Rose knew exactly how quickly her hackles got up where her son was concerned. Just thinking of when she got the call about him breaking his arm... If he was in true danger, she would do anything to protect him. “Of course.”
“I don’t know everything that happened that night, but I have to believe that it wasn’t with malice aforethought.” Tori smiled and shook her head. “Apparently, I’ve been watching too many crime shows trying to decompress from the wedding planning. But listen,” she added, flicking the bright red waves of her hair over her shoulder. “I know that your father going to jail was hard on you. I can only imagine how difficult it made life here in Cornwall. Small towns are rough, and when it comes to not fitting in, I’m at the top of the list. I never fit in anywhere, not even here, before Wade.
“But you can’t let other people’s opinion of you—or someone in your family—dictate your life or your self-worth. You’re not trash, Rose. Not your father or anyone else could make you that. You’re a good person. A great mother. A fantastic pastry chef. That’s way more important than the deeds of your family members.”
Rose felt a rush of embarrassment reach her cheeks. “You don’t need to say all those things, Tori.”
“Yes, I do. Because you need to hear it. And you need to know that Xander and your father are two very different people committing two very different crimes. Xander would never deliberately hurt you like your father has. He loves you. And he loves Joey. He may not have said it, but I’ve seen that sad, moony look in his eyes. He misses you both so badly. I think it killed him to have to go back to D.C. with things unresolved between the two of you.”
“He’s gone?” Rose asked, and Tori nodded.
Rose shouldn’t have been pleased to hear that Xander missed her, but somehow knowing he was suffering a little bit while they were apart was nice. He should at least be as miserable as she was, although she doubted he was. Tori might think Xander was in love with her, but he wasn’t. He was in love with the idea of their family and being a dad. Now that he was home and surrounded by his old life, he’d forget all about that.
“I won’t keep him away from Joey forever. I just need to make sure that whatever this is—” she gestured toward the television “—doesn’t blow up. I don’t want to tell my son who his father is only to have to visit him on Sunday afternoons during inmate visitation. I’d rather wait. We’ve waited this long.”
“And what about you?”
“What?”
“You said you wouldn’t keep Joey away from him forever. What about you? Are you going to keep your distance from the man you’ve loved since you were fifteen years old?”
“Maybe,” Rose admitted.
“What could he do to convince you to give him another chance?”
Rose shook her head and turned to look out the window. The sheriff’s car blew by, probably heading up to the Garden of Eden again. “I don’t know that there’s anything he can do, Tori. Maybe our chance ended back in the summer before college.”
Tori’s clear blue eyes were nearly penetrating as she looked at Rose. They were beautiful and icy, making her want to shiver in her uniform. After a moment, Tori got up from her chair and put a five-dollar bill on the counter even though she hadn’t bothered to order.
“What’s this for?” Rose said, holding up the bill.
“It’s for working hard for far less money than you deserve. You’re entitled to some happiness. You just have to be open to the possibilities. And it’s possible that back in high school was just the beginning for you two,” she said before slipping out of the diner and out of Rose’s sight.
Thirteen
Things weren’t exactly going as Xander had planned. He’d hoped to get back to Cornwall as soon as he could, but work got in the way and he found himself wrapped up in congressional committee sessions that lasted late into the night nearly every day.
It had taken him two weeks to get things in motion and he’d had to cash in a couple favors to get away, but he was two miles outside of Cornwall and closing in fast. But now that he was here, he had to wonder where everyone else was.
The town was quieter than usual for four o’clock in the afternoon. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road. He drove out to Rose’s apartment, but her car wasn’t there. He cruised back to Daisy’s, but her Honda wasn’t there, either. No one was there, actually. He would have called Rose on her cell phone if he thought for a moment that she would answer.
Instead he headed to the town watering hole. There wasn’t a single vehicle in the lot outside the Wet Hen, either, except for the bartender’s old truck parked out back. Curious, Xander pulled in. The bartender, Skippy, would know where everyone was. He typically had the pulse of the town.
The skinny, leathery old man at the bar looked up when he came in. “Congressman Langston,” he greeted with a casual wave. “What brings you to the Hen?”
It was a good question. Xander hadn’t stepped foot in the place in years. Of course, it looked exactly the same as it had then. And the fifty years before then. And the fifty years before that. The Hen had opened in 1897 and aside from those newfangled electric lights and the cooling systems for the liquor and the patrons, not much had changed. He went to the bar and settled onto one of the worn leather stools.
“Afternoon, Skippy. I came into town for the weekend and I can’t seem to find anyone around. Any idea where they’ve all gone?”
Skippy nodded and leaned up against the bar where Xander had seated himself. “Everyone’s probably at the ball field. The local Little League team made it to the final four in the state championships. Tonight they’re playing their last game. If they win it, they’ll play the other winner for the state title. People have really gotten excited about it. It’s all they’ve talked about on the news lately.
“I’m kinda relieved,” Skippy added. “I’m tired of all that nonsense about your folks’ place. That Wilder kid could’ve found trouble wherever you put him. Did you know I actually caught him stealing liquor out of the back room once? Who knows what he got himself into? Harassing good people like the Edens won’t get Sheriff Duke anywhere.”
Xander was glad to at least have Skippy on their side. He probably had more pull in town than the mayor did. People were very suggestible when drunk. “Thanks, Skippy. Do you know what time the game was supposed to start?”
Skippy eyed his watch. “About a half hour ago. You’d better hurry on if you’re going to see your boy play. He got his cast off a few days ago. Doc cleared him to play with a brace as long as he wears his glove and catches with his right hand.”
Xander’s gaze met Skippy’s weary dark eyes and the old man smiled. Skippy truly knew everything that went on in this town. It was a little scary. Thankfully, time had proven that Skippy kept most of his knowledge to himself. “Uh...thanks again. I’ll see you around.” He slid off the stool and bolted from the bar.
The community ball field was about five miles away. It wouldn’t take him long to get there. It did, however, take him a while to park. Everyone, and it really was everyone, had come out to support the team.
He found a spot in a lot about a block away. Little League games were only six innings, so he worried he might have missed it entirely, but everyone was still at the field and he could see the little boys in the outfield as he got closer. Xander glanced at the scoreboard. It was the bottom of the fifth inning. Joey’s team, the Litchfield Lions, was ahead by two runs. A glance at the crowd gathered around the field was intimidating. They’d spilled off the bleachers and lined the sides in lawn chairs and blankets. He tried to spy Rose in the stands, but there were so many people.
The crowd shouted encouraging words to the boys as the Lions struck out and the team ran to take their positions in the outfield. Xander took the opportunity to get people’s attention without distracting the players. “Rose!” he shouted. “Rose Pierce!”
Quite a few people turned in his direction, but she was not one of them. “She’s at the top of the blea
chers by the Lions’ dugout,” someone yelled.
“Thanks!” Xander stepped through the crowd, dodging folks with popcorn and soda. With the area narrowed down, he was finally able to spot Rose sitting beside her brother, Craig. She was wearing a bright blue Litchfield Lions T-shirt and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She didn’t see him. She was fully focused on the game.
Xander stopped at the bottom of the bleachers. This was it. The moment. His heart raced like election night, but he wouldn’t let his nerves get the better of him. He performed best under pressure, right?
Rose’s gaze met his then, and she froze. A flash of surprise, then fear, then concern crossed her face before it went blank. Xander started climbing up the bleachers, cutting through the cluster of people and nearly stepping on a couple to reach the top.
This probably wasn’t the best conversation to have in public. With the whole town watching. He’d prefer to have this moment in a dark, romantic restaurant or, at the very least, without his scowling future brother-in-law there to witness the whole thing. But that was the hand fate had dealt him. At the very least, she couldn’t cause a scene. Rose didn’t like attention being drawn to her. She would have to sit there and listen to what he had to say.
Xander stopped on the metal bench directly ahead of her. He squatted down, carefully balancing where she couldn’t avoid looking at him.
“What do you want, Xander?” Her voice was cold and angry, but he wouldn’t be deterred by that.
“I want to talk to you.”
“We’ve talked enough. I’ve told you to leave us alone. Now get out of the way so I can watch my son play.”
Craig suddenly stood up. “I need a drink.” He gestured for Xander to take his seat as he stepped out toward the concession stand.
“Thanks,” Xander said, plopping down beside her.
“Craig!” Rose complained, but it was too late. She sighed and inched away from him, although there wasn’t really anyplace she could go.
Xander sat awkwardly beside her for a moment before he said anything else. “How is Joey playing? Is his arm holding up okay?”
Her eyes were focused on the field as she spoke. “He’s doing well. The arm doesn’t seem to be holding him back. He made a run in the third inning.”
“I’m glad he got his cast off in time to play.”
“Me too,” she said, seeming to grow more comfortable as they focused on the safe territory of their son.
“I love you, Rose.”
That finally drew her attention, as well as the attention of several people sitting around them. Rose’s pale skin took on a pinkish hue of embarrassment. “Xander, shhh!” she said with wide eyes.
“Shhh?” Xander repeated. “That’s not exactly what I was hoping to hear.”
Her lips twisted with anxiety. “Well, both of us seem to be suffering from disappointment lately.” She turned back to the game and cheered enthusiastically at the boys on the field.
“No one is perfect, Rose. Not me, not you. Perhaps we’ve both built up this fantasy of one another since our high school days. I’m sorry I haven’t lived up to your expectations. But you’ve got to believe me when I say the only crime I’m guilty of is loving you too much.”
Rose didn’t respond, but she’d stopped cheering and seemed to be listening intently despite refusing to look at him.
“We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all got secrets. Believe me when I say that if I could go back, there are a couple of things I would do differently. The first would be letting you walk away from me all those years ago. It’s my biggest regret. But I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I’m not going to let you push me away again.”
Xander reached out to caress her cheek and gently turn her to face him. “I know you’re scared, Rose. So am I. But these last few weeks I’ve realized that the reality of losing you is far worse than the fear of what might happen if I came back here and told you how I felt.
“I want to focus on my future. Our future. You and me and Joey together the way a family should be. I don’t want anything you and I did in the past to come in the way of that.” Xander reached into his pocket and grasped the small velvet box in his fist.
“Xander,” Rose began, but stopped when she saw the box.
“I had this made for you. There’s only one other ring like it in the whole world.” He held it out and opened the lid on the hinge. “My hope is that you will wear this one every day of the rest of your life.”
* * *
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.
It was surreal enough to have Xander here, telling Rose that he loved her. Tori had told her as much was true, although she hadn’t believed her. Having him produce an engagement ring was beyond her most secret of fantasies. But then he opened the box and the world tilted sideways.
Her mother’s engagement ring. At least, it looked like her engagement ring. After the cancer claimed her, Rose’s mother had been buried with her wedding ring and engagement ring on her finger. Xander had had it re-created for her.
With her hand shaking, Rose reached out for the ring and then gripped the platinum band tightly to keep from dropping it under the bleachers. Upon closer inspection, she could tell it wasn’t a perfect replica. For one thing, her mother’s ring had been white gold, not platinum. And the sideways oval diamond inset into the band was much larger and sparkled brighter than any stone her father could ever afford.
But the band had the same intricate crisscrossed mount with cutaways that revealed more tiny diamonds, just as her mother’s ring had. “How did you ever find a ring like my mother’s?”
“Like I said, I had it made. With help from Craig, if you can believe it.”
Rose tore her gaze away from the sparkling ring to frown at Xander in disbelief. “Craig helped you?”
“He did.” Xander smiled. “He sent me pictures of the ring so I could have a jeweler in D.C. re-create it for you. Do you like it?”
Rose’s mouth dropped open to answer, but she couldn’t find the words. Of course she loved it. It was absolutely perfect. Beautiful, sentimental and thoughtful, as Xander always tried to be. The issue was whether or not she could accept it.
“Okay, now I have to ask you an important question. Two, actually. First,” he said, taking the ring from her fingers, “will you, Rosalyn Pierce, give me the honor of your hand in marriage?”
She had been beating herself up for weeks thinking about her last conversation with Xander. How she’d reacted but not listened. How she’d painted him with her father’s brush without giving him the chance to explain how they were different. Tori had been right. She would do anything for Joey. And she knew that Xander would do anything for his family, and that included her and their son. Her father had never cared about anyone but himself.
Saying yes was a risk. Things were still unresolved with the police. But she was more frightened by the idea of saying no and losing him again. She loved him. He accepted her past and the flaws in it. If she wanted to be happy, she needed to do the same.
“Yes,” Rose replied. The answer was barely audible with the cheering in the stands around them, but Xander pushed the ring onto her finger and smiled, so he’d heard her.
“The second question,” he said, “is will you come live with me in D.C.? That town house is so lonely since you left.”
She nodded, although the movement was barely visible before he scooped her into his arms and captured her mouth in a kiss. She melted against him, the heat of the late-summer ball game nowhere near as scorching as the desire building up inside of her.
“I love you, Rose,” he whispered against her lips.
Rose pulled away to look into his eyes. “I love you, too, Xander.”
A cheer went up and the crowd around them leaped to their feet. They both stood to try and figure out what they’d missed. It didn’t take long. It was the top of the sixth, two strikes, and the Lions were still ahead. If the other team didn’t score, the game was over and Joe
y’s team went to the championship.
Xander reached out for her hand with his own and his fingers entwined with hers. They both waited, barely breathing as the next boy came up to bat. He swung hard at the pitch and it was a pop fly heading straight for Joey in his position as shortstop.
“Oh no,” Rose said, covering her mouth with her other hand. “I hope he can catch that with the glove on the wrong hand.”
It seemed like forever for the ball to come down and when it did, it was nestled safely in Joey’s glove. The game was over. The roar from the surrounding spectators was near deafening. Parents anxiously waited for the teams to give high fives to one another and practice good sportsmanship and then poured onto the grass to celebrate with their kids.
Xander helped Rose down the steps and they found Joey still standing between second and third base, holding the winning ball. He seemed a little stunned.
“Congratulations, baby.” Rose let go of Xander’s hand to swoop in and gather her son in her arms. “You played an excellent game tonight. Best catch ever.”
“Thanks,” Joey said with a grin, and then his eyes widened as they looked over her shoulder. “Xander?”
Her son pulled away to rush Xander as he crouched in the dirt near third base. He caught the boy in his arms, still cautious of the sturdy black brace on his left arm. “Good job, kiddo.”
“I’m glad you made it, Dad.”
“I’m glad I made it, too.”
“Wait, what?” Rose said. They hadn’t had that discussion with him yet. Xander didn’t even flinch. He just smiled wide, his hazel eyes getting a touch glassy.
Xander patted Joey on the shoulder and stood, turning back to her. “He already knew, Rose. He’s more observant than we gave him credit for.”
“How did you know?”
“Joey left a gift for me in my luggage.”
“Did you like it?” Joey perked up.
Xander grinned. “It was the best macaroni-and-Popsicle-stick picture frame ever made in the history of camp.”
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