Even as Mack tore away from the house, Ben watched with bated breath as the delivery truck pulled up next to the studio. Kathleen’s sporty little car screeched to a halt right beside it. She bounded out of the car with eyes blazing and headed straight for him.
“What is that all about?” she demanded, gesturing toward the van. The driver was standing beside it, grinning broadly and taking in every word they exchanged.
Ben stared helplessly toward the driver, who merely shrugged. “I’m on her clock now,” he told Ben. “She wants these back here, I’ll put ’em back in the studio.”
“Go ahead,” Ben said, defeated.
Struggling to figure out what the devil had gone so wildly wrong, Ben turned back to Kathleen. “I thought you wanted to do a showing. Isn’t that what the last past few months have been about?”
She hauled off and slugged him. “You are such an idiot,” she said, then stomped past him and went inside to watch as the driver unloaded the last of the paintings.
Ben followed, rubbing his stinging jaw. As soon as they were alone, he asked, “Did I get it wrong? You don’t want to do a show?”
“Of course I do, but not like this. Not if it’s some sort of weird trade-off for sex,” she said furiously. “Or, just as bad, a way to buy yourself a little peace of mind and get me out of your life, now that you’ve satisfied that itch I stirred in you.”
To his shame, he could see exactly how she could leap to such a tawdry conclusion. He’d never told her how he felt, never admitted that he’d come to trust her…that he loved her. How could he, when he was terrified by the admission?
He could see from the flash of fury in her eyes that if he didn’t find the words, he was going to lose her. Besides, what difference did the words make, really? The feeling was there, in his heart, every time he looked at her. It was too late to stop that. There was no way to take it back, to protect himself. He’d only deluded himself into thinking that sending those paintings would put an end to things.
He remembered the very recent conversation with his brothers and forced himself to keep his eye on the only goal that really mattered. Then he drew in a deep breath and looked into her eyes.
“What if they were a wedding gift, from me to you?” he asked, watching closely for her reaction.
She blinked rapidly. “What?”
He grinned at her confusion, at the hint of hope that burned in her eyes. “I’m trying to propose here and making a mess of it. I should have asked Destiny to write a proper speech for me.”
“I think Destiny’s been involved a little too much in this already,” she responded. She stepped close, rested a gentle hand against his still-burning cheek. Her eyes were soft and misty. “You’re doing fine on your own. A few little words, Ben. That’s all I need to hear.”
“The pictures are yours?”
She frowned at his teasing. “Not even close.”
“I trust you with my art, with my life.”
She nodded. “Better.”
He took a deep breath. “I love you, Kathleen. I want to marry you, raise a family with you, wake up with you every morning till we’re both old and gray.”
“Bingo.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Was that so hard?”
“Yes,” he told her honestly. “It scares the hell out of me.”
“It’ll get easier,” she promised. “You’re going to have a lifetime to practice.”
A lifetime. The word echoed in his head and he waited for the panic to follow. Instead he was filled with incomparable joy. He’d finally gotten it right. About damn time. He wouldn’t mind staying right here and sealing this deal with something far more intimate than a kiss, but there was someplace the two of them needed to be.
“Much as I’d like to hang around here and keep on practicing, there’s a little matter of a baby who’s about to arrive,” he told her. “If this baby is anything like its daddy, it’s bound to be impatient, now that it’s decided the time is right.”
She stared at him in shock. “Melanie and Richard’s baby?”
He nodded.
“That’s why he and Mack went tearing out of here just as I arrived! I thought they just didn’t want to stick around for the inevitable fireworks,” she said, then scowled at him. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? You need to be at the hospital.”
“I’ve barely gotten a word in edgewise since you got here,” he reminded her. “Well, except for the proposal. I did fit that in. Anyway, we need to be there. You’re going to be part of this family now.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “How soon?”
He chuckled. “Are you in a hurry for some reason?”
“I want to be your wife when I open this show in my gallery.” At his shocked look, she added, “You don’t get to take them back now, buster. You gave them to me as a wedding present, and I don’t want any other woman thinking she can poach on the sexiest artist in the United States.”
“And you want to do this show when?” he asked, amused by her eagerness.
“January,” she said at once. “February at the latest.”
He laughed at that. “Destiny’s counting on a June wedding.”
“Well, she’s just going to have to be disappointed,” Kathleen said adamantly. “She’s gotten her way with everything else. We’re picking the wedding date.”
“Seems fair enough to me. You can talk about it at the hospital.”
“Let’s go,” she said eagerly, heading for her car.
“Kathleen!”
She turned back. “What?”
He gestured toward her car. “Not a chance in hell. We’ll take mine.”
She laughed. “Mine’s closer.”
“Then I’ll drive.”
“What’s wrong with my driving?” she asked, even as she docilely went around to the passenger side of the car.
“Too fast and too dangerous,” he said succinctly. He decided it was time to lay his greatest fear on the table, the one he couldn’t shake because he was reminded of it every single time he saw her behind the wheel. “It reminds me of the way Graciela drove.”
Her mouth dropped open and tears immediately filled her eyes. “Oh, Ben, why didn’t you say something? I thought you were just being a macho jerk.”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little of that, too,” he admitted. “Think you can slow down, just enough so I don’t go crazy worrying every time you’re on the road?”
She reached for his hand. “I’ll never go above the speed limit again,” she promised.
“That’s something, I suppose.”
“You wouldn’t want me to poke along, would you?”
“It would make my day, actually.”
“Then I’ll drive like some little old lady heading for church on Sunday,” she promised. “You’re not going to lose me in an accident, Ben. Not if I can help it.”
“I wish it were possible to be sure of that,” he told her. “But I know it’s not. I just know I don’t want to lose you by pretending that I don’t love you.”
She touched his cheek. “Then isn’t it a good thing you’ve admitted it at last? We’ve got that all cleared up.”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “It’s a very good thing.”
The best, in fact.
At the hospital they found Destiny, Mack and Beth gathered in the waiting room. There was no sign of Richard.
“Did he faint?” Ben asked.
“No, he’s in the delivery room,” Mack said. “Pity the poor doctor with Richard looking over his shoulder. I’m sure he had a plan for just how this delivery is supposed to go, too.”
Kathleen and Beth exchanged a look and chuckled.
“Fortunately, Dr. Kelly has dealt with a great many expectant fathers before,” Beth said confidently. “I think he can keep Richard in line.”
“Ha!” Mack said. “Richard is used to running a multinational corporation. Organizing a delivery room to suit him will be a piece of cake.”
“Not after t
he first time Melanie screams her head off,” Beth predicted.
Mack paled at that. “There’s going to be screaming?”
“Plenty, I imagine,” Beth confirmed.
He scowled at her. “We are adopting all of our kids.”
Beth gave him a long, lingering look, then said quietly, “Too late for that.”
Mack simply stared at her. “A baby,” he said eventually. “We’re going to have a baby?”
“In about eight months,” Beth said, grinning.
Mack sank onto a chair as Kathleen and Destiny rushed over to hug Beth. Ben went to sit beside his obviously shaken brother.
“You okay?” Ben asked.
Mack nodded slowly. “I didn’t know about the screaming.”
“Can’t be much worse than some football player who’s just gotten his collar bone dislocated.” He gave Mack a pointed look. “Or his knee shattered.”
“I didn’t scream,” Mack said defensively. “Either time.”
“Tell that to someone who couldn’t hear you from twenty rows up on the fifty-yard line,” Ben said. “Women have been doing this since time began. They’re tough. Tougher than we are, in fact.”
Mack glanced over in the direction of his wife and smiled slowly. “Yeah, they are, aren’t they?” He turned back to Ben. “So what about you and Kathleen? Did you work things out?”
“We’re getting married,” Ben admitted.
“Well, hallelujah!”
His exuberant shout brought the three women across the room.
“More good news?” Beth asked, her gaze on Ben.
He glanced at Kathleen. “Looks like we’re all going to steal the new baby’s thunder.”
“I seriously doubt Richard or Melanie will even notice,” Beth told him. “Come on, spill it.”
“I asked Kathleen to marry me,” he said, reaching for her hand. “And she’s said yes.”
Destiny began to cry. “Now that is worth celebrating. Oh, darling, I am so happy for you. For both of you.” She sighed. “A June wedding will be perfect.”
“Not June,” Kathleen told her without apology. “January.”
Destiny’s mouth gaped. “This January? As in next month?”
“That’s what she said,” Ben confirmed. “Before my show opens at her gallery.”
Destiny sank onto the chair next to Mack and reached for his hand. “Well, this really is moving along quickly.”
Ben caught an odd note in her voice. “Too quickly?” he asked worriedly.
“Oh no, darling. Getting you happily settled could never come too quickly.”
“Then why did you say that?” he asked.
“Never mind,” she said briskly and turned her attention to Kathleen. “We have a lot to do. I think we should get your mother down here right away, don’t you?”
Kathleen paled. “Oh, my God. I forgot all about going to Providence.” She glanced at her watch. “They’re going to be expecting me any minute now.”
“Call them,” Destiny advised. “Tell them about the baby and the engagement and invite them all to come here tomorrow. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate Christmas. We have so much happy news.”
“You know, you could be right,” Kathleen said. “Maybe this will be enough to get them all to finally come down here. I’ll go outside and call right now on my cell phone.”
Ben followed her. “You sure you want to drop this bombshell on them like this?” he asked. “We could go up there tomorrow. Maybe they should at least meet me before we spring the rest of the family on them.”
“No,” she said decisively. “I like the idea of all of us being together here on Christmas. Maybe they’ll see what a real family holiday can be like.”
“Whatever you want,” he said. “Want me to wait for you inside?”
She reached for his hand. “No, stay with me,” she pleaded as the call went through. “Hello, Mother.”
Ben couldn’t hear exactly what her mother said, but it was communicated in an aggrieved tone he couldn’t mistake. He watched Kathleen intently, but her expression never wavered.
“Mother, if you’ll just listen for a minute, I can explain. I got engaged tonight, to Ben Carlton, the artist I told you about, the man in my painting.”
Her expression softened at whatever her mother said then. “Yes, it is wonderful news. And there’s more. His brother’s wife is in the hospital right now having a baby, and we want to stay for that, but Destiny’s invited all of you for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Will you come? Please.”
Relief spread over her face. “I’ll call grandfather with the directions, then. Thank you, Mother. I love you and Merry Christmas.”
She turned off the cell phone and stood staring at it, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“I gather she said yes,” Ben said.
Kathleen nodded. “She says she can’t wait to meet all of you.” She grinned. “She also said she knew it was inevitable from the minute she saw the portrait of you.”
“Really? Wonder what she’ll say when she sees the one I’ve painted of you,” he said, glad that he’d hidden it away before sending the shipment to her gallery.
Kathleen’s mouth gaped. “You painted a portrait of me?”
“In the moonlight,” he confirmed.
“Oh, sweet heaven,” she murmured, her cheeks turning pink. “Do I have any clothes on?”
“Enough,” he told her, laughing. “Too many to suit me, though, but I wanted our kids to be able to look at this and see you the way I see you.”
“I want to see it,” she said at once.
“You will,” he promised. “But right now we’d better get back inside and see what kind of progress that baby is making.”
It was one minute after midnight when Amelia Destiny Carlton arrived, the Christmas baby that Beth had predicted. Destiny’s eyes shone with tears when she heard the baby’s name.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered, clutching Richard’s hand.
“We wanted to,” Melanie said. “If it weren’t for you, none of this would ever have happened.”
“Amen to that,” Mack agreed, his gaze on Beth.
She smiled and tucked her hand into his. “I predict a lot of little Destinys in this family before too long.”
“I am not naming any boy of mine Destiny,” Mack grumbled.
“And if it’s another girl?” Ben asked him.
“That’s different,” Mack said, giving their aunt a hug.
Ben gazed at the tiny, perfect little girl in Richard’s arms. He glanced back at Kathleen. “I wonder if I can get that portrait finished in time for the show?”
They all stared at him.
“You’re painting portraits now?” Melanie asked.
“And showing your work?” Richard echoed.
Ben laughed at their shocked expressions. “Oh, yeah, that’s right, you were out of the room when I mentioned that I’m also getting married.”
“Oh, sweetie, that’s wonderful,” Melanie said and began to cry. She swiped at her eyes. “Don’t mind me. Hormones.”
“Hormones nothing,” Richard scoffed. “You’re just sentimental.”
“I notice you’ve got tears in your eyes, too, bro,” Mack commented.
Richard shrugged. “What the hell! I’d say the Carlton men have come a long way, wouldn’t you?”
“A very long way,” Melanie and Beth agreed.
Destiny gazed at each of them in turn, then clucked her tongue. “Don’t encourage them too much, ladies. There’s always room for a little improvement.”
Ben picked his aunt up and twirled her around until she told him he was making her dizzy.
“Not until you promise to stop meddling,” he said. “Your work here is done, Destiny.”
She gave him a long look that was tinged with just a hint of sorrow. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?”
“Oh, no, it’s not,” Melanie piped up.
“Absolutely not,” Kathleen and Beth agreed. “There’
s a whole new generation to worry about now.”
To Ben’s relief, Destiny’s expression brightened. “My goodness, I can’t leave this precious baby and all the ones to come to the likes of you, can I?”
“Hey!” Richard protested. “I don’t think we turned out too badly.”
“Neither do I,” Mack said.
Ben looked at his brothers and the women in their lives, then turned to Kathleen. “What about you? Do you think I’ve turned out all right?”
She moved into his arms and pressed a kiss to his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “I wouldn’t want the others to hear this, but I think you turned out best of all.”
“You’re biased.”
She laughed. “Hey, I’m only following Destiny’s lead. Everybody knows you’re her favorite.”
“I heard that,” Richard grumbled.
“Me, too,” Mack protested.
“Oh, stop squabbling,” Destiny said. “I don’t have favorites.”
“Of course not,” Ben agreed at once, then leaned down. “But if you did, I’d be the one, right?”
“Isn’t knowing that you’re Kathleen’s favorite enough?” Destiny scolded.
Ben met Kathleen’s gaze over Destiny’s head. “More than enough,” he agreed at once. It was something he would never allow himself to forget.
Epilogue
For a wedding that had been pulled together in less than a month, Kathleen thought it was pretty spectacular. Her mother and Destiny had used every contact, called in every favor and invited a cast of hundreds to witness the occasion. She didn’t think it could have come together any more beautifully if they’d had an entire year to plan it.
Kathleen stood at the back of the church in a sleek, strapless satin gown from a well-known designer whom Destiny knew personally. She was holding a simple bouquet of lily of the valley and white velvet ribbons that her mother had created. Her grandfather, looking incredibly distinguished in his tuxedo, stood at her side.
“Are you happy, angel? Truly happy?” he asked.
“You can’t begin to imagine how happy,” she assured him. “I’ve gotten it exactly right this time.”
“I hope so. Ben seems like a fine young man and it’s plain that he adores you. I don’t suppose you’d reconsider and settle in Providence?”
Treasured Page 19
