“Oh, goody, I can’t wait for Jim Junior to have a playmate.”
Someone jostled him from behind. He turned and came face to face with Tom Goodwin. Despite the other man’s glower, Stone was pretty sure he hadn’t overheard Mariam’s comments. Otherwise he’d be looking for a shotgun instead of simply glaring at him.
The older man growled, “Stop looking at my daughter like that.”
“Sorry, Sir.” He kept his expression neutral, but inwardly he cringed. In less than a week, he’d not only fallen in love with a woman who seemed to have less interest in marriage than he originally had, but he’d managed to alienate the people he now hoped would be his future in-laws. Noting that the other man didn’t have anything in his hands, he asked, “Can I get you something to drink, Sir?”
“I’m driving.”
Mariam reached out with one hand, a winsome smile on her lips and grabbed the angry man’s hand. “You must be Stephanie’s dad. I’m Mariam, Stone’s other sister.”
Tom’s glower disappeared momentarily and he shook Mariam’s hand.“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” But as soon as they broke physical contact, he turned his attention back to Stone. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter?”
No point in denying it, so he gave an easy shrug. “Yes, Sir, but it appears I can’t.”
The older man’s brow furrowed into a displeased frown. “Can’t or won’t?”
Stone shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his trousers and looked the other man square in the eyes. “Just for the record, I’ve already asked her to marry me—twice—and she turned me down both times.”
Before Tom could reply, Mariam elbowed her way between the two men and slipped her arm through Tom’s. “It seems you’ve been worrying for nothing, Mr. Goodwin. Despite my brother’s reputation, he really is a nice guy.”
The glower didn’t lighten up. “I’ve yet to see proof.”
“Here, let me tell you a few stories about Stone’s past,” Mariam said as, with a wink in Stone’s direction, she led the other man away. “Liz and I grew up in Stone’s back pocket. He didn’t always like it, but he bore his responsibility without complaint.”
Tom grunted, and it was unclear whether or not he approved.
“Sir,” Stone called after them before they could get too far. He closed the distance between them and lowered his voice. “What would you do if one of your daughters was making a mistake?”
Just by the pained expression on the older man’s face, it was clear he was thinking about that moment in town when Stone had his hand up Stephanie’s top, and was kissing her in front of the entire town. “Don’t beat around the bush, boy. What’s your problem?”
“I’m on the verge of alienating Liz and I need your advice.”
One of Mariam’s eyebrows quirked up. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Tom interrupted him. “Why come to me for advice?”
“Because you’re a good father. I’ve seen how you treat your girls and how much they love you.”
A thoughtful expression crossed the other man’s face. “Sometimes you have to use tough love and pray they’ll one day forgive you. Other times, you need to let them make their own mistakes, and if things fall apart, be there to pick up the pieces.”
“Thank you.” For a moment, Stone mulled over his words. Then he recalled what Stephanie had said earlier, and now he couldn’t help it, he grinned. “Brilliant plan, by the way.”
Tom’s glower returned. “Plan?”
“Stephanie told me what you did to get rid of your wife.”
A flush colored Tom’s cheeks. His gaze swept the grounds. “Speaking of my wife, have you seen her?”
Giving Stone a you owe me look, Mariam dragged Tom away. “Dora? She’s a lovely woman. She was here just a few minutes ago. Let me help you find her.”
Stone watched them head across the lawn. He saw Mariam reach down to swing her son into her arms and Stephanie reached out to brush the back of her fingertips against the little tyke’s cheek.
The love in his heart expanded to near bursting.
Because he couldn’t stay away, he headed toward her, and when she saw him coming, she excused herself and marched toward him. When she reached him, she poked him in the chest…hard.
“When were you going to tell me about the contract?”
He grabbed her arm because he knew this wasn’t going to be pretty.
And then he saw her place a protective hand across her lower belly, and pain ripped the anger from her face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Stone had driven Stephanie directly to the Serendipity Island Hospital, and all the while he had the phone pressed to his ear as he tried to get hold of the doctor.
From the moment the pain had ripped through her lower belly, she’d realized that the thing she’d wanted least a week ago was what she wanted most now.
Her mom had been right. She’d made her choice even without realizing that she’d done so.
She wanted them both—Stone and their baby—for the rest of her life.
Would she get either of them?
As she stared at the ceiling of the private room she’d been stuck into, alone and lonely, she wished she’d told her mom and sister about the pregnancy. They’d hold her hand and cry along side her.
Footsteps came down the hallway. Then the doctor walked into the room. He held a chart in one hand.
“Well, you dodged a bullet, young lady. It looks like both you and the baby are fine. You’ll have to be careful, of course, get lots of extra rest, but there’s no indication that you won’t be able to carry your baby until full term.”
She stared at him, almost unable to comprehend what he was saying, but as the full import of his words sunk in, she was swamped with relief…and the realization of what she needed to do. Let Stone off the hook. She didn’t want him out of obligation.
“Dr. Strom,” she began and was glad that there wasn’t even a waver in her voice. “If we could keep this between ourselves, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want anyone else to know that I didn’t miscarry.”
He frowned down at her. “There’s a worried young man out there pacing a hole into the waiting room tiles.”
She frowned back at him. “I understand. But if you could tell him I lost the baby—”
He shook his head, effectively cutting her off. “I won’t lie, not for you, not even for myself.”
“Then please just tell him I’m fine and omit the rest.” She sighed. “You see, he believes that he has to marry me because I’m carrying his child, but he doesn’t love me any more than I love him.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head again. “You young people, always playing games with love. Do you know that I love my wife even more today than I loved her on our wedding day?” He shuffled his feet, suddenly uncomfortable, and blushed. “I recently realized I’d been ignoring her and, well, I think I’ll stop at the flower shop and pick up a dozen of her favorite white roses.” As he turned to leave, he tossed over his shoulder, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
The door shut behind him and she whispered to herself, “So do I.”
What would Stone say when he came into the room? Or maybe while he’d paced and fretted out there, he’d come to his senses and decided to leave her behind. But she didn’t really believe he’d do that. He was one of those nice guys who took his responsibilities seriously, and she didn’t want to be just a responsibility.
Let him off the hook. Let him off the hook. Let him off the hook.
It was like a mantra that she needed to keep repeating to herself, if she wanted to survive emotionally.
A sound at the doorway alerted her to Stone's presence and she opened her eyes to see him approaching. She steeled the urge to cry and forced a smile, ignoring the fact that her bottom lip still trembled.
Well, she knew he wouldn’t mind. As much as she first thought, she knew him well enou
gh now to know he wasn’t the heartless bastard everyone assumed he was.
He pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed, taking her cold hand into his warm one. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. Thank you.”
He nodded, his mouth grim. “The doctor says you’re free to go. I’ll take you back to the estate and you can get some rest there.” He laced his fingers with hers and stared down at their entwined hands. “What a relief, huh?”
As she stared at the top of his head, the pain in her chest swelled, and she heard her voice come out flat, emotionless. “Yes.”
There was a heartbeat of silence, then he raised his head and met her gaze. His dark eyes were oblique, flat, clear of emotion. If he felt something other than relief, he hid it well.
With nothing more to say, he went to the closet, pulled out her clothes, and carried them back to the bed. Suddenly he appeared fidgety and uncomfortable. “Do you need help dressing?”
She fiddled with her clothes instead of looking up at him. “No, I’m fine by myself. I won’t be long.”
For a moment, he stood there, and while she twisted the bed sheet between her fingers, she felt his gaze bore into the top of her head.
But she wouldn’t look at him…couldn’t. Because if she did, she might be tempted to grab hold and never let go.
And that wasn’t what either of them wanted.
Unless maybe it was?
No, if Stone wanted something bad enough, he went after it without reservation. Nothing would stand in his way.
And he didn’t want her bad enough to fight for her…not without the baby.
He finally turned, and without a word, walked out of the room. The door swished closed behind him.
Tears welled in her eyes and overflowed down her cheeks. With the back of her hand, she scrubbed them away, determined to let him go without making a scene.
After she dressed, she found him in the waiting room. “I hear your mother gave you the contract for me to sign.”
He pulled it from his pocket and handed it to her. “Understand, I can’t give you any legal advice. I don’t just handle divorce cases. I also handle my mother’s legal issues.”
“Understood.” She stared down at the papers and tears pooled in her eyes, preventing her from seeing the words. And even though she knew the answer, she had a part to play. “What happened to the last wedding planner?”
“Turn to page two, section three.”
She blinked back the tears obstructing her vision, and as she tried to read the blurred words, his deep soothing voice washed through her.
“The contract states that you will not fall in love, not get married, and not get pregnant for a three year period, or you must return the signing bonus and you’ll be fired.”
“Oh.” She stared blindly at the papers in her hands and wondered what to do now. It wasn’t like she could pretend to sign.
Next thing she knew, he was prying the pages from her hands and tucking them back into the inner pocket of his jacket. She looked up at his face.
His jaw was working overtime. “After we return to the estate, we’ll go over the papers together. I can help you negotiate better terms.”
“You just said that was a conflict of interest.”
His jaw tightened. “My mother is interested only in herself. I, on the other hand, am not.”
She nodded and looked away. “I’d like to go now.”
“Are you sure? You’re not still dizzy from the pain meds they gave you?”
Sadness crept deep into the hidden regions of her heart. “I’m fine. I just want to get out of here and go back to normal.”
How had she fallen so quickly? A week ago, Stone had been nothing to her but the memory of a night that rocked her world. Now, letting him go would be like tearing out her heart.
For a minuscule moment in time, she’d had everything she’d never wanted, and she hadn’t appreciated till now how much she’d really wanted Stone and their baby. She’d fooled herself into believing lust was the basis of their relationship.
Tucking her emotions far inside where nobody but herself would see them, she turned her thoughts away from her own sadness to Liz and Roger.
And she realized that Stone had been right all along.
Liz couldn’t marry Roger…not because she was young and immature, but because she didn’t truly know what was in her heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
As Stone stopped the truck in front of the Hole For One cottage and turned off the ignition, Stephanie reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” he said as he reached across the seat and caught her hand before she could disappear out the door…and maybe out of his life. He had absolutely no idea what was going on in her head. She’d been silent since they left the hospital. “We should talk.”
Her big beautiful eyes turned from her hand to his face and they were void of joy, empty of sorrow.
Stone's heart cracked wide open.
“There’s nothing to talk about. This is what we both wanted, remember? No commitments. Just fun while it lasted.”
He remembered all right, and it was quite possibly one of his deepest regrets ever. “What about us?”
“There is no us.” She tugged on her hand and her fingers slipped free of his. As she gazed at him, sadness elongated her features. “I’m sorry, Stone. This all happened so quickly, it was easy for both of us to confuse lust with those deeper emotions.”
He decided it was time to jump in with both feet. “Is that what you think? That we confused lust with love? Sweetheart, we may have both started out not wanting a baby or commitment, but something changed. At least it did for me, and I think right now you’re scared to admit it, but it did for you too.”
Dora came out the front door, a worried frown on her forehead, ending whatever response Stephanie might have had. She slipped from the truck and as the door clicked shut behind her, she whispered, “Goodbye, Stone.”
“Is everything okay?” Dora called down to them. “You two disappeared so quickly, I’ve been worried sick.”
Stephanie headed up the steps, never looking back. “Everything is fine, Mom. We had an errand in town. It’s all taken care of now.”
He wanted to chase after her, but maybe now wasn’t the time. Maybe she needed some space to reconcile all that had happened.
Raking both hands through his hair, he turned the key in the ignition, put the truck into gear, and drove away.
All he knew was that his heart hurt more than it had ever hurt in his life.
And he had a funny feeling that given enough time, he could get Stephanie to admit she felt exactly the same.
For the first time since meeting her at the Valentine Day wedding, then here on Serendipity Island again, he had his head on straight. He knew what he had to do.
He had to do anything he could to make it work with her, because he loved her for the rest of his life. And before either of them let the island, he intended to ensure their future was tied together.
They could make it work. They had to make it work.
Parking the truck in front of the Three For Par cottage, he saw Wanda standing on the porch, her suitcase in hand. As he climbed out of the truck, she came down the steps to meet him.
Silently, she handed him an envelope.
He frowned down at her clear, crisp writing, then raised his gaze to her face. Her expression was as void as always, and he forced a smile. “Tell me you’re not breaking up with me too.”
Pity formed on her face. “She booted you to the curb?”
Nodding, he felt his heart pinch in his chest. “For now.”
“I’m sorry.” With the barest of regret pinching at her brow, she gestured toward the envelope. “It’s my resignation. I never meant to stay so long, but you were nice to me.”
“Why are you leaving?”
“I have personal issues that demand my attention. I’ve put them off long enough.”
“I’ll give you the ti
me off to take care of them. You don’t have to quit.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Thank you, but I’ve made up my mind.” She placed one hand on his forearm. “I’ll give you plenty of time to find someone to replace me, and I’ll stick around to train them, of course. Plus you’ll have my cell, in case they have any questions after I leave.”
He opened the letter and scanned the contents, then glanced back up at her. “Are you sure I can’t convince you otherwise?”
Tears sparkled in her eyes, and she stepped into him and gave him a quick hug, then quickly stepped back before he could hug her back. “I won’t forget you. In fact, I’ll be watching for an invite to the baby shower and wedding.”
And then she was gone.
Stone didn’t even get a chance to tell her there wasn’t going to be a baby shower.
Well, not unless he could convince the woman he loved that he needed her. Not unless he could convince her that the baby neither of them had wanted was wanted indeed.
He watched Wanda until she disappeared from sight, mulling over his next move, wishing he could move the clock back a few hours so he could appreciate what he’d had.
The sound of a branch breaking behind him alerted him to another’s presence. He turned and saw Kevin, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
After the way Stone had spoken to him, he was surprised the other man even gave him the time of day.
Stone met him half way. “I’m sorry I spoke out of turn. What goes on between you and my sister isn’t my business. I spoke out of line and I apologize.”
“No, it’s my fault for not telling you the truth in the first place.” Kevin met his gaze directly. “It’s Mariam. It’s always been Mariam. I figured that now that she was divorced, I had a chance. But I was wrong. She’ll never see me as anything but your friend.”
Stone grimaced. “Maybe you’re wrong.”
“What does it matter? I’m halfway across the world most of the time, and I never know whether or not I’m coming home. That’s not fair to her.” A taxi pulled up the driveway and frustration bracketed Kevin’s mouth. “Look, I have a plane to catch. Please don’t say anything to her. Thank your mom for the use of the cabin. Wish Liz and Roger a happy life from me.”
Caught Between an Oops and a Hard Body (Caught Between series Book 2) Page 21
