Amelia strolled out to the stone fire pit and sat down on one of the benches. Tyler resisted the urge to give her personal space and sat right beside her. He leaned forward and turned on the switch the agent had shown him, and there was suddenly a raging fire in the gas fireplace. It was just enough to take the mid-March chill out of the air.
“Nice,” Amelia said, leaning in to warm her face. “As much as I complained, I am going to miss this place. It’s going to be hard to go back to my tiny, plain apartment after this. We never even got to use the movie theater.”
Tyler nodded, but the words fighting to get out of him made it hard for him to focus on conversation. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Okay. I’m still sore and achy, but I’ll live,” she joked with a small smile. “How are you?”
Tyler sighed. That was a loaded question, or at the very least, a loaded answer. “I am...a little numb. A little overwhelmed. Sad. But mostly, I’m feeling guilty.”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty, Tyler. It wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
“I know. But there are plenty of other things that I am responsible for. I told my brother about us when I shouldn’t have. I said things to you that were hurtful. And I walked away from you when every fiber of my being was screaming at me to stay.”
He could sense Amelia stiffening beside him. She hastily took a sip of her wine before she responded, “I told you to go,” she said, her voice flat and emotionless.
“You did. But since when have I ever done what you’ve told me to do?”
Amelia snorted softly, covering her mouth with her hand to smother it. “Practically never.”
“Exactly. I picked the wrong damn time to start doing things your way.”
“Hey, now—” Amelia started in a sharp tone, but Tyler cut her off.
“I didn’t come back to argue, Amelia.”
She looked at him with large dark eyes, taking in every detail of his face as though she were trying to catalog it, memorize it somehow. “Then why did you come back, Tyler?”
Tyler took a deep breath. “I came back to tell you that I’m going to be breaking our agreement.”
Her auburn eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What do you mean, breaking our agreement?”
“Well,” he began, “when all this started, we agreed that when the thirty days were up, if both of us were in love, we would get married. But if one of us still wanted a divorce...we would part as friends.”
Amelia swallowed hard and focused her gaze on the glass in her lap. “So you’ve come to tell me we’re not going to be friends any longer?”
“No. I’ve come here to tell you that divorce is off the table.”
Amelia nervously chuckled, a tone of disbelief in her lyrical laughter. “I think I’ve heard this out of you before. A couple weeks ago, in fact. And look where it got us.”
“That was completely different. The last time, it was because we were having a baby and I thought it was the right thing to do. This time, we’re not getting a divorce because I am in love with you. And you are in love with me, even if you don’t want to admit to it.”
Amelia’s mouth dropped open, a soft gasp escaping her lips. “You what?”
“I love you,” he repeated. “And I’m not going to let you run away from this. I can’t just stand idle while you try to ruin everything we have together. I tried to just sit back and let you lie to yourself and to me, but I can’t do it anymore.”
Tyler set his wine on the ground and turned on the bench until he was facing her. He scooped up her hand and cupped it between his own. “I love you, Amelia. And I loved you long before there was a baby, even before our wild night in Las Vegas. I’ve realized that I’ve loved you since study hall and shared lunches on the lawn by the football stadium. I’ve loved you since the day you called me over to the empty seat beside you in freshman English and introduced yourself. You were the most beautiful, sweet, loving creature I had, or have, ever met in my whole life.”
“How could you have been in love with me all these years?” she argued. “You never said anything. You never acted like you had feelings for me.”
“I didn’t fully realize it. All these years, I knew that I loved you as a friend. I didn’t allow for the possibility of anything more than that. But the feelings were there, simmering under the surface. Every time I dated a woman and something just didn’t click. Every time I saw your number come up on my phone and my heart leaped a little in my chest. Christine knew it, but somehow it took the possibility of losing you forever to make me see the difference.”
Tyler slipped onto the patio on one knee and looked up at her. “You’re everything to me, Amelia. And I want you to marry me.”
“We’re already married, Tyler.”
“I know,” he said with a wicked smile that curled his lips. “But my wife once told me that if I loved her and wanted to stay married, I’d have to propose again—properly—so we could have the big romantic church wedding with our family and friends.”
Tyler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the same black velvet jewelry box he’d offered to her the night they eloped. He opened the box to display the eight-carat diamond they’d used at their first wedding ceremony. Once they’d moved into the house, she’d given it back to him. At the time, she either didn’t think they would make it, or if they did, he wouldn’t want her to have such a large, expensive piece. She was wrong on both counts.
“I gave that back to you,” Amelia frowned. “That was never intended to be my ring. You were supposed to sell that to a dealer in LA so it could become one of the Kardashians’ engagement rings.”
“Whether or not that’s what I intended when I bought it, a fact is a fact. This is my wife’s ring, so it belongs to you. Even if I went shopping for a new one, I wouldn’t be able to beat it. I’ve come across larger stones, flashier stones, well-known stones, but this one is the most perfect specimens of diamond I’ve ever had in my possession. It’s flawless and colorless. The cut is perfect, allowing the diamond to truly shine. It’s a classic beauty, just like you, and it belongs on your finger. No one else’s.”
Tyler felt an unexpected nervousness in his stomach. He’d already proposed to Amelia once. They were already married, as she’d pointed out. But this was different. The last time was a joke that went too far, an adventure they’d never expected. This time was for real. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He swallowed the anxiety rising in his throat and looked up into her eyes. “Amelia, will you marry me?”
* * *
Amelia didn’t know what to say. She was stunned. Well and truly stunned. This was not at all how she’d expected this day, or even this conversation, to go. When she’d heard Tyler’s voice in the hallway, there had been a moment of elation, followed by panic, with caution bringing up the rear. Her conversation with her grandmother had given her a lot to think about. She had been on the verge of pouring a glass of wine to gather her courage to call Tyler. To tell him that she’d lied and she did love him.
Then, suddenly, he was standing in their kitchen and she didn’t know what to think. He probably hadn’t come all this way to fight. Or to get his things. The movers could do that. She figured he wanted to talk in person, without the emotions of the hospital and the miscarriage fueling the discussion. At best, she’d been hopeful they could stay friends. She’d never dared or dreamed for more.
But a marriage proposal?
“I don’t know what to say,” she said with a stunned shake of her head.
Tyler frowned. “I’ll give you a hint. The key word is yes, quickly followed by I love you, Tyler. We’ll try this again. Amelia, will you marry me? Okay, now it’s your turn.”
Amelia smiled. He was right. She felt it. She wanted this. All she had to do was say it. “Yes, Tyler, I will marry you.”
“And...I love you. Very much.”
Tyler slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her knuckles before standing up and pulling her into a gentle embrace. Amelia melted into the safety and comfort of his arms, a place she’d thought she might never be able to return to. She tipped her head up to kiss him, pressing her mouth against his soft lips. The moment they made contact, she felt a rush of excitement run through her body. The thrill of new love, the delight of finally experiencing the moment she’d always dreamed of. His proposal was all she’d ever hoped for and more, because it was Tyler. The man who knew her better than anyone. The man who could make her laugh, make her smile and even make her cocoa.
She had always fantasized about perfection. It didn’t get any more perfect than this.
Breaking away, Amelia clung to his neck, burying her face in the lapel of his suit coat and breathing in the warm scent of his skin. She sighed in relief as he held her, grateful she hadn’t lost him with her foolish fears.
“You know what?” he asked. “It’s Wednesday. Day thirty.”
Amelia smiled up at him. He was right. Everything had ended just the way it was supposed to. “It looks as though we’ve made it. It’s kind of hard to believe it, but a lot has happened in the past month.”
“It certainly has. And one of the things I’ve learned over the past few days is that I don’t want to keep this a secret. We need to call our families. Tonight. We can’t make that same mistake twice.”
“You’re right. But let’s wait a little while longer so I can bliss out in this moment.”
“Okay. And I’m sure after that, we start planning the big wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Do you still have that giant notebook?”
Amelia shrugged. “I do, but you know, I’ve done a lot of thinking since you left. The idea of that isn’t as appealing anymore. My big wedding plans were focused on everything but starting off a new life with the man I love. I’d rated cake and flowers over the groom. I guess it’s because I was planning a wedding when I wasn’t in love yet. Now that I am, I don’t think I need all that anymore. We’re already married. We love each other. I think that’s all I need.”
One of Tyler’s eyebrows raised curiously at her. “You say that now, and it’s sweet, but I know you’ll regret it later. One day, ten years down the road, we’ll have an argument and you’ll throw out there that we eloped in Vegas and you were wearing black and you never got to have your dream wedding. Somehow it will be all my fault. You’ll be a total Momzilla when our daughter gets married as you try to live the dream you lost. No way. We’re having a wedding. I insist.”
Amelia twisted her lips in thought. “Okay, then. Maybe we can come up with something in between. Not quite as grand an affair as I have in my notebook, but one with a white dress, a pastor that doesn’t look like Elvis and our friends and family there to share the moment with us.”
Tyler smiled and pulled her into his arms. “That sounds like the perfect wedding to me. Plan whatever you like. All I ask is that you don’t make me take dance lessons.”
Amelia laughed aloud. Tyler was a confident, powerful businessman, but he had zero rhythm. “I’ve seen you dance before, Tyler. No amount of lessons is going to help.”
“Hey!” He laughed. “Okay, you’re right. Just tell me when to show up and what to wear.”
“It’s so easy for men.”
Tyler laughed. “That’s because we’re far more interested in the honeymoon.”
Amelia laughed, then felt the light moment fade. When she looked up into his pale blue eyes, she felt the urge to tell him everything. Why she’d done what she’d done. Why she’d lied. “Tyler...” she began, running her fingers through his messy blond hair. “I’m so sorry for how I’ve acted. I was terrified of being in love with you and not knowing if you felt the same way. I just couldn’t believe that you were here because you loved me, so I convinced myself it was just because of the baby.”
“That’s my fault,” Tyler admitted. “I was afraid, too, so I tried to focus on the baby because no matter how you and I felt about each other, the child was going to be a part of my life. I felt things for you that I’d never felt for another woman, but I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I thought that if I kept my feelings locked inside, when you pushed me away, it wouldn’t hurt as badly.”
Amelia winced. “And I did push you away. I fulfilled your biggest fear.”
“And it didn’t hurt any less by keeping my secret. It probably made it worse. I should’ve just said it right there in the hospital room and not cared what you might say. If I’d told you I loved you and I wasn’t going to let you push me away, would you have still told me to go back to New York?”
She wasn’t sure. Would she have believed him? She didn’t know if her heart had been strong enough in that dark moment to take the risk. “It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “We can’t change the past, and I think this happened the way it needed to. Being apart helped us both realize how much we love each other and want to be together. Sometimes that’s what it takes.”
“I know it made me realize I hate my apartment in New York. I can run my business from here just as easily as I do there. I really don’t want to give up this house. I know it’s too big, but...”
“We’ll work on filling it up,” Amelia said with a smile. She didn’t want to get rid of the house, either. It would take some time, but eventually it would be filled with children and laughter and life, and it wouldn’t feel so large and empty. Losing the baby had made her realize how badly she really did want children. Searching for the perfect mate had put that dream on hold. The doctor said they should wait a few more months, but when it was time, she wanted to try again.
“You know, I grew up with five brothers and sisters crammed into a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment. We’ve got thousands of square feet to work with here. If you want to fill this place up, we can fill it up.”
“Sounds like a challenge,” Amelia laughed.
“I don’t know,” Tyler warned. “For a girl so focused on perfection, you may find a house full of kids to be a very messy prospect.”
“I’ve decided that perfection isn’t so perfect after all. While you were in New York, I had a much-needed and enlightening conversation with my grandmother.”
Tyler looked at her with surprise. “The one with the perfect, long-lasting marriage I’ll never live up to?”
“The one I thought had a perfect marriage. To make a long story short, I had apparently been given the romantic fairy-tale version for little girls. But in reality, I think I got what I wanted anyway. I’ve always dreamed of having a marriage like hers and, ironically, we’ve gotten pretty close to achieving that. At least the start. We’ve just got fifty-some odd years of togetherness to go.”
Tyler smiled and kissed her again. “I can’t wait.”
Epilogue
Four months later
It was happening. The day Amelia had been waiting for since she was five years old had arrived, and sooner than she’d expected.
When a late-summer wedding was postponed, she and Tyler had jumped on the chance to book their moment in the chapel. From there, it was months of excitement and planning. While she had toned down the event, once she started putting together their wedding, there were some details she found she just couldn’t skimp on.
Her gown was the most beautiful dress she’d ever worn, a dazzling ivory-and-crystal creation. Her veil was long, draping down her back and spreading across the gray carpet. The pastor was reading a passage about love and the bonds of marriage as Amelia stood on the raised platform and looked into the eyes of the man she loved.
Turning briefly toward the crowd that filled the chapel of From This Moment, she could easily pick out the faces of the family and friends who had joined them h
ere today. It was just the way she envisioned it—the important people in her life witnessing this important moment.
For years, Amelia had planned a wedding with no groom in mind. But looking into Tyler’s eyes, she knew that he was the most important part of this day. More important than a beautiful dress or a fancy cake.
They had arranged this wedding because he’d wanted her to have the moment, but it wasn’t necessary. The key ingredients—him and her—had been there at their first wedding. The only difference was going through the ritual and repeating the words with love and tears making their voices tremble as they spoke. The words meant so much more this time.
“And now, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Tyler pulled her into his arms, a smile spreading across his remarkably clean-shaven face. Amelia felt her heart skip a beat in her chest when he looked at her that way. She hoped and prayed he would look at her like that for the rest of their lives.
“I love you,” Tyler whispered.
“I love you, too. And,” she added with a smile, “I’m pregnant.”
His eyes widened for a moment before an excited grin changed his whole face. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
His lips pressed to hers in an instant, and she melted into him. The hundreds of people around them faded away. The roar of applause was just a faint buzz in the background, the flash of Bree’s camera no match for the fireworks going off beneath her eyelids. She felt a thrill run down her spine and a warmth spread through her body. It wasn’t until the pastor cleared his throat that they pulled apart. “Later,” the pastor assured them. A rumble of laughter traveled through the audience.
Amelia blushed as her sister, Whitney, handed back her bouquet. She slipped her arm through Tyler’s, and they turned to face the crowd and their new, exciting future together.
Thirty Days to Win His Wife Page 16
