Her Secret Valentine

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Cal’s expression hardened. He took his hand away from her hair, let it fall back to her waist. “We’ll never know until we try.”

  She couldn’t deny the truth of his words.

  “It’s time we stepped up and confronted the problems that have been dogging us since the moment we said our vows.”

  “All right.” Ashley moved away from Cal. “But we do it on my terms.”

  He lifted a brow. “Which are?”

  “No sex.” Ashley bartered the condition she had been thinking about for quite a while.

  He blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  Ashley held up a cautioning palm. “I mean it, Cal. Sex between the two of us is great, but it never fails to derail us when we are trying to work out a problem. We end up making love and not talking about whatever it is that needs to be dealt with in the first place. So, if I come back with you to North Carolina while I job hunt, then we can’t make love.”

  As Ashley had expected, her husband had to think about that. Hard. Which confirmed all of Ashley’s worst fears—that without the sex they really had nothing to hold them together. Nothing that would keep their marriage going for the next fifty years.

  A wealth of emotions flickered in Cal’s eyes. Finally, to Ashley’s relief, he assented. “But I have a few conditions of my own,” Cal said firmly as Ashley found her beach sandals and sat down on the sofa to slip them on.

  “One, you live with me under the same roof the entire time you are in Holly Springs. And two, you stay until our third wedding anniversary on Valentine’s Day and celebrate the occasion with me. You can have your own bedroom—either the master suite or the guest room,” he offered expansively. “Your choice.”

  Ashley stared up at him, her hands braced on either side of her. “That’s a whole month, Cal.”

  Nodding, he held out his palm and helped her to her feet. “Which ought to be long enough to figure out where we go from here.”

  Chapter Three

  “You’ve really done a lot to the place,” Ashley remarked late the following morning. Despite her wool coat, she shivered a little from the brisk winter air. They had taken the red-eye back to Carolina. And now, some twelve hours later, they were back at the farmhouse he had purchased during the first year she had been in Honolulu. “It was in pretty rough shape the last time I saw it.”

  “That’s right,” Cal recalled. “You’ve only seen the place once.” He set their suitcases down in the front hall and went to adjust the downstairs thermostat that had been lowered in his absence.

  Ashley felt the chill seep from her bones. “You’ve obviously worked hard on it. I’m impressed.”

  The two-story farmhouse had been painted a sunny yellow on the outside. The pine-green shutters and door coordinated nicely with the new slate-gray roof. Inside, the hardwood floors had all been redone. The walls were painted a creamy sand that went well with the white crown moldings and trim. She couldn’t help noticing, however, that the parlor and formal dining room at the very front of the house were empty and the walls bare.

  “I thought you might like to help me decorate these rooms,” Cal told her casually. “So I haven’t done anything with them.” Looking happy to have her there again at long last, he took her hand and led her back toward the rear of the house.

  He continued to show her around proudly. The country kitchen had all new glass-front maple cabinets and marble counters and was painted a soothing shade of taupe that blended well with both. The color continued into the laundry room at the rear of the house, as well as into the tastefully decorated family room that overlooked the fruit orchards edging the backyard. A big stone fireplace was the focal point of the room. The mantel was lined with photos of Ashley and Cal. Formal engagement and wedding day portraits, as well as casual snapshots of them with family and friends from happier times. Before things got so complicated, Ashley thought wistfully.

  Cal moved to the entertainment cabinet and showed her where the remotes for the wide-screen TV, stereo and DVD player were kept. “There’s no cable out here—so we’ve got satellite. I’ll show you how to use it whenever you want.”

  “Later would be fine,” Ashley said, wondering at the formality that had risen up between them now that they were physically together again. When had things become so awkward between them they didn’t even know how to be in the same house together? she fretted miserably. A house they co-owned as husband and wife.

  “Want to see the upstairs?” Cal asked, continuing to play the perfect host.

  “Sure.” Ashley nodded agreeably. “And then I’m really going to have to crash.” She was so fatigued from the flight back, she was nearly light-headed. She turned and looked at the dark circles beneath his eyes that hadn’t been there sixteen hours previously. “You must be beat, too.” He had flown to Hawaii, and then hours later, turned right around and flown back to North Carolina.

  “I am,” Cal admitted, stifling a yawn. Logging nearly twenty-four hours travel time in a thirty-two-hour period was finally catching up with him.

  He led her past the hall bathroom, which looked as if it had been outfitted for guests and was rarely used, and two empty bedrooms. A guest room was next. It had the cozy brass bed they had used the first five months of their marriage and an antique bureau with a mirror that conjured up a lot of memories for Ashley that she wasn’t sure she was ready to remember yet.

  Next was the master bedroom. A brand new king-size sleigh bed with matching cherry nightstands and antique brass lamps took up most of the space. Two separate walk-in closets had been built. And where the fifth bedroom and bath had been was a brand-new master bathroom.

  Ashley gaped at the changes. There were dual pedestal sinks, a sit-down vanity, a separate water closet for the commode, and a whirlpool tub beneath a bay window of privacy glass. But it was the shower that commanded her attention. Pale-green marble covered the floor, walls and ceiling of the six-by-eight-foot space. A high window at one end let in plenty of sunlight, and a long green marble bench was situated beneath it. There were two showerheads—a handheld and an overhead—and the glass shower door stretched all the way to the ceiling.

  “This doubles as a sauna,” Cal boasted, showing her where the controls for that were.

  “Wow,” Ashley said. She had never seen anything quite so luxurious.

  Cal’s gaze drifted over her appreciatively. “The sauna can feel pretty good after a long day or night at the hospital.”

  As would their lovemaking, the implication seemed to be. Ashley swallowed, pushing away the flutter of desire deep inside her. She had promised herself she would not let passionate sex distract them from the work they needed to do on their relationship. She would keep that vow.

  Cal frowned, apparently registering the sudden drop in temperature between them. “Anyway, I know I promised you separate accommodations,” he said gallantly ushering her back out into the hall.

  And it was good they’d made that agreement, Ashley thought. Otherwise she would have been tempted just to say the heck with caution and fall into bed with her husband once again.

  He gave her a hot, assessing look. “So unless you’ve changed your mind…”

  “I haven’t,” Ashley said, pretending her thoughts weren’t traveling down the same ardent path as his.

  To Cal’s credit, if he was disappointed by her careful outward demeanor, he did not show it. He paused to turn the upstairs thermostat higher. “I’ll take the guest room then,” he said mildly.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Ashley said, knowing that she’d be more comfortable in the bed she had used before than in anything that had been exclusively his.

  He looked at her a long moment, the faint hint of disappointment radiating in his pewter-gray eyes. “I’ll carry your suitcase up then,” he said quietly. And that was that.

  THE PHONE RANG AT 6:00 P.M. Cal reached for it with a groan, and dutifully talked to his mother on the other end of the line. By the time he hung up two minutes later, he f
ound Ashley standing in the doorway of the master bedroom. Tousled and adorable, she looked as disoriented as he felt after only a couple of hours sleep.

  “Everything okay?” she murmured.

  Damn, she looked sexy in a thigh-length cotton nightshirt and bare legs, Cal thought as he struggled to shake off his jet lag and sit all the way up against the headboard. Since she had obviously gone right from the shower into bed, her dark hair had dried in thick unruly waves.

  “Who was that?” Ashley stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as she padded closer.

  Knowing they would both adjust to the change in time zone if they stayed up the rest of the evening and went to bed at the normal time, Cal rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “My mother wants us to come for dinner. I told her I wasn’t sure you’d feel up to it. She said, if not, she’d send something over.”

  “Is the whole family going to be there?” Ashley asked, with the hesitation she always evidenced when confronted with all five of his siblings. And now, thanks to a recent round of satisfying romances, four of them had spouses, too.

  Cal shrugged. He didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they already were between him and Ashley. “We can always see everyone later,” he told her.

  Looking as sleepy and out of it as he felt, Ashley perched on the end of the bed and tucked one hand around the sleigh-shaped footboard. “I know everyone wants to see me.”

  An understatement if there ever was one, Cal thought. Particularly since his whole family had decided to help “fix” his marriage, unless he managed to do it first.

  “So we might as well go this evening,” Ashley continued practically. “If you feel up to it.”

  Cal figured it had to be better than staying here alone with Ashley, wanting to make love to her when he had promised to abstain. At least for the time being. He was still hoping she would change her mind about that and realize making love to each other always brought them closer. And now, more than ever, with so many important things ahead of them to decide, they needed to be closer. “We can make it a quick visit,” he said. He didn’t want to stay long lest his brothers decided to get into the advice-giving business again.

  Ashley nodded her assent. “Just give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

  Forty minutes later, Cal was still waiting for Ashley. When she finally came downstairs she was wearing a jewel-necked, long-sleeved black knit dress that she usually reserved for cocktail parties.

  “I thought you were wearing slacks,” he said with a frown, wondering if he should go upstairs and change out of his jeans and corduroy shirt into something more formal, too.

  “I was. Or I tried.”

  He looked at her, not understanding.

  “I guess I’ve gained a little weight over the holidays,” she said, her cheeks flushing bright pink. “I didn’t think I’d had that many Christmas cookies, but…suddenly none of the pants I brought with me want to zip. So it’s either this or another dress or the sweats I wore on the plane—and those need a run through the washer first.” Cheeks flushing all the more, she swept past him. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”

  “I’m not. You look great.” The black knit fabric clung to her newly voluptuous curves, and the swirling skirt and high heels made the most of her sexy legs. She’d left her hair down, and it looked as wild and untamed as he knew her to be in her most unguarded moments.

  Cal paused to remove her winter coat from the hall closet. “Would it make you feel less self-conscious if I went up and changed?” He knew everyone in his family would probably be wearing jeans, too, but he could put on a sport coat and tie.

  “No. It’s fine, really.” Ashley waved off his concern. She slipped on the long black wool coat and looped a cashmere scarf around her neck. “I’m just going to have to get back to exercising on a regular basis again.”

  Cal held the door for Ashley. “Well don’t lose any weight on my account,” he said. He let his eyes travel over her appreciatively. “I think you look amazing. I mean it, Ashley,” he continued when she scoffed. “Any extra ounces you have put on are definitely in all the right places.”

  “And those would be…?” Ashley prodded dryly as he unlocked the passenger door on his SUV and helped her inside.

  In answer, Cal grinned and let his gaze touch her breasts, waist and hips.

  She blushed again.

  “You’re perfect,” Cal repeated. Wishing—just once—she would believe it. “And I like the glow on your face, too,” he added softly. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand.

  Ashley wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “I’m going to pretend I agree with you…just so we don’t have to talk about my embarrassing predicament anymore. It’s probably what I get for living in scrubs and lab coats, anyway. All those loose-fitting tops and elastic waistbands…I’ll be more careful in the future. Just do me a favor and don’t mention my wardrobe crisis to your sibs? I’m embarrassed enough already.”

  “DON’T YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!” Helen Hart told Ashley when she and Cal walked in to her home behind the Wedding Inn, the palatial three-story white brick inn Cal’s mother had turned into the premiere wedding facility in North Carolina. As always, Ashley noted admiringly, Helen’s short red hair was perfectly coiffed, her amber eyes as warm as they were astute. Ashley’s mother-in-law favored clothes that were classic, not trendy. Tonight she was clad in a cream wool turtleneck sweater and gray slacks perfect for an evening with family.

  “You think we look good now, wait until we get some more sleep!” Cal winked at his mom as he helped Ashley off with her coat and went to hang it up.

  Ashley returned Helen’s hug warmly. Although her husband’s siblings could sometimes leave her feeling overwhelmed, she adored Cal’s mom. Maybe because the openly loving, family-oriented woman was everything her own mother wasn’t. Helen Hart loved and accepted her kids, no matter what. She did not demand they succeed at all cost. She simply wanted them to be good, kind, loving people. Which wasn’t to say Helen was a pushover. If the fifty-six-year-old Helen saw one of her brood making a mistake that could hurt someone else, she was always quick to intervene and make sure that the situation was corrected. But she also gave them plenty of room to live their own lives. And as a result of that, her six adult children were a very tight-knit group. The death of Cal’s father twenty years ago had made them even more so. They understood the value of family. And they loved each other dearly. So dearly that even after ten years of being Cal’s one and only, Ashley sometimes still felt like an outsider looking in.

  Oblivious to Ashley’s anxiety over the evening ahead, Helen linked arms with Ashley and led her toward the Great Room at the rear of the house, where everyone gathered. “If we’d had more notice, I would’ve invited your parents to be with us this evening, too,” Helen noted cheerfully. “They must be very anxious to see you, too!”

  Were they? Ashley wondered.

  “When are you and Cal going to visit them?” Helen paused in the kitchen to check the big pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove.

  “I’m not sure,” Ashley hedged, watching Helen put water on to boil.

  “But they do know you’re back in Carolina?” Helen ascertained, concern lighting her eyes.

  Ashley nodded. “I e-mailed them my plans before I left Honolulu.” And hadn’t yet checked to see if there had been a response, largely because she hadn’t felt ready to face the constant pressure to achieve that her parents were likely to exert on her when they did see her.

  Aware this was a touchy subject with Ashley, Cal motioned them all to the family room, where the rest of Hart clan was gathered around the television, watching two NHL teams do battle on the ice in Montreal. Had the Carolina Storm professional hockey team been playing that evening, three of the men in the family would have been absent. Janey’s husband, Thad, because he was the coach. Dylan, because he was a game announcer, and Joe, because he was one of the hockey players. But since the team had the day off, and the next game was at
home, they were all there. As was Janey’s twelve-year-old son Christopher—who was petting Lily and Fletcher’s recently adopted yellow Labrador retriever, Spartacus. Mac and the newest members of the Hart clan—Joe’s wife, Emma, Dylan’s wife, Hannah, and Fletcher’s wife, Lily—were gathered around, too.

  A happier bunch couldn’t have been found, Ashley noted, accepting hugs and warm hellos from one and all. And it was then the trouble she’d been anticipating began.

  “SOMETHING WRONG?” Janey asked two hours later as the two of them carried the containers holding leftovers out to the spare refrigerator in Helen’s garage.

  Besides the fact that everyone there seemed to be keeping a careful eye on everything she and Cal did and said? Ashley wondered.

  Ashley figured if anyone understood the five Hart brothers it was their only sister, Janey. “What do you know about the advice the guys have been giving Cal about me?” Ashley asked, opening the fridge. She was willing to bet whatever had prompted the phone message Cal had received in Hawaii was still going on among the men. Sly looks, approving nods, the occasional slap on the shoulder, one brother to another, had been going on all night.

  Abruptly, Janey looked like a kid who’d been caught with knowledge she had no business having.

  Ashley held up a palm. “I heard it all, Janey. I just want to know what prompted the onslaught of friendly guidance in the first place.” Cal was the most private of the Hart brothers. Definitely the least likely to seek advice regarding his marriage.

  Janey slid her containers into the spare fridge, then knelt to make room for Ashley’s. “They were just worried about you two.” Janey kept her head down. “We all were.” Even more quietly she said, “Cal’s been so lonely while you were away.”

  This was news. Ashley’s heartbeat picked up and anxiety ran through her anew. “Was he complaining to the rest of you?” If so, she wasn’t sure how that made her feel! Not good, certainly.

  “No, of course not.” Finished, Janey straightened. “Cal never complains. You know that.” Janey paused to look at Ashley seriously. “But even though he shrugged it off, we all knew he was pretty miserable whenever he wasn’t busy working.”