“You’d do that?” Dave asked. “Even if it meant disappointing us?”
Joe could feel the hot blood rising from his chest all the way to his face, the distress following right along with it, but he knew the answer. “Almost nothing matters more to me than this family,” he told Dave. “But one thing does, and that’s Alyssa. I know she’s your daughter, but she’s a grown woman, and she knows her own mind. I trust her to make the right choice for herself, and I think you should too.”
“Hmm,” Dave said, his face still impassive. “What do you say, Alyssa? I know this all feels really good right now, but life won’t always be this rosy. Joe’s just said he’ll be there for you. He’s made some pretty big promises. Are you willing to do the same? Are you ready to say that you’re going to work it out, no matter what? Not just say it, but mean it? Are you ready to promise that you’re not going to cut and run when things get tough?”
“I know you think that’s who I am,” she said. “But I’m not that person anymore.” Her voice, her gaze were steady, and Joe was so proud of her. “I’ve got a temper, it’s true, but Joe can handle it. I might not be the easiest person to live with, but luckily, he is. I’m never going to find anybody better.”
She was smiling now at her father, and Joe could see that Dave was every bit as lost against that smile as he was himself. “Ever since I figured out I couldn’t marry you, Dad,” she said, “I’ve been sad. But I finally found a man who’s as good as you. I’ve found him, and he’s mine.”
And he was. Body, heart, and soul, he was hers. He didn’t know how to say that, though, so he just held her hand and hoped that she could feel how much he meant it, and that he could show her. He would have a lifetime to do it. That should be almost long enough.
Dave looked at both of them as the seconds ticked by, Susie seeming to hold her breath beside him.
At last, Dave spoke. “I’d have preferred a longer engagement, but I know that Alyssa’s right. She couldn’t have found a better man. So, son.” He held out one big hand to Joe. “Welcome to the family.”
Epilogue
Joe opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Not the popcorn-textured one this time, because for the first time ever in Chico, he was staying someplace other than the Kincaids’. In a suite at the Hotel Diamond, to be precise. Alone.
Half an hour later, he was thumbing his phone.
“Yep,” Alec answered.
“Got it,” Joe told him.
“With all the trimmings?”
“Yep. Meet you in the lobby in fifteen?”
He heard the sigh over the line. “The things I do for you.”
But Alec and Rae showed up as promised all the same, and they brought Dixie with them, too. Joe gave them some last-minute instructions, then climbed into the Audi and headed for the Kincaids’, June bursting forth in all its glory around him, flowers, trees, flowers on trees, and all.
Everyone was still at breakfast, he saw with satisfaction, Susie bustling around feeding people, Dave and Gabe and a hugely pregnant Mira eating. And Cheryl, because Cheryl was there, too. He’d offered her the hotel, but Alyssa had offered to share her room. Cheryl had gone for sharing, sounding so happy to be asked, and seeing her here now was good, and knowing she’d be there tomorrow was better.
But really, he was only looking at Alyssa, who was just sitting down, or just getting up, he couldn’t tell which.
“Oh, good,” Susie said when he came in the kitchen door and through to the dining room. “Settle this girl down, would you please, Joe? I can barely get her to eat a slice of toast.”
Joe would have done it, but her mother was right, Alyssa was already up and in his arms.
“Did you miss me?” she demanded when he’d got done kissing her hello, which he’d had to pull her into the laundry room to do to her satisfaction. He’d tried to keep it family-friendly, but she’d been enthusiastic enough that Gabe had uttered a pained, “Come on, Liss. PDA.” Not that Joe minded that one bit.
“You know I did,” he said, still with an arm around her waist. “You getting your mom all nervous?”
“I keep thinking of things,” she tried to explain. “I woke up in the middle of the night and realized we hadn’t thought about how we’d get the boutonnieres to you and Alec tomorrow, and I got so worried that I wrote it down, and then I looked this morning and realized it was already on Rae’s list. Of course it was on her list.”
“Well,” he said, “you’ve never been married before, so I guess it’s natural.”
“When is Rae coming?” she demanded. “Did you talk to Alec? Because if we’re going to get the church decorated, we need to start.”
“Sweetheart,” he said, and he was smiling, he couldn’t help it. “Does Rae or does she not have a list of tasks annotated with estimated times?”
“Well, yes,” she admitted. “But what if it takes longer?”
“Hmm. Then Alec and Gabe and I will have to come to the church and help you, I guess.”
She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m being silly, aren’t I?”
“No.” He tipped her chin up and kissed her again. “You’re being excited and nervous, because it feels like a big deal. Which is because it is a big deal. I’m nervous too.”
“You are?” She looked at him doubtfully. “You don’t look nervous. You look the same as always.”
“We’ve talked about this, remember? If you want to know how I feel, you have to ask me, and I’ll try my best to tell you. I’m excited, and I’m nervous, and I can’t wait for tomorrow. How’s that?”
“Pretty good. So when’s Rae coming?” She headed to the back door, and he caught her by the hand and pulled her back into the kitchen, on into the dining room.
“She’ll be here,” he promised. “You need to sit with me and eat your toast and keep me company while I eat my eggs. Love, honor, and obey, isn’t that the deal?”
“I am not promising that,” she said, but she took a bite of toast. “Today or tomorrow.”
He sighed. “Worth a shot.” And he did get her distracted for long enough for him to eat his eggs, and for Alec to show up.
“Hey, guys,” Alec said, getting Dixie set, then pulling out a chair and sitting down himself. “What’s that thing outside?”
“What thing?” Susie asked.
“You didn’t notice?” Alec was overdoing the startled expression, Joe thought. “Wow. You’d better go have a look.”
“Something wrong?” Dave asked.
Alec sighed. “Holy cow, is this ever an unobservant family. If nobody’s noticed . . . I don’t know what to think about you all. Doesn’t anybody even look out the window? You’d all better come see.”
He got up with a show of reluctance, Rae and Dixie popping up next to him, neither of them doing a very good acting job at all, and the others following suit, Mira needing some help from Gabe to get vertical.
Alec reached into his pocket on the way to the door, handed Joe the contents. “Felt like an idiot,” he said. “Everybody was honking. You owe me.”
“Thanks, man.” And then Joe had to hustle to catch up, because Alyssa was already out the door.
She stopped at the end of the driveway, screeched to a halt exactly like a cartoon character and stood staring speechlessly at the red Porsche Boxster parked at the curb, the one with the giant silver ribbon stretching in four directions from the massive silver bow decorating its top. Joe had had a red ribbon in mind, but the salesman had said silver would be better, and he’d been right. Silver looked great.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh. Joe. Is it mine?”
He handed her the keys he’d just taken from her brother. “It is. It’s your wedding present. I was trying for something as beautiful as you, but unfortunately, this is as close as I could get.”
“Joe,” she said helplessly, and she was laughing, though there were some tears coming, too, he was pretty sure. “You already gave me a diamond ring. A really big diamond ring.”
Exactly as big as Rae’s, because Joe had checked. He hadn’t made it bigger, but he’d made damn sure it was just as big.
“Doesn’t count,” he said. “That’s an engagement ring. This is me letting you know how I feel about you. This is me saying you’re special.”
Now she was crying, and so were Susie and Mira, and Cheryl and Rae and Dixie were all looking pretty rattled too.
“I love you, Joe Hartman,” Alyssa managed to say at last. “And,” she said with a choked laugh, the tears sparkling on her dark lashes, “I really, really, really love my new car.”
“Then,” he said, “I guess you’d better get in and take me for a ride.”
Links
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Want to tell me what you liked, or what I got wrong? I’d love to hear! You can email me at [email protected]
Also by Rosalind James:
THE KINCAIDS series:
Book One (Mira and Gabe’s story): WELCOME TO PARADISE
Book Two (Desiree and Alec’s story): NOTHING PERSONAL
Book Three (Alyssa and Joe’s story): ASKING FOR TROUBLE
The ESCAPE TO NEW ZEALAND series:
Book One (Hannah and Drew’s story): JUST THIS ONCE
Book Two (Kate and Koti’s story): JUST GOOD FRIENDS
Book Three (Jenna and Finn’s story): JUST FOR NOW
Book Four (Emma and Nic’s story): JUST FOR FUN
Book Five (Ally and Nate/Kristen and Liam’s stories): JUST MY LUCK
Acknowledgments
Many people assisted in the research for this book. However, any errors or omissions are my own. My sincere thanks to (in alphabetical order):
Fashion: Erika Iiams, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Idaho
Foster care issues: The Hon. Barbara Buchanan
Motorcycles: Rick Dalessio
San Francisco real estate: Jeffrey Marples, Managing Broker, Spinnaker Real Estate Group
Special thanks to Susan Redmon, for opening her home to a needy author and showing me just how cool Joe’s condo could be!
As always, my heartfelt thanks to my awesome critique group: Barbara Buchanan, Carol Chappell, Anne Forell, Kathy Harward, and Bob Pryor.
And, of course, to my husband, Rick Nolting, for his support and tolerance of a wife who does her cross-country skiing with an abstracted expression, because she’s plotting out a Bad Boss Takedown.
Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc., http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/
Asking for Trouble (The Kincaids) Page 29
