by Grace, Carol
“That’s funny. I was coming to see you.” Her hair blew across her cheek.
“To tell me the news?” he asked.
“Then you heard?” she asked, buttoning her jacket against the cool wind.
“I guessed,” he said dryly. “Congratulations.” He tried to smile, but he couldn’t make it happen.
“Thanks.” She looked up at him. There was determination in her eyes and in the angle of her chin. Yet she hesitated for just a moment before she asked, “Can we go somewhere and talk? There’s something I want to ask you.”
“What?” he muttered. “To be the best man?”
“What?” she said, as if she couldn’t believe he’d said that.
“We could go into the diner? Or are you—”
“The diner is fine. Appropriate, in fact.”
They moved inside out of the wind and took the booth in the far corner. Dottie automatically set a cup of coffee in front of each of them, then took one look at their faces, sensed the fence they’d set up around themselves and disappeared into the kitchen.
Suzy ran her finger around the rim of the coffee cup. She was shocked to see how awful Brady looked. It seemed like an eternity since she’d seen him, and he’d changed. His face looked haggard, his eyes darker and deeper than ever. He looked like he was in pain. Her stomach twisted.
“I guess you heard,” she began, “that I quit.”
“You quit your job?” he asked incredulously. “Already?”
“I know. It’s not going to look too good on my resume. But...” She shrugged. “I don’t really care anymore.”
“Of course not. Because you’ve found Mr. Right. Look, Suzy, I don’t know who he is, but I’m telling you you can’t marry him. Marry me instead.”
“What?” Her heart slammed against her ribs. He’d gone crazy, totally flipped out. “But you said...”
“I know what I said. I believed what I said. That I shouldn’t and I couldn’t get married again. It wouldn’t be fair to her or me or my job, but I’ve been thinking...” He ran his hand through his thick hair. “That you and I might be able to work it out. Because I trust you and I... I... You’re looking for a father for Travis. Why couldn’t I be that father? Why couldn’t you and L...”
Touched by his words, she put her hand over his. “That isn’t necessary. It’s very generous of you, Brady, and I appreciate it, but I realized just in the last week, although I think I always knew it, that I just want to go back to the way things were. I...what I was going to ask you was if I could have my old job back?”
He set his cup on the table with a bang. Coffee sloshed over the top. “You want to come back? What about Travis? What about being a full-time mom?”
“Yes, I know. I still want that. But I just realized that you can’t have everything you want. So what I’m going to do is work for you, if you’ll have me back, save money and when I can afford it, I’ll quit and stay at home.”
“What about Mr. Right?” he asked, staring at her in amazement.
“I don’t think there is any such person. After the time I’ve spent here looking, I’m pretty sure of it.”
“So you’re not going to marry anyone,” he said flatly.
“No.” There was only one person she wanted to many, and though he’d just suggested she marry him, it was for all the wrong reasons.
“Why won’t you marry me?” he asked.
She gazed for a long moment into his eyes. And almost said yes. Her throat clogged with all the things she wanted to tell him. She loved him so much. She always had. She always would. “Because you don’t love me. You’re very generous, Brady, and very kind. But that’s not enough. Not for me.” She looked down into her empty coffee cup so he couldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes.
“So, is it a deal?” she asked softly.
“No,” he said, reaching across the table to tilt her chin so he could look at her. “No deal. I don’t want an assistant. I don’t need one anymore. This last week I’ve gotten along fine.”
“I see.” Her heart fell. She bit her lip until it smarted. Another moment and she’d burst into helpless tears right here in this booth.
“Fine at the office,” he continued. “But not fine at home. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed eating with you and sleeping with you. I’ve missed hearing you laugh and wiping away your tears. All this time—” He shook his head. “All this time...I’ve been in love with you. And I never knew it.”
Suzy slid down in her seat, hot tears streaming down her face. She might have ended up a puddle on the floor if Brady hadn’t come over to her side, to put his arm around her, prop her up and kiss away her tears of happiness.
“Just one thing,” he murmured in her ear. “You haven’t ever told me how you feel about me. You may think I’m kind and generous, but you know that’s not enough for me.”
“What more do you want?” she asked. “Admiration, respect?”
“More,” he said, tightening his arm around her.
She rested her head on his shoulder, her lips a whisper away from his ear. “Oh, Brady, you know I love you. That’s the reason I left you. I realized now that I had to get away from you to find someone to marry. And that’s the same reason I was coming back to you. Because I couldn’t find anyone to marry. No one could compare with you. So I was giving up.”
“Don’t give up.” he whispered, turning her face to slant a kiss on her lips.
When Dottie appeared with the menus, she cleared her throat, and they reluctantly pulled apart. Brady waved away the menus.
“Champagne,” he said. “Champagne on the house. For everybody.”
“Is there something I should know?” Dottie asked, taking in Suzy’s tear-streaked face and Brady’s disheveled hair.
Brady grinned at her. “There’s something everyone should know,” he said. “Suzy Fenton is retiring from public life to be a full-time wife and mother.” “Oh, yeah?” Dottie said with one raised eyebrow. “Whose wife?”
“Mine,” he said. “All mine.”
Epilogue
The fire had burned down to embers at the campsite, and the enticing smell of barbecued steak was just a memory. Travis was already asleep in his junior-sized sleeping bag in the three-man tent. His parents, newlyweds Suzy and Brady Wilson, dragged their double sleeping bag outside the tent so they could lie side by side and gaze at the stars.
Suzy reached for Brady’s hand and sighed happily. “Did I ever tell you about prom night at Harmony High, fifteen years ago, the night we all wished on a star?”
“I don’t think so. What did you wish for?”
“A husband and a baby. And I got them. It works. Go ahead, you try it.”
He closed his eyes and there was a long silence while he made his wish. “Okay, now it’s your turn.”
She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand and wished.
“Tell me what you wished for, Suzy,” he said. “Tell me, and I’ll get it for you.” He drew her close inside the soft, flannel-lined sleeping bag. “The moon, if you want.”
She smiled, her heart so full of happiness, it threatened to spill over. “You spoil me, Brady. Just a small star will do. How about that little one up there?” She pointed to the heavens.
“Is that really what you wished for?”
She shook her head. “I’ll tell you if you’ll tell me.”
“Maybe we wished for the same thing,” he said softly, his lips brushing her ear.
“A wish we can make come true together,” she suggested, turning her head to face him. She framed his face with her hands and looked deep into his eyes.
“A wish that will take a while to come true,” he said huskily.
“But not as long as my first wish,” she said. “At least I hope not. Because I can’t wait fifteen years to have another baby.”
“Then we’d better get started, Suzy,” he said, pulling her on top of him and gazing into her star-kissed eyes. “Because I’m going to make all your wishes come true.” And he
did.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5926-3
GRANTED: A FAMILY FOR BABY
Copyright © 1999 by Carol Culver
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