A Love Worth Waiting For and Heaven Knows

by Jillian Hart

  “I know where you’re going with this.” He stole a glass from the cupboard. “You think I’m looking for business property.”

  “In case you decide to relocate.” She handed him a clean glass. “It never hurts to keep your options open. Who knows? You might decide you love it here and never want to leave.”

  “Yeah, sure, right after I find a bride. Neither one is going to happen. Trust me.”

  “You think you know everything, young man. You just wait. The love bug is going to bite you hard. You’ll be helpless against it.”

  “The love bug? I graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and never once did I learn about the love bug concept.” He filled the glass. “It must not be an academically recognized term.”

  “I should never have spared the rod with you.” She pinched his earlobe and held on tight, but it was an affectionate hold. “You are accompanying me to church tomorrow, aren’t you? I have to show off my handsome grandson to all my friends at the Ladies’ Aid.”

  “I’d be honored. It’s not every day I get to escort such a beautiful lady to church.”

  “Oh, you take after your grandfather, boy. A charmer to the core, he was. And ambitious, too.” She released him, only to fish a handful of cookies from the ceramic jar. “About tomorrow. Will I need to give you a talking-to?”

  He kissed her cheek and stole the cookies. “I already know what you’re going to say. I’ll be nice to Harold. I’ll turn off my cell phone in church. I’ll go to bed early.”

  “That wasn’t what I was going to say, smarty.” She patted the back of his hand, not willing to let him go upstairs, where his computer and e-mail were waiting. “It’s so good to see you here. I love you so very much.”

  “I love you, too, Nanna.” He hugged her tight and didn’t want to let go.

  But the Crock-Pot bubbled and the oven timer buzzed. She spun away to grab her oven mitt. Outside, dusk began stealing the daylight from the sky, but inside the kitchen, and in his heart, it was warm and bright.

  Chapter Eight

  It was just her luck. The first person she saw the exact second she stepped foot inside the church was Noah. He was standing in the aisle next to his grandmother and three of her friends. He shook each woman’s hand, giving Nanna a kiss on the cheek. Winning their hearts, no doubt.

  Yesterday, he’d been busy winning hers. Determined not to let it bother her, she tucked her purse strap higher up on her shoulder and lifted her chin. If she sat far enough in the back, she probably wouldn’t be able to see him through the entire service.

  Especially if she slumped down in the pew.

  “Julie!” Susan scrambled up the aisle from the door. “Come help me figure out where he’s going to sit.”

  Hopefully in the front row. “I was planning to hide out in the back.”

  “What for? You’ll never be able to see him that way.”

  Julie opened her mouth to argue, but it was too late. Susan had spotted Misty, in the middle of the church, who was waving to catch their attention.

  “I saved the best spot for us,” Misty whispered breathlessly as they crowded onto the bench, a stone’s throw from where Noah stood, still busily charming those kind, unsuspecting ladies.

  “A perfect view,” Susan agreed.

  Too perfect. Julie deliberately kept her back to him. Noah wasn’t her friend. He’d used her, and that hurt. She still didn’t understand it. He’d seemed so nice. Kind, funny and wonderful. Unbelievably wonderful. She’d been up half the night, tossing and turning, troubled by his betrayal.

  “Ooh, he’s looking this way.” Misty was nearly bursting with excitement. “Quick, smile and wave.”

  Julie couldn’t resist a quick look at him, but she most certainly was not going to smile and wave. She felt his gaze like a bitter wind in her direction. Her heart ached, remembering his touch, his steady kindness, the way she’d sparkled on the inside when he said her name.

  The aisle between them felt as wide as the Grand Canyon. Yesterday had changed everything for him, too. There was no easy grin on his face when his gaze met hers. He looked uncomfortable and sad. So was she.

  “Wow, to think we danced with him.” Misty leaned close, whispering to keep from being overheard. “He keeps looking our way.”

  “Mesmerized by the two of us. Not Julie.” Susan winked.

  “That’s right. It’s a shame how he ignores her. Not.” Misty winked. “I don’t think he sees anyone else in the entire church.”

  Oh, no. Julie covered her face with her hands. “Is he really watching me?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Noah’s voice at her ear, and his touch on her sleeve. “My grandmother wanted me to invite you and your friends to come sit with us.”

  He did look contrite, and that made it easier to be civil. “Thank you, but my friends and I are fine right where we are.”

  “Julie!” Susan admonished.

  “Julie, please,” Misty whispered.

  Noah’s eyes glinted with amusement. “Yeah, Julie. Please. I promise I’ll behave.”

  “I don’t care if you behave. I’m not budging.”

  “You’re mad at me, I know. You have the right. But maybe you could put our differences aside for an hour, for my grandmother’s sake. Would it help if I let you kick me in the shin? Flog me with the hymnal?”

  “I’d like that. Do you want to stand up? Or should I kick you from here?”

  “Ouch. I guess you’re serious. Okay, I’ll take the flogging. I deserve it. I was bad. Can you forgive me?”

  “Not if you paid me.” She wanted to, but he’d used her to get information on her grandfather. He’d found a private detective to dig into Granddad’s life. “You can’t charm me. I’m immune to it.”

  “I’m not,” Susan spoke up.

  “Thank you.” Noah flashed the grin that could dazzle a shopping mall full of women in half a second. “You don’t have to forgive me, Julie. You can jab me with your elbow through the entire service until my ribs are bruised. You can drop the hymnal on my toe until it swells and I can’t take off my shoe. You can fire death-ray glares of disapproval at me for the rest of my life, but please, reconsider. My grandmother really wants you to join her.”

  “Maybe you should explain to her why I don’t want to sit anywhere near you.”

  “Let’s not. She’d get mad at me.”

  Julie was weakening. Noah could sense it. Victory was close at hand. “You don’t want to disappoint your granddad. He’s over there, sitting next to Nanna. See him? And what about your friends?”

  Bingo. He’d used the right leverage. Her knuckles turned white, she was gripping her purse so hard. Good, because he wanted the chance to make things right with her. She was a good person. One of the nicest he’d ever known. He wanted to apologize. And he’d keep apologizing until she forgave him.

  “All right,” she relented. “But I want this perfectly clear. I’m not happy with you.”

  “I can accept those terms of our peace accord.” He winked at her, hoping it would make her smile.

  Utter failure, but he’d keep working at it. He wanted to clear up this misunderstanding. He refused to lose Julie as a friend.

  He led the way across the aisle and made sure he scooted next to her on the hard wooden bench. Her friends crowded on his other side, but they were nice enough and he didn’t mind chatting with them for a few minutes. As long as he could feel the solid heat of Julie’s arm pressed against his.

  “Stop trying to change my opinion of you,” she informed him. “Making nice to my friends isn’t going to make me dislike you less.”

  “Then I’ll have to try another tact. Did you hear? Today’s sermon is on forgiveness.”

  Her jaw snapped closed and she glared straight ahead. She looked mad at him, but her mouth was crinkled in the corners, as if she were fighting to keep ahold of her anger.

  Yep, she was weakening. He was thankful.

  Julie set the brim-full gravy boat on the corner of Nora’s dining room t
able. It was impossible to keep from noticing the man on the other side of the table, setting knives and forks and spoons in place around the pretty china plates. Harder still to ignore the charming grin that he was sending her way.

  He was trying to soften her up, and it wasn’t going to work. Nothing on this green earth could make her forget what he’d done. He could wink, he could smile, he could dance on the ceiling for all she cared, and better than Fred Astaire, but it wouldn’t change what he’d done.

  Or how foolish she’d been.

  “Did you enjoy today’s sermon?” he asked. “I enjoyed it immensely. Made me really decide to reevaluate the grudges I’ve been holding against people.”

  “Really? I don’t see anything wrong with holding resentment and hostility toward a person, if they truly deserve it,” she quipped.

  “That’s not what I got out of the sermon.”

  “You must not have been paying attention.” She turned on her heel.

  She’d taken Pastor Bill’s sermon to heart, and it was troubling her. Noah had hurt her, and yet, she didn’t want to hold a grudge, didn’t want to let the sun set on her anger. What should she do? Maybe the Lord would guide her.

  “Just in time.” Nora laid a thick slice of old-fashioned ham on the heaping platter. “If you take this for me, I’ll grab the bowl of potatoes and we should be ready to eat, dear.”

  “Thank you for inviting us over.” Julie took the platter, eager to help. “I’m glad you’re marrying my granddad. He loves you so much.”

  “As I love him.” Nora looked like the happiest woman in Montana as she fished a hot pad out of a drawer.

  Granddad lumbered into the room, his boots knelling on the hardwood, his hands jammed into his pockets. He looked uncomfortable. “Smells awful good in here. Need any help?”

  Julie took one look at him, then at Nora’s loving expression. She could take a hint. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”

  She grabbed the bowl of potatoes, too. Granddad looked smitten as he stood there in the center of the room. Yep, they definitely needed to be alone.

  She found Noah was halfway around the dining room table, doling out forks, spoons and knives like cards in a Go Fish game. “Hey. Have you forgiven me yet?”

  “I need to hold on to my grudge until dinner’s over, at the very earliest.”

  “Will that be before or after dessert? I just want to know how much time I have to perfect my apology to you.”

  “I hope it’s a well-thought-out apology. A glib one is likely to make me toss a potato at you.” She set the heavy platter and bowl in the center of the table. “I’m a pretty good aim.”

  “I remember. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve got a killer apology prepared.” Noah sidled close to slide the last set of silverware into place. “I’m enjoying this, you know.”

  “I’ve noticed. Maybe I should pelt you with potatoes right now because it’s not nice to hurt people’s feelings.”

  “I know, and I deserve it. You might want to lash me with a few ham slices while you’re at it,” Noah joked, because he knew he could wear her down. Soon he’d have her laughing.

  She was so close, he could smell the strawberry shampoo in her hair. It was nothing at all to reach out and brush his knuckles down the side of her face, his fingers tangling in her hair. Petal-soft skin, and satin-soft curls.

  Her eyes widened like a doe caught in a semi’s headlights. “I’d better go check on Granddad. He—”

  “They need their privacy, just as we do.” He didn’t want her to go. “I hate that I hurt you. Absolutely hate it.”

  “Me, too.”

  Pain was there, revealed in the dark shadows of her eyes, and he had to fix it. Had to repair every bit of harm he’d caused her. He had to tell her what lay in his heart. “I’ve had a lot of people betray me, Julie. People I trusted, and who were close to me. When I heard my grandmother was getting married, I feared the worst. Because I’ve had the worst happen to me once too often.”

  “And that’s why you hired the private detective?” Julie’s jaw looked tighter. “You couldn’t come here with an open mind and decide for yourself, after meeting Granddad?”

  “I can see you’re getting angry again.” He sighed. “Look, I don’t want you mad at me. I like you. I want you to like me. I just need you to understand.”

  “I don’t understand.” She yanked open the drawer on the big glass cabinet thingy on the wall. The glass windows rattled. Silverware chimed. She grabbed a spoon and dug it into the potato bowl. She plunged a ladle into the gravy.

  Good going, Noah. Looks like you messed that up.

  “Good, you’re both here.” Nanna clipped into the room, carrying a basket of bread, sounding unusually strained.

  That worried him. Maybe she was tired. He took the basket from her. “Let me get your chair for you. I love coming to a beautiful woman’s assistance.”

  “You can stop laying it on so thick, young man, and ask Julie what she’ll have to drink. I forgot the lemonade pitcher—” She snapped her fingers. “I just don’t know what’s come over me today. I’m forgetting everything.”

  “That’s because a woman in love has a lot on her mind. It’s perfectly natural.” He kissed his grandmother’s cheek, courteous and adoring, before he helped her scoot in her chair.

  Julie’s heart melted. Right when she’d been ready to stay mad at him, he had to go and do something like this. So sweet and affectionate, he made it impossible to stay mad at him.

  Noah returned to the room with a pitcher of lemonade. Granddad followed him in and took a seat, cleared his throat. Nora said grace. After a round of “amens,” Granddad lifted the bowl of peas and passed them to Julie.

  It was so quiet. Nora was busy ladling gravy on her potatoes. Granddad spent a lot of time breaking a roll apart and buttering it. Not a word was spoken.

  There was definitely something wrong. Nora and Granddad refused to meet gazes as Noah offered them each a first shot at the ham platter.

  “Julie?” He nudged the meat-laden platter across the table. He lifted one brow as if asking a question, then looked at their grandparents seated at opposite ends of the table. About as far apart as they could be.

  “Thanks.” She forked a slice onto her plate, and gave him a shrug. She didn’t know what was going on.

  “Noah, I got a chance to speak with your sister after the service.” His grandmother didn’t look up as she broke the silence. Her voice sounded strained. “She couldn’t come over—one of the little boys has an earache, poor dear—but she does want to drive you to the airport tomorrow.”

  “Goin’ back so soon?” Granddad asked.

  What about the doctor? Julie bit her tongue before she could ask the question out loud. She knew Noah wouldn’t want his grandmother to know.

  A chair scraped against the wood floor as Nora straightened in her seat. “We can just ask him, Harold. Noah, we have a meeting with the builder tomorrow. Now, it’s a lot for us to take in. Why, I’ve lived in this house for most of my life. Harold is sure of himself, but, well, I would feel better if you sat in on the meeting with us.”

  Julie watched Noah’s face fall. She knew there was still the matter of the doctor’s call.

  “You really need me, huh?” He glanced at Harold, then back at his grandmother.

  Granddad looked surprised. “Why, I won’t say we need you, but it would make your grandmother happy.”

  “I may as well leave a little later. Sure. I’d be happy to.”

  “Oh, I feel better already.” Nora looked relieved as she cut into a slice of homemade bread. “It’s such a big project. Our own home, together. It’s a new start for us, isn’t it, Harold?”

  “Yes it is, sweetheart—” Harold blushed, apparently embarrassed by his feelings.

  Noah was starting to like the man. As if Julie realized it, she lifted one brow in a question. So, she was still blaming him, was she? Still angry?

  He’d have to fix that, and quick
.

  “Harold, come help me with the tea water.” Nora took her dessert plate with her as she rose from the table.

  “Sure thing, honey.” Granddad grabbed his plate and headed after her.

  Julie blinked as they disappeared from sight. “Do you know what that was about?”

  “No, but I think they want to be alone.” Noah rubbed his brow, because this was too much. “Okay, I’m starting to see it for myself. Harold really does love her.”

  “You’ve taken care of her for a long while. It has to be hard to let someone else take over. He’ll be good to her.”

  “I’m figuring that out.”

  “Didn’t need an investigator’s report for that, huh?”

  “Not this time. I already admitted I was wrong.”

  “I heard you.” Julie snared her plate and rose from her chair.

  “I didn’t use you. That’s what you think, isn’t it?” His dark gaze searched hers, forthright and unflinching. Beneath the steel was tenderness.

  Julie’s chest tightened. Her throat ached. What did she do now? She stared at her plate, no longer hungry, but it was a better place to focus her attention than Noah. She was no longer angry with him. It would be easier if she was.

  “I know. I chose the wrong words. I do that sometimes.”

  “You’re a billionaire. You’re a chairman of the board. You’re supposed to know what words to use.”

  “Sure, rub it in.” He took the plate from her, his fingertips lingering over hers. Masculine and warm and amazing. “I’m just a man.”

  He walked away, leaving his confession to echo in the shadows. Just a man, he’d said. A man who made mistakes and apologized for them. A man who’d asked for her forgiveness.

  She found him in the living room, where the fire was crackling in the fireplace and the cheerful atmosphere seemed at odds with their mood.

  Noah hadn’t touched the thick slice of chocolate cake on his plate. He didn’t look up, not even when she settled onto the couch next to him.