DEFENSE

by Glenna Sinclair

  “What about you? Will you always come up behind me and try to distract him? Will you always try to win him back?”

  Claire thought about that for a minute, her eyes darkening with emotion.

  “Probably.” She handed me my book. “Robert is not the man his brother is. But he is kind and he’s devoted to me. So, maybe someday I’ll learn to be happy with what I have. Or maybe I won’t. But I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting Miles. But at least we know where we stand with each other. Right?”

  “I guess so.” I took her hand and squeezed it lightly. “Thank you for being honest.”

  I stood and walked back toward the main deck, my feet shuffling into a little jog and then a run as I took the stairs two at a time and rushed toward our suite. Miles was coming out the door as I arrived, breathless.

  “Yes,” I said, a smile that turned into a childish giggle bursting from my lips.

  “Yes, what?” he asked, taking hold of my upper arms to steady me.

  “Yes to everything. To a real marriage. To love and family and a future. To us.”

  His eyes narrowed with confusion for a moment, then widened. “Are you sure?”

  “More sure than I’ve ever been of anything else.”

  He turned me, pushing me back into the room, his lips on mine before the door was closed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him lift me, my head spinning as we fell back onto the bed. He groaned, his body instantly conforming to mine, his hands tugging my hips up against his, my hands burying themselves in his hair, his shirt, wanting him as close as I could possibly get him.

  This was where I’d always wanted to be. There was no doubt in my mind that I belonged in Miles’ arms and that he belonged in mine. I just had to know that he had no doubts. It was a little ironic, but Claire’s confession that she would never stop trying to win him back had destroyed all doubt that those pictures had infected me with. Dominic had wanted me to question Miles’ devotion to me. And for a while, it’d worked. But then, with Claire’s confession, the pictures took on a whole new meaning.

  He’d had opportunity after opportunity to win Claire back. He could have stolen her from his brother long before he met me. And he could have taken her back on our honeymoon, or on the many occasions she’d come to Waco for that express purpose. But he’d never taken her up on it. Not once. And the proof was in those pictures.

  He was everything she’d said he was and more. And I’d known it from the moment we met. It just took time for me to see it.

  Epilogue

  I stood at the end of the red carpet, my dress biting into my expanding waist, the flowers I was carrying dripping cold water all over the floor. You’d think with what the florist cost, she would have found a way to keep the plastic vials from leaking.

  There were so many people. Lisa’s parents, all four of her brothers, people we went to school with, her medical school friends. Most of the people I worked with at Starbuck’s. My aunts were at the front of the church, smiling so big I was almost afraid their faces would shatter with the effort. And Colin, standing at the front of the church, Miles beside him.

  I focused on Miles, but my legs suddenly weren’t working. I couldn’t move no matter how hard I willed myself to put one foot in front of the other. It was ridiculous, really. How many times was I going to do this before I could do it without total and complete panic?

  A knowing smile spread over Miles’ face. He came down the aisle, his hands outstretched.

  “You’re fine,” he said softly against my ear. “Just one step in front of the other.”

  “As long as you’re next to me.”

  “I am,” he said. “For the rest of our lives.”

  And that gave me the strength I needed to walk to that altar. He kissed me softly as he deposited me at my place on the left side of the aisle. Then he moved back beside Colin as the entire congregation stood for Lisa’s entrance.

  Her wedding dress was a designer masterpiece, all lace and satin, flowing from her curves like it was made just for her. And it was. Colin had Vera Wang do it personally. She was a dream, just as she had always envisioned when we were kids. The only thing that she had never envisioned was the fact that I was married first. She’d always imagined we would have a double wedding, and I was six months pregnant in my slightly too tight maid of honor’s dress. But she was okay with that. In fact, she was so over the moon to be marrying Colin Parsons that I think I could have shown up in a burlap sack and she would have been thrilled.

  She giggled as she caught my eye, then she focused on Colin, and it was like everyone else just faded away. I knew that feeling. It happened every time I looked at Miles.

  Dreams have a way of changing as life happens. But we were both living our happy endings. Miles and I renewed our vows in a small ceremony at his father’s house in Massachusetts. Then we flew to Tuscany, enjoying a week at a small villa he bought years ago but never had the time to visit. We go there whenever we have a chance now. Miles is pretty busy. He still runs his construction business here in Waco, but he also telecommutes as a part of his father’s company, keeping the peace as Robert tries to take a larger role with the company. Things are pretty crazy now, but we make time for each other. We finally have our priorities straight.

  Dreams do come true. I have a real family now. I’m looking forward to those quiet, if active, senior years. Yet, I’m also looking forward to every minute between.

  ~ End ~