Rose looked at him contemplatively. “She sounds interesting.” She had known most of this from Sarah, but was glad to hear that he had seen it for what it was.
Alex grinned. “That is a huge understatement.” He sat looking down at the paper for a minute. “I thought about breaking it off, but felt like being engaged was a commitment. I didn’t want to back out. Then I found out she was sleeping with a friend of mine. Well, a former friend. He came to me and told me he was in love with her and she was afraid to break it off with me. When I confronted her, she admitted it, but said it had all been a mistake. He’d pressured her into bed with him.”
Rose shook her head. “I see. Did you believe her?”
“I’d already noticed too many weird things about her story to believe her. I told her that I was done with her. She took off. Three hours later I got a call that she’d been killed in car crash. Hit head on by a drunk driver.
Apparently, she’d left my place, and gone straight to a bar. She was hit on her way home. Her alcohol content was just barely under the legal limit. I don’t know if she’d have been able to stop if she hadn’t been drinking.”
Rose sat thinking for a minute. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“Why would I tell you about her? She’s been gone from my life for two years. No one knew that we’d broken it off before the wreck, so I played the grieving fiancé. I had no desire to date again for a while. I wanted nothing to do with another woman who could mess with my mind the way she had,” he said.
“Sarah thought you were grieving and hadn’t been able to see past that to anyone else.”
He laughed. “I did grieve for the life I thought I’d have with her. I thought I’d found the perfect woman.” He knew he’d found the perfect woman now. Well, perfect for him, anyway.
“I’m sorry you went through that,” she said. She walked over to sit beside him on the couch, and stroked his arm.
He turned to her. “I’ve never told anyone the full truth of what happened between us. I just didn’t feel like I wanted to dredge all that up again.”
She sat thinking about all he’d said for a minute. “Why did you still have her picture?”
“Every time I met a girl that I thought I wanted to start a relationship with, I’d get out her picture and look at it. It was my way of reminding myself what I didn’t want from life. I don’t want a Jill in my life.” He ran his fingers along her jaw. “I want a Rose in my life. I want someone who will give of herself and truly care about me.”
She turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend my life with.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. “I thought that I was in love with Jill right up until a couple of months ago. And then I met this girl in a laundromat and knew almost immediately what love really feels like. What I felt for Jill was lust. I was in thrall of her beauty. But you, Rose, you turned my world upside down when you helped me sort my laundry and told me that you wouldn’t have sex before marriage.”
She smiled, her whole face lighting up. “I love you, too. I knew after our first date that I loved you. I wouldn’t have married you otherwise.”
He pulled her close and hugged her tightly. “I need you in my life. I’m sorry that I made you feel like I was still in love with Jill.”
“No need to apologize. I understand why you didn’t want to talk about it. Please try not to shut me out about things like that again. I’m confident, but even I’m not that confident.” She snuggled into him. “I do have one more thing to talk about.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I saw the doctor Thursday morning. The first of five will be born in about eight months,” she grinned. She had wanted all to be right between them before she told him. This seemed the perfect time.
“Seriously? That was fast! Should you be doing all the work you’re doing for the book store then? Should we put that off?” he asked.
“I’m doing some interviewing this week for a couple of employees. With help, I’ll be able to go to the doctor whenever I need to. All will be good. Of course, you’ll have to give up your office, and let me turn it into a nursery,” she said with a grin.
“I can handle that. Just so you and the baby are healthy.”
Epilogue
Rose looked around the store with a stunned expression on her face. It was packed. She hadn’t expected an opening anywhere close to this one.
She’d decided to do have her grand opening on a Saturday, when she would have the most potential for traffic.
Both of her employees were working today and Alex was helping out as well. It was taking all four of them to cover all the customers swarming through her store. She’d decided to specialize in the two genres that she was most familiar with, romance and science fiction. She’d deliberately marketed to those two segments. Obviously it had worked.
She stretched and shifted as she checked out yet another customer. There had been a steady stream of customers buying things since they’d opened the doors a little over six hours before.
Alex saw her, and walked to her side. “You need to take a break. They can handle it for a while. The doctor said you needed to put your feet up for ten minutes every four hours. It’s been six.” He signaled to one of her new employees to take the register.
She nodded tiredly and headed into the back room. She’d made a small office space with a loveseat so that she could rest when necessary. Alex followed her in.
She smiled up at him. “This is so much more than I ever dreamed it could be.” She sat down on the loveseat and rested her feet on a small ottoman.
“Thank you so much for being so supportive. I promise I won’t make you come in and work every Saturday.”
He sat next to her, pulling her into his side. “On Saturdays that I don’t have to work, if you’re working, this is where I’ll want to be. I want to be with you every minute that I can.”
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