Another silence fell, followed by a lift of Paige’s brow.
Chase had never been one to explain himself to others. In this case, to protect Merri, he made an exception. “Relationships in field hospitals can get pretty intense.”
Paige took another look at the photo on the screen and relaxed slightly. “And just like when you’re out of medical school or residency, they fade.”
“Merri knows that, too.” Chase picked up his pen.
“Still, that kind of thing can be easily misinterpreted.”
Did she think that was why he and Merri had been sleeping apart in the beginning? Not that it mattered, since he wasn’t about to kiss and tell.
“Merri knows it’s only temporary. They’re all headed back overseas a few days after Christmas.”
“And Merri’s not jealous.”
Chase thought about the passionate, unrestrained way the two of them had been making love, the happiness they had found. “She understands how I feel about her.”
“Good.” Paige inclined her head toward the picture on his smart phone. “’Cause if she didn’t, pal, you might be in trouble.”
* * *
WITH CHASE TIED UP IN SURGERY all day, Merri decided to get a little shopping done. So, after she picked the kids up at preschool, she took them to the Dairy Barn for lunch and a talk. “Now that you’re older, it’s time you realized that Christmas isn’t just about getting presents,” she said seriously, acutely aware there were only ten shopping days left. “It’s about giving something, too.”
“We know that, Mommy!” Jessalyn dipped her chicken tender into barbecue sauce. “That’s how come we already made you something at school.”
“Want us to tell you what it is?” Jeffrey asked eagerly. “Because—”
“Uh, no.” Merri reached over and playfully covered their mouths with her hand. “You need to surprise me.” She dropped her arm and sat back.
The twins nodded seriously. “Okay,” Jessalyn replied.
Then Jeffrey added, “We won’t tell you we made you a flowerpot and a picture frame that says I Love You, Mommy.”
Not about to let on he had just unwittingly given everything way, Merri kept herself from cracking a smile. “Good. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Now that Chase is your daddy, you need to do something nice for him, too.”
“We can’t,” Jessalyn said.
“Yeah.” Jeffrey muched on a fry. “We’re all done making presents at school.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t make him something just as nice at home, while he’s at work,” Merri countered.
“Okay, then, we’ll make him a new Lionel train, because he really likes them.”
“That’s a little complicated.”
They looked at her expectantly. “You can help us,” Jeffrey said.
Merri finished chewing her burger. “I meant complicated for me, too.”
Jessalyn leaned forward importantly. “But we have to get him a new train, because he likes trains and that’s what he wants.”
There was no faulting that logic. “How about this?” Merri paused to make sure she had their attention. “After we finish our lunch, we’ll go over to the arts and crafts store and pick out a couple of those wooden trains that need decorating, and you two can paint them. Then Daddy can take the trains to work and put them on his desk so he’ll have a reminder of you there.”
“Okay,” they replied happily.
Merri drew a breath, ready to tackle something much more sensitive. “And as long as we’re on the subject of Daddy…don’t you think it’s time you started calling him Daddy?”
More frowns appeared. “That’s not his name. His name is Chase,” Jeffrey argued.
Patience. “I know you’ve always called him that.” They’d never even wanted to say Uncle. “But now it’s different.”
Their frowns deepened. “No, it’s not. That’s still his name. Everybody calls him that,” Jessalyn stated.
Merri inhaled and tried again. “My name is Merri, but you call me Mommy.”
“Because you are our mommy.”
“And Chase is your daddy,” Merri reminded them gently.
“But that’s not his name....”
Eventually, finally, Merri decided not to make an issue of it. Maybe Kate was right. It would happen when the twins were ready. And not one day before.
* * *
“YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!” Emily said the following afternoon, stopping by their table in the café, where Chase and Dylan sat poring over the sales literature Dylan had picked up for the busy physician. “You can’t give Merri that for Christmas!”
Chase had to give her something. And judging by all the whispering the twins had been doing, and the way Merri was constantly and humorously shushing them, everyone else had a jump on him in that department.
“It’s a good gift,” he argued. Given how happy Merri and the kids had made him, he wanted to make sure Merri had something she would really like.
“Maybe for a non-occasion…” Dylan reluctantly agreed with his wife.
“But for your first Christmas together?” Emily topped off each of their coffees. “You’ve got to get her something that says how you feel about her.”
A little offended, Chase pointed to the picture in front of him. “This does say how I feel.”
Merri’s friend rolled her eyes. “Maybe about the ranch, and her not doing a good enough job taking care of it.”
Chase’s spirits fell. He took another look. “Oh.” He swore silently. “I see your point.”
“I think you should still get it, given what you’ve told me about the issue,” Dylan advised. “Just not as your primary gift, but as, um, a stocking stuffer.”
“In that sense it would be okay,” Emily agreed, after thinking about it for a second. “In fact, I’m sure Merri would appreciate it, if it was given in humor.”
“Well, it’s not like I was going to present it with all the fanfare of a new car,” Chase retorted mildly.
“Cars are out, too. It’s such a guy gift. No woman wants to get a car.” Emily patted her husband’s shoulder affectionately, then sashayed off to serve another customer.
Admiring the easy way husband and wife interacted, Chase turned back to his friend. “What are you getting Emily for Christmas?”
Dylan cut into his chicken-fried steak. “A new custom-made saddle with her name engraved on it.”
Chase blinked. “You call that romantic?”
He grinned. “For a woman who likes to ride mustangs as much as I do, it’s a darn good gift. But I’m throwing in a little perfume and a negligee and stuff like that, too, that shall go unmentioned to anyone but the two of us. Just make sure whatever you give Merri says ROMANCE in capital letters.”
Chase left the Daybreak Café and returned to the hospital, thinking about his friend’s advice.
There was no doubt Emily and Dylan were happily married. Three years in and the two still acted like newlyweds.
Chase wanted the same result. Which got him thinking. Maybe there was a way to give Merri the romance she had been deprived of, after all.
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE to meet you at your office in the hospital annex promptly at six-thirty?” Merri said four days later. The truth was, she was feeling a little out of sorts. Unusually tired. Bloated. Pregnant…? Pushing the wishful thinking aside—she was not going to count her chickens before they hat
ched—she drew a deep breath and waited for Chase to go on.
“I thought we’d go out for dinner this evening.”
Merri would like nothing better than to have a meal in a candlelit restaurant, seated across from her handsome new husband. Especially since they’d never actually been on a real date.
It was all either family time or hot wild sex in bed.
“I appreciate the idea, but the kids just had their last day of preschool before the holiday break. They’re pretty tired. I don’t think they’ll be able to handle a dinner out without melting down.”
“I figured as much, but I’ve seen to that, too. Paige and Kurt said they’d take the twins. All you have to do is drop them off at their house in town on the way to meet me.”
Again, Merri yearned for a real date. With adult conversation. A relaxing dinner, where she didn’t have to cut up anyone else’s food. She’d also like time to get ready at leisure. Maybe take a bubble bath, go to the salon, get her hair done. “You’re sure we can’t do this some other night?” When I have time to prepare and can really knock your socks off?
“You know what they say. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today… I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”
Merri sighed and put down the phone. Luckily for her, the kids were surprisingly cooperative about getting ready to go back out. Forty-five minutes later she had dropped them off and was headed into Chase’s office.
The waiting room was empty. No surprise, since his staff had gone home for the day. It was, Merri soon discovered, just the two of them. And Chase was wearing a suit and tie. The same dark suit and tie he had worn when they got married in the hospital chapel, as it happened.
She looked down at her casual jeans and sweater with regret. “You didn’t tell me we were dressing up. I assumed we were going to one of the restaurants in town.”
“We are, but I thought it would be nice, since tonight is our first-month anniversary, to put forth a little extra effort.”
Oh, no! Merri pressed her fingers to her lips, aghast. “I totally forgot.”
Those crinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. “You’re surprised I remembered.”
“Well, yes, I—I guess I am.” When did she start stammering? She hadn’t been this nervous around him since he’d come back to town. But he hadn’t looked so inscrutably mysterious since then, either.
Chase smiled wryly and scratched his head. “I guess I’m going to have to do better in the romance department.”
“Trust me. You’ve been doing just fine.” Merri had never been so head-over-heels for any man. The fact she was married to him just made it so much better.
He held up a hand. “Not to worry. I brought something from your closet…” He produced the tea-length navy dress and delicate white cardigan she had worn when they’d said their vows.
“You know what that is.”
“I do. And for the record, I love the way you look in it.”
He hadn’t said he loved her, just the way she looked. Still, it was something. Merri shook her head. “You really are full of surprises this evening.”
“Need help changing?”
If he helped they might end up making love on his office floor. And while that could be incredibly sexy, it wouldn’t be appropriate. Merri didn’t want to have to worry about a janitor walking in on them. Besides, Kurt and Paige could watch the kids for only so long before bedtime, so they better get a move on.
Merri shook her head and smiled. “I’ll just be a minute.”
When she walked back out, Chase was waiting for her. He had a medium-size silver gift box in his hand.
“What’s that?”
He sat on the edge of his desk and pulled her toward him. “An early Christmas present.”
Merri struggled with another stab of regret as she perched on his inner thigh. “I haven’t gotten you anything yet.”
“It’s okay.” He looked at her affectionately. “I want you to open this.”
Merri’s heart skipped a beat. “Now?”
“Yep.” The sexy smile reached his eyes. “Right here. Right now.”
Swallowing against the building ache in her throat, Merri undid the bow and lifted the lid. She blinked in surprise when she discovered a small, red velvet box surrounded by shiny gold tissue paper. “What is it?”
Innocence glimmered in his eyes. “Don’t know. You’ll have to look and see.”
Merri gingerly opened the jewelry box. Inside was a diamond solitaire ring that was a perfect match for the platinum wedding rings she and Chase already wore.
The affection in his eyes deepened. “I thought you should have an engagement ring.”
Tears filled Merri’s eyes at the unexpected and truly lavish gesture. “Oh, Chase,” she whispered, studying the sparkling diamond. “It’s beautiful.”
Relief mingled with the happiness on his face. “I didn’t want to wait one more day.”
With his help, Merri slipped it on. And for the first time, she felt married in the way she had always wanted—in the romantic sense. Emotion welled. The tears she’d been holding back spilled over her lashes, and she stood up to hug him fiercely. “You’ve made me so happy,” Merri whispered thickly.
He hugged her back. “That goes both ways.”
They paused to kiss, deeply and tenderly. Reluctantly, he drew back. “Much as I hate to say it, we’d better get moving if you want to have time to show that off,” he teased.
She slanted him a curious look. “Where are we going?”
Chase led her toward the door. “Somewhere I can hold you in my arms.”
They fell into step companionably. “The bed-and-breakfast just outside of town?”
He chuckled. “Good idea. But no.”
As it turned out, they only had to walk down Main Street.
“The Lone Star Dance Hall?” Merri paused in front of the popular restaurant, which looked crowded. Vehicles spilled out of the lot, and onto the street. Inside, it appeared as if people were standing shoulder to shoulder.
Chase tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I remember it being one of your favorites when you were younger.”
Merri loved to two-step and line-dance. She just hadn’t done it in forever. “It is. It’s sweet of you to remember.”
Chase smiled and took her hand in his. Together, they walked in, and Merri got her second big shock of the night when the country and western band struck up a lively Texas version of the Wedding March.
“Surprise!” Chase murmured in her ear. “You’ve just been gifted with a reception.”
And then on cue, all their close friends and their very nicely garbed twins shouted, “Congratulations, Chase and Merri!”
Chapter Thirteen
“You know, you don’t have to keep looking at me that way,” Merri murmured a bit later.
Chase took her hand in his and led her onto the floor for the first dance of the evening. And their first official dance as husband and wife. “What way?” he murmured sexily.
Joy bubbled up inside her. “Like this is the best night of your entire life.”
Chase held her even closer. “It is the best night of my entire life.” He smiled. “So far.”
“Meaning what?” Merri teased, enjoying having her body pressed intimately against his. “You expect things to get even better?” How was that even possible?
He looked deep into her eyes. “I do. I think every day we spend together is going to
be happier and more fulfilling than the last.”
Merri grinned up at him. “Ever the optimist, aren’t you?”
Chase kissed her temple. “When it comes to you and me, I have every reason to have hope and faith.” And, as it turned out, he wasn’t the only one who thought the two of them had only good days ahead. Everyone in the packed dance hall stopped by throughout the evening to offer similar sentiments. But what meant the most to them were the words from the hospital’s chief counselor.
“I’d like to offer my congratulations, as well as an apology for my earlier misinterpretation of the situation,” Kate said when the party had finally wound down and Merri and Chase were in the process of packing up and getting ready to go home.
Kate sent a fond glance toward Chase, who was corralling the still-energetic twins into their coats and hats, while Merri organized their mountain of wedding gifts. “I was wrong to think your marriage might be ill-advised. It’s obvious the two of you are very much in love.”
Merri paused, not sure how to respond to that. Thanks to Chase and the effort he’d put into their belated wedding reception, the night had been wildly romantic, with a professional photographer documenting it all. A sumptuous dinner had been followed by champagne toasts and wedding cake, laughter and dancing, and even the occasional surprisingly passionate kiss.
Chase had given Merri the reception of her dreams, and memories of their evening together would last a lifetime. But as for actual love? That was something she and Chase hadn’t sought or even begun to discuss.
As Kate’s husband, computer technology mogul Sam McCabe, joined them, Kate continued stacking gifts into neat piles, for easier transporting, “I just want you and Chase to know that we could not be happier for you.”
Merri smiled as she loaded presents onto a cart. Appreciating the candor, she replied, “I realize our wedding may have seemed very quick and untraditional.”
Kate smiled up at her husband of many years. “Yes, well, once upon a time, Sam and I were a surprise to everyone, too.”
The Texas Rancher's Marriage Page 16
