassador found Jonas’ fiancé to be an exceptional young woman. Intelligent and informed, she had a delightful sense of humor, and she adored Jonas. His mother could rest easy.
At the end of their meal, he invited them to accompany him to the Norwegian consular offices where he had arranged for them to meet the Consul-General.
It will be good for the Consul-General to meet Lauren, thought Jonas. It would give him a chance to see what an asset she would be to their country.
It was late afternoon when they headed for New Jersey and Jake and Allison’s home. The visit with the Consul-General had gone well, but they were ready to get out of the city. Jonas decided to do his own driving and gave Joseph the weekend off.
“How far to the Andrews home?” Lauren asked as they pulled away from the curb.
“About forty-five minutes.”
“What have you told them about me?”
“Not much,” he replied with a grin. “That you are American and live in New York. That we met in Norway and that you are special to me.”
She looked at him in surprise. “That’s it?”
“I want to surprise them.”
“Let’s hope they are not horrified when they see the ring on my finger. They could take me for a gold digger considering we’ve only known each other a few weeks.”
Jonas gave Lauren a speculative look. “What was the net worth of the man who was so anxious to impress you with his success?”
Lauren scowled at him. “Is that relevant?”
“I think so.”
“Jonas!”
“This is not idle curiosity,” he insisted. “I’m trying to make a point.”
She gave in with a sigh. “I believe in the neighborhood of twenty million.”
“Attractive?”
“Very.”
“Young?”
“A couple of years younger than you.”
Jonas shook his head and grinned in disbelief. “And you turned him down?”
“Not exactly. I didn’t give him the chance to ask me.”
“Not your type?”
She cracked a smile and shook her head. “Too impressed with himself.”
“Some women might be willing to overlook that for twenty million,” Jonas pointed out.
“Good. Then they can marry him.”
“Oh, Lauren! I think we can safely assume gold digging is not one of your hobbies.”
“Did you think it was?”
“Never for a moment.”
Chapter Nineteen
The Andrews family home was on a quiet lane in a comfortable neighborhood. Jonas told her when Jake and Allison bought the house it was a small, older two-bedroom home they could barely afford at the time. Since then Jake’s business had taken off, and they could easily afford a much larger house, but they loved their home’s location on the lake and liked their neighborhood. So instead of moving to get the space they needed, they more than doubled the size of the house with a large addition.
Lauren looked carefully at the house as they pulled into the driveway. The addition blended seamlessly with the older part and had been designed so as not to overwhelm the other houses on the street. This was not a couple who felt a need to show off.
The family must have been anticipating their arrival because the door flew open and two girls came barreling down the front steps, followed more sedately by their parents and baby brother.
“Jonas!” they shouted in unison and threw themselves at him as he climbed out of the car.
They love him, thought Lauren as she watched Jonas gather the girls in for hugs. She climbed out of the car and was welcomed warmly by Allison and the baby she was holding. Her husband gave her a firm handshake, then pulled her close for a hug.
“Welcome to the family,” he said sincerely.
Lauren gave him a lovely smile. “Thank you. Jonas has told me so many good things about your family, so I am very excited to meet everyone finally.”
Jonas brought the girls to be introduced. “Nora, Leah, this is Lauren.”
“Hi, Lauren,” said Leah with an impish grin. “Are you going to marry Jonas?”
“Leah!” said her mother, aghast, but Leah was on a roll.
“She must be, sh
e has a ring,” she insisted.
Allison glanced at Lauren’s finger. “Oh, my goodness, so you do! Congratulations, both of you.” She gave Jonas a look. “But did you have to spring it on us like this, Jonas?”
“I did, actually,” he grinned. “I had to stake my claim quickly before Lauren got any more proposals.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll explain later. Lauren, this is Nora.”
Lauren gave the pretty young girl a warm smile. “Hello, Nora, I am so happy to meet you. I found the Primary songbook you gave Jonas among his piano music and read the note you wrote.”
“You know about Primary?”
“Yes, I do. Jonas tells me you are twelve, so you’d be in Young Women now.”
Nora’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Are you a member of the Church?”
“Yes, I am.”
Lauren saw the happy smile on Nora’s face but missed the astonished looks on Jake and Allison’s as she turned to the neglected Leah.
But Jonas missed nothing. It was worth the surprise.
“And Leah, if it’s okay with you,” said Lauren to the young girl, “I’d like to marry Jonas. I love him very much, and he tells me you do, too.”
Leah looked at her, considering. All cockiness was gone. “Do you love him a lot?”
Lauren nodded. “A lot.”
“I guess that would be okay. But you have to be really good to him.”
“I will be, I promise. Thank you, Leah.” She looked at Jonas. The look on his face held nothing but admiration.
He put a hand on her shoulder as they entered the house. Lauren felt the approval he conveyed with just a touch. “You were great,” he whispered.
Inside, the foyer opened into a large, airy great-room. Its oversized window boasted a picturesque view of the lake. The kitchen and dining area were to the right, open, modern and spacious.
Lauren turned to Allison. “I love the design of your house,” she said as she took in the scattered toys and the comfortable, well-decorated room. “And your lake view is so beautiful and serene.”
Because of Lauren: A Love Story Page 22
