“I’m here, Grandmother,” Joe said, striding into the immense room. Bess sat, swallowed by the size of her chair like a queen on a throne. “And this won’t wait any longer. It’s already been far too long.”
“I’ll speak with you in private, Joseph,” she said, lifting her chin proudly. “But I see no reason for the Blake children to be present… Nor the others…” She cast a disparaging glance toward Jackie and Henry. They stood close together, holding their drinks and the ice tinkled nervously.
“These are my friends, Bess. And what I have to say involves them as well as you.” The room fell silent, all eyes trained on Joe expectantly. “I’m in love with Maggie,” he said, turning to look at me. His eyes sparkled, blue and bright. “I’ve asked her to marry me, and she’s accepted.”
He turned to look at Dean, who straightened and squared his shoulders. “You’re her family,” Joe said simply. “I’m not asking for your permission, but I’d be grateful for your blessing. You and I have been like family, too… for a damned lot of years, Dean. I don’t want that to change. I want to make it official.”
Jackie took a breath, paused and stepped up beside Dean. She looked up, drawing his eyes down to hers. She lifted her brows with an unspoken question.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. I drew a quick breath at the look in their eyes, understanding dawning slowly. I’d never noticed it before, maybe because of the difference in their ages… It was an even greater difference than the one between me and Joe. Or maybe it was because what might be obvious, isn’t always necessarily clear… But I could feel the strength of the love between them. And Dean put his hand out to clasp Joe’s.
“I simply won’t have it,” Bess cried out, her usual composure shattered. “I’ve endured a lifetime of that family taking advantage of the Decker family’s generosity. And I suffered it willingly, in honor of my Davis’s memory. I made good on his efforts at charity, and accepted a drunkard and a coward living on my grounds. I endured it because your father felt a misguided sense of responsibility toward the man. But I will not have that man’s blood running through my great-grandchildren’s veins.” She stood, holding onto the arm of her chair, breathless from her effort… but fury driving her on…
“If that is what you choose, Joseph,” she said, nodding her head in my direction without even looking at me, “you will be leaving everything the Decker name has to offer behind. Everything. Your decision will be quite final, I assure you.” She took a deep breath, her chin jutting forward. “I suggest you choose wisely.”
Her last words seemed to echo for a moment… before the room fell silent. No one seemed to breathe, and the only sound was the pounding of my heart.
“I’ve already chosen,” Joe said quietly. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a thick, sealed envelope. “My resignation,” he said, offering it to Bess with a steady hand. “I don’t want the company… in fact, I never did. I’m a photojournalist, not a CEO. And I’d almost forgotten that…”
He turned to me and took both my hands in his. “When Dad died, I gave up my own dreams. I inherited a life of routine and responsibility. I forgot how it felt… to live from the heart… to open yourself up… to take a chance…”
He knelt down. “I want every day, every tomorrow with you, Maggie, for the rest of my life, but I’ll risk all of them if I have to, for one more single moment of loving you. Whether we’re side by side, or separated by half the world…”
He reached into his pocket and the ruby he held up flashed like fire. I looked down, stunned as he slipped it onto my finger. Sparks of red and violet flared as the diamonds surrounding it sparkled brilliantly. I looked into the depths of his eyes and the power of his love. My Joe… my only love…
my whole world…
45
Joe
“That ring belonged to my mother,” Bess cried shrilly.
“And to my mother, as well,” I replied without taking my eyes off Maggie. “Now it belongs to my wife, if you’ll have me…”
“Ohhh, yes…,” she whispered as I wrapped her in my arms, rocking her gently. She tilted her face up to mine. “I’ll find someone to take my place at the foundation,” she whispered. “I was being selfish and stubborn…”
I stopped her with my lips, drowning her words and drinking her sweetness. Time seemed to stand still… as if nothing and no one existed outside of us. “No, sweetheart,” I said, kissing her cheek… her delicate ear… “You’ll follow your heart, and follow your dreams. Wherever they take you. I want to be part of your work, and I want to support you in any way that I can.”
I set her gently back so that I could look at her. “What point is there, in power or wealth, if they can’t be used in service?”
“For the advancement and honor of your family name,” Bess retorted, haughtily. “Though those ideals seem to be lost upon you.” She swept out of her chair and looked past Maggie, directly at me. “Don’t think this is over,” she warned. “You can’t force me to accept this… You’ve pushed me too far…”
I picked up the old box from the table where I’d left it. “I love you, Grandmother,” I said gently. “And I’m sorry.” I handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she demanded.
“The truth,” I replied.
“Congratulations,” Jackie said, beaming. We’d all walked back to the cottage where the cars were waiting.
“Why in God’s name didn’t you tell me?” Maggie asked, hugging Jackie tight and giving her a hard, sideways look. ‘You and Dean?”
“I’m old enough to be his… well… his older sister,” she said sheepishly. “It’s only been a few months, and I have no idea where we’re headed… I guess I was afraid of being judged,” she admitted.
“You had a hell of a nerve,” I said, giving Dean a thumping punch in the shoulder. “Making me feel like a hypocrite… and a cradle robber.”
“That would be me,” Jackie said, as straightforward as ever. Dean shifted next to her, and swallowed hard. “Dean may take his time… coming around… but eventually he recognizes a good thing when he sees it.” They exchanged a look and they both blushed. Dean took my hand apologetically in his. “Take care of…,” he began…
“Take care of each other,” he finished. We each clapped a hand on the other’s shoulder. “It shows… How much you love her,” he said. “And God knows, you were all she’s ever wanted.”
He turned to Maggie and they stood, just looking at each other for moment. Then she threw herself into his arms and he held her tight. “I love you,” she said, her voice filled with warmth and happiness.
“I love you, Maggie,” Dean said, sitting her back onto her feet and smiling. “I still think you’re reckless,” he teased. “My brave, reckless little sister…”
He and Jackie climbed into their car, waving back at us as they disappeared down the twisting drive. Ryan came up to put a hand on my shoulder.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, for both of you,” he said as I turned to face him. I held Maggie’s hand tightly in mine and felt the huge ruby twist on her finger. I felt a deep, sweet tightening inside… that she was mine… and I was hers…
“The two of you together,” he went on, “it’s how it was always meant to be. I’m not sure Grandmother will ever accept it, but I want you to know that I do.” We hugged each other tight and I felt my heart flood with love and gratitude.
‘What was it you gave her?” he asked, when I finally let him go. ‘That old box… you said it was the truth…?”
I nodded and looked up into the night sky. A few thin, grey clouds stood out against the darkness. “I don’t think it holds any secrets she doesn’t already know,” I answered. “She loved Dad so much… she probably knew him better than anyone. But she blinded herself to his faults… to his own problem with alcohol…” Ryan looked at me, and looked away. “She told herself for all those years that the Blake’s were the ones who owed us.” I shook my head and smiled as Hen
ry came to stand next to Ryan. “She didn’t want to see… maybe she’ll never see, or even look inside that box. We all have our own choices to make. But I had to offer her the chance…”
Ryan smiled, and looked over at Henry’s kind face. A moment passed between them, and then Ryan took Henry’s hand in his. He looked back at me, and smiled a nervous smile… His eyes were bright, afraid… but hopeful, too. Henry leaned closer and together they formed a perfect picture. My brother looked happy, truly happy for the first time… It took a second to register. Like giving sight to the blind… the words echoed in my mind.
I pulled Ryan back into my arms, this time bringing Henry along, too. By the time we let go, everyone’s eyes were moist and Maggie took her turn to give Ryan’s neck a loving squeeze.
“I told you,” I heard her whisper in his ear. He blinked and gave her ear a hard kiss.
“Well, it looks like old Bess isn’t the only one who couldn’t see,” I said softly. “Forgive me…”
Ryan shook his head with relief. “Just don’t say anything to Grandmother just yet. She’s already got a lot to adjust to,” he said, smiling widely, his eyes twinkling.
“Something tells me it’s not quite the right moment.”
46
Maggie
“You knew all along…”
“We were best buddies, Joe,” I said. “We told each other everything. I told him when I was seven years old that you’d promised to marry me one day.” I reached under his shirt and eased it over his head. I held up my hand and waggled my fingers teasingly. The ruby twisted and sparkled. “Looks like you’re finally gonna have to hold up your end of the bargain…” He pushed me back onto the bed and lifted one foot. He smiled devilishly and stripped off my boot.
“Name the day and the place,” he said with a gleam in his eyes and a challenge in his voice. He pulled off my other boot and I heard the flatteringly harsh intake of his breath. “Next week… next year… Tonight? I’ll be there,” he said, unzipping my jeans and peeling them down. “Have I ever told you how hot you look in those fucking boots?” he growled.
“Have you…?” I asked faintly. He was running his warm, rough palm up the inside of my calf. “Tell me again…”
“I wanted to fuck you right there in the bus station,” he said harshly, and I felt my breasts tingle in response. “I wanted to know how you feel… how you taste… I wanted to bend you over and take you right there.” He ran his fingers up the curve of my thigh. “My God… these legs of yours…”
I rolled over onto my hands and knees and pushed my hips back wantonly. “Like this?” I teased, looking at him over my shoulder and deepening the curve in the small of my back. “You want me like this…?”
I spread my knees on the bed and felt my pussy tighten in anticipation. I watched, feeling my own moisture pool and finally run down the inside of my leg. He kicked off his own boots and unbuckled… I watched him release his thick, swaying shaft.
“Do you want me deep?” he asked. His quiet voice was like thunder in the distance. Dark and rolling… with the hint of danger underneath. “You’ll have to take all of me this way, sweetheart…” He nudged the head of his cock between my slick lips and I felt him widen his stance…
“Last chance, Maggie,” he breathed, and I felt the head of his cock swell against me. I spread my arms out in front of me, my fingers wide, offering myself like a penitent…
“Fuck me,” I begged.
He filled me in a single thrust, arching his back over mine… holding my hips as he drove his own… over and over again. I braced, refusing to let my body move with the power of his thrusts. I held on and held still, reveling in the hard slap of his flesh into mine.
“My God…,” he gasped, grasping my ankles in his hands and pushing my knees up to my chest. “You fucking amazing woman…”
He turned me slowly, carefully on his cock, until I was on my back and he could see the look of hunger in my eyes. He pulled my ankles up until the backs of my legs rested along his sweating chest. Then he held me from below, supporting my hips and my ass, sliding me easily, weightlessly along his shaft. He shifted one hand between my legs and rubbed circles against my clit, slowly at first… gaining speed as his cock moved faster. My breasts bounced hard with every thrust… He was watching them move, and the hungry look in his eyes pushed me even closer to the edge.
“Touch them, sweetheart,” he ground out, biting into his own lip and pushing his cock to the limit. He held still for a moment and I could feel him swelling inside me. “Go on…,” he demanded, “I want to see…”
I reached up and cupped my own flesh, awkward at first, but drawing courage from his response. He sucked in a hard breath and held it, pumping his hips into me in tiny, restrained thrusts. “Like this…?” My question was soft, barely breaking the silence. I squeezed until my breasts were high and mounded, the nipples only inches apart… Then I pinched my nipples with my fingers and thumbs, lengthening them and stretching them up…
A second later, he was no longer standing. His chest was on mine, hard and slick and heavy… my legs were pushed up, resting along my own sides, my own shoulders. I was folded sharply in two, with my sex tight, exposed and utterly vulnerable. He buried his face in my neck and I held on as he drove into me. We breathed the same air, beat the same heartbeat, matched the same rhythm, thrust for exquisite thrust. When I gasped and cried his name, he exploded as well, and the storm hit us together. We rode the pummeling waves of pleasure, holding on… never letting go. We lost ourselves in its power and in its strength, both finding and creating the meaning in our love. When we were finally spent, I cradled him in my arms, stroking his hair as his breathing began to steady.
“Tomorrow,” I whispered finally. “...I think I’ll marry you tomorrow…”
The gentle smell of rain filled the air, and a cool breeze blew softly through the open window.
47
Joe
“There’s still a lot left to do, Maggie,” I said, lazily twisting a strand of her hair around my finger. She smiled, looking sexy and satisfied, the sheet draped over the curve of her hip.
“Jackie’s got the flowers handled,” she said, with a relaxed sigh. “And Ryan’s handling the classy invitations.” She dropped her cell on the nightstand.
“Last minute phone calls…” I looked at her and lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure this is what you want? We could put a fairy tale wedding together in a matter of weeks, sweetheart. I don’t want you looking back and wishing…” She cut me off with a kiss, sweet and lingering and damnably tempting…
“It’s not about the wedding,” she said. “It’s about the marriage. And I can’t think of a more perfect place. Cozy and intimate… and right here, where I fell in love with you…”
“I don’t expect Bess will trouble herself to walk down the hill,” I said with a sigh. “But I suppose if I expect her to accept my choices, I have to accept hers.”
“Dean will be here,” she said, smiling and running her finger along my jaw. “For now, I think that’s victory enough. And Ryan is bringing Henry.” She kissed the tip of my nose.
“I still don’t understand why he never told me.” I shifted onto my side and propped my head on one hand. “Didn’t he trust me?”
She pursed her lips and gave me a look. “He trusts you,” she said firmly. “But he grew up in the same family you did, Joe. He always felt the same weight of expectation that you did. Differently, maybe… but just as heavily.” A few quiet moments passed, and I drew a line along her brow with the tip of my finger.
“What did you mean when you told Ryan that Bess had blinded herself to your father’s faults?” Maggie put her cool hand on my chest. “What was in that box you gave her?”
I cupped her face in my hand and looked deeply into her lovely, dark eyes and took a breath. “Your father wasn’t the only one who had a problem with alcohol…,” I began. The words felt uncomfortable against my tongue, but there was relief, too…
“What he drank was more expensive,” I went on, “and he managed to hide it better, under a thin veneer of social propriety. Your father drank out in the open, Maggie. Mine did it in boardroom meetings and locked away alone in the library. They were both alcoholics, sweetheart, but my dad was also a coward. For all those years, he made us all believe that he was the one who had come to your father’s rescue. But it was all a lie from the start…”
“But he gave my family a place to stay… He fought Bess to do it…”
“He wanted to see himself as a hero, Maggie. And he didn’t want anyone to find out the truth. That it was your dad who saved mine, back during the war. Dad was nothing but a coward… and it was your father who prevented him from deserting… and bringing shame to the grand Decker name.
Dad owed your family… far more than he ever actually gave. And, no matter his faults, your father had enough honor to never betray his secret.” I ran my thumb across Maggie’s soft, parted lips. “I only found the letters a few months ago. Written years ago, before you and your family ever moved into this cottage. Your dad was sober when he wrote them, and I believe he was a good man… It came through in the letters very strongly, Maggie…
That he loved you very much…”
“Incredible, Jackie…
How did you find a string quartet with only a few hours’ notice?” I looked around the lawns surrounding the cottage. The sun was just starting to drop in the sky. “Magnificent…”
“I had help,” she said back, pleased with herself as Dean came up and curled his arms around her waist. “It’s the reason Maggie loves me. I’m great in a pinch.” Dean whispered in her ear, and she giggled and blushed.
The Competition Page 30
