Because he loved her.
Chapter Fourteen
Jared arrived at Emily’s house still uncertain about what he was going to say.
When Francesca opened the door to him, he wondered if Emily had even come home. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. But it could be in the detached garage. She’d called Chloie and asked her to come stay with the twins and his mother. But then she’d left, and there hadn’t been a trace of her anywhere.
Except for the lingering memories of her—stolen kisses while she was cooking, Emily on the floor, coloring with the twins or having a tea party. In his mind’s eye he could see her helping his mother, or he could relive their nights in his room.
The thought that he might have lost her panicked him.
Francesca looked surprised to see him. “I thought,” she started, then hesitated. “Never mind,” she continued with a smile. “I guess you’re here to see Emily?”
“Did she come home?”
He didn’t want her to think about this house as home. He wanted her to consider his house as her home.
“She’s in the kitchen, making coffee, though I don’t know why she wants coffee. She’s already wired, upset—”
“I get the picture,” he muttered.
Francesca tilted her head and let him inside. But then she asked, “Are you here to make her smile or cry some more?”
He had the distinct feeling that if he didn’t give this woman the right answer, she’d push him back outside. “I hope I’m going to make both of us smile.”
Francesca closed the door. “I’ll be upstairs in my room with the door shut.”
Jared strode into the kitchen and found Emily scooping coffee into a filter. Her eyes grew big when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”
He couldn’t just blurt out why he was here. He had to work up to it or she’d never believe him. She’d think he just wanted to get her back into bed.
Still, he crossed the kitchen and stood very close to her. So close he could see the tearstains on her cheeks. He ran his thumb over one, feeling his heart lurch. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
“That’s why you came? To apologize for hurting me?”
She was obviously trying to help him along. He needed the help. “Not just that. After you left I had a talk with my mother. Actually, I guess she had a talk with me. Maybe it was the first time I really listened to her in years. Anyway, I tried to see her point of view and Valerie’s point of view and your point of view.”
His heart raced as silence settled between them. She finally broke it with “And could you?”
“I closed a hard shell around my heart a long time ago. But you’ve been cracking it. Today, I think it broke.” He didn’t mean to be flip, but he was really having trouble with this.
“What happened when it broke?” She looked hopeful now, and he thought that was a good sign.
“You know that church you took me to?”
She nodded, a perplexed look in her eyes.
“I went there. I thought about everything, and I lit some candles—for my stepdad and Valerie, for Mom, and the girls. And us, too.”
Emily’s lips parted in surprise and he wanted to kiss her so badly. He was almost there. “When I was sitting in the church, I couldn’t imagine my life without you. And not because I want you as a mom for the girls, though I do, because you’d be a wonderful mom. But I realized I’ve never really let anyone into my heart. I’ve never opened it before. Not like this. I love you, Emily. I really, really do. I think I’ve loved you for weeks. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
He opened his arms to her now, and she didn’t back away. She came right into them and asked, “You love me?”
“I do. My work is important to me and it takes up a chunk of my time. It’s erratic and calls me out of bed at night. But I promise you, if you marry me, I’ll consider your needs along with Courtney’s and Amy’s first. I think I’m going to actively search to bring someone else into our partnership so we all have more leisure time. Can you forgive me for doubting your truthfulness? Can you forgive me for not seeing sooner what was in front of my face?”
Reaching her arms around his neck, she laced her fingers in his hair. “I love you, Jared Madison,” she said joyously. “I can forgive you if you promise to keep telling me how you feel.”
“I’ll do better than that.” His lips were very close to hers now. “I’ll tell you how much I love you every single day and I’ll whisper my dreams to you, too.”
“Dreams of our life together?” she asked.
“Dreams for us, the girls and our life until we both have silver hair.”
Picking her up so that her mouth was even with his, he sealed his lips to hers. His kiss promised a future and vows that would last forever.
Epilogue
“This is definitely an unconventional honeymoon,” Jared said as he smiled at Emily. He was carrying Courtney and she was carrying Amy, as they entered the suite at one of the hotels at Disney World.
“Everything we’ve done has been a bit unconventional.” She returned his smile and followed him into the living room of their suite.
Jared couldn’t believe the happiness filling his heart. He and Emily had married in a quiet ceremony with only his mother, cousin, Vince, Tessa and Francesca present. He and Emily had spent the night at the bed-and-breakfast at the winery, and then the following day they’d gotten on a plane to Disney World, Amy, Courtney, his mother and Chloie included.
Both girls squiggled to be let down. They ran through the open door to the adjoining room.
Jared took the opportunity to encircle his new wife’s waist and bring her close for a resounding kiss. After they broke apart, he joked, “I guess they want to tell Mom about It’s a Small World.”
“Or about the Country Bear Jamboree,” she teased, holding hands with him as they joined the girls in his mother’s room.
Gloria was sitting in an easy chair by the window, reading. At least, she had been reading. Now the girls were chattering away, bubbling over with the sights and sounds and smells of a day in strollers at the amusement park.
His mother stood, still depending on her cane, but much stronger than she’d been a month before. Jared couldn’t believe it was already the middle of October. And the upcoming holiday season was going to be like no other he’d ever experienced, with family and friends and a beautiful, caring wife who made each day special.
Emily went over to his mother. “Did you have a good afternoon?”
“It was lovely. I spent some time in the garden. And there are such interesting people to talk to…from all over.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the park with us tomorrow? If Chloie joins us, we’ll have an extra set of hands to push the wheelchair. I think you’d like some of the attractions.”
“I’m really just fine right here. This is a wonderful vacation, sitting on the patio in the sun, drinking iced tea, watching all the people. But I’ll think about your suggestion. Maybe I’ll venture out with you tomorrow.”
Jared’s relationship with his mother had changed since the day they’d had their talk. The past really had seemed to drop away, and they were building memories for the future. He and his partners had almost settled on another doctor to come into the practice. Emily was going to start advertising her services as a midwife, and he was going to be her backup at the hospital. The hospital was also considering her proposal to start a midwifery program there. Professionally, they were going to be a team. Personally, they were already a team.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a card key in the lock and then Chloie burst into his mom’s room. “I hope I’m not late,” she said. “I know you two want to go out tonight.”
“Not at all,” Emily assured her. “I’m going to take a shower and change and get a little more dressed up.”
As she came toward him, Jared hooked an arm around her waist. “You’re perfect the way you are.”
She looked down at her shorts a
nd knit top. “I think I can do a little bit better than this. Where did you disappear to this afternoon?” Emily asked Chloie.
Jared thought his cousin actually blushed. She had split off from them, having different interests than the attractions they’d planned to visit with the twins.
“Actually, I spent the afternoon talking to someone.”
“Someone?” Jared asked, his radar sensing something.
“I was on the Jungle Cruise and started talking with this science teacher from Galveston.”
“Male or female science teacher?” Jared asked.
Emily poked him in the ribs.
Chloie blushed some more. “Male. We spent most of the afternoon talking. We exchanged e-mail addresses and cell-phone numbers, and within the next couple of days when you don’t need me, I might meet him for lunch or dinner.”
“Is that when I can check him out?” Jared asked, sounding like an older brother.
Chloie winked at him. “I might let you do that.”
Satisfied, Jared took Emily’s hand and went to their suite to get ready for their evening together.
Emily stood on Main Street at Disney World, her new husband’s arms wrapped around her, as they watched the last flicker of lights from the parade fade away. Unconventional though it might be, this was a wonderful honeymoon. They’d had dinner at a delicious restaurant, strolled hand in hand, kissing every once in a while and then found a place here to watch the magic of the light parade.
They were standing across from Cinderella’s castle and Emily couldn’t help but smile. “We bought the girls Mickey Mouse hats while we were here, but we need to buy you one, too.”
He kissed her temple. “What kind of hat do you want to buy for me, or shouldn’t I ask?”
“I want to buy one for you that says ‘Prince Charming.’”
He nudged her around to face him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
She circled his neck with her arms. “Very. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my whole life. That’s because of you.”
He was quiet for a moment, glanced at the castle and then back at her. “I never thought I’d deserve someone like you.”
He pulled something out of his pocket. “You were looking at these in the souvenir store. So I thought I’d buy one for you.”
Jared took her hand and turned it palm up. Then he set a miniature glass slipper in her hand.
Tears came to her eyes at his thoughtfulness. “Oh, Jared! It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Wrapping his arms around her again, he said, “You’ve convinced me to believe in fairy tales. And happy endings.”
When Jared bent his head and kissed her, Emily kissed him back fervently, remembering the vows they’d taken and the promises they’d made.
He reluctantly pulled away, stole another tender kiss then took her hand. As long as he held on to her, their future would be as bright and shiny as the lights on Cinderella’s castle. Her Texas doctor had been Prince Charming in disguise all along. She felt like the luckiest woman in the kingdom.
Jared squeezed her hand then released it to wrap his arm around her. Their honeymoon was just the beginning of the rest of their lives.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3257-4
THE MIDWIFE’S GLASS SLIPPER
Copyright © 2009 by Karen Rose Smith
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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~Logan’s Legacy
†Montana Mavericks: Gold Rush Grooms
*Baby Bonds
*Baby Bonds
*Baby Bonds
††Talk of the Neighborhood
‡‡Logan’s Legacy Revisited
**Dads in Progress
°The Wilder Family
**Dads in Progress
**Dads in Progress
§The Baby Experts
§The Baby Experts
Baby Experts 02 Page 18
