He had to talk to Patty. He had to tell her how very sorry he was for judging her so harshly and beg her to forgive him. He had to lay his heart and pride on the line and ask her if she was in love with him just as he was with her.
And if she did love him, he was going to ask her to marry him, be his wife, his partner in life.
David strode toward the front door, sweeping his gaze over the house as he went.
This would be a home, a real home, he thought. Laughter would ring through these rooms. Sarah Ann and Tucker would scatter their toys everywhere as they played together as bestis friends and brother and sister. Sophia would speak her first words here, take her first steps.
And down the road if it was meant to be, there would be another child, one created by the gift, the love shared in the private darkness of night between Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. David and Patty. Oh, yeah, that was a warm and wonderful image being painted in his mind.
As David drove toward Patty’s he realized that he was becoming more tense with every passing mile. His future happiness was going to be determined by what transpired during this meeting with Patty. The rest of his life was hanging in the balance here.
Oh, great, he thought, as he stopped at a red light. He was now a wreck, was coming unglued, big-time. If he blew this, if he couldn’t find the proper words to… Get a grip, Montgomery. He was an attorney who was trained to maintain his cool and articulate his case with expertise.
He would sit Patty down, start at the top and speak from his heart. She would listen, really hear what he was saying, declare her love for him and agree to become his wife. Yes. That’s how it would go…if he didn’t have a nervous breakdown before he could get to Patty’s house.
A horn blared behind David’s vehicle and he jerked, then pressed on the gas as he saw that the light was now green and he was still sitting there like a dolt.
I’m calm, I’m calm, I’m calm, he mentally chanted in his mind during the miles remaining from here to the rest of his life.
David slowed as he turned onto Patty’s street and slowed even more as he approached her house. He frowned as he saw a vehicle in her driveway and made the instant decision to park in front of the neighboring house to wait until whoever was visiting her left.
The minutes ticked slowly by. His tension built with every thud of his heart. He clenched his jaw and tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, his gaze riveted on Patty’s front door. Then at last, the door opened and David stiffened, every muscle in his body tightening.
Patty came out of the house onto the small porch with a tall, good-looking man who appeared to be part Asian. They were smiling, and in the next instant, they were hugging each other in a long, obviously heartfelt embrace.
“What… Oh, God, no,” David said, his voice a harsh whisper.
The old but not forgotten pain of betrayal slammed against him like a physical blow, making it difficult to breathe. The agony was followed in a rush by wrath, rip-roaring fury at himself for believing that his being taken in by Marsha was a one-time mistake. And anger burned deep within him toward Patty because his doubts, his questions about her were justified.
“Damn it,” David said, ignoring the achy sensation in his throat.
Before he even realized that he was moving, he left his vehicle and with long, heavy strides started toward the couple on the porch.
Chapter Thirteen
As David continued his determined, albeit somewhat clumsy approach to Patty’s house due to his cast, the couple moved off the porch and started toward the vehicle in the driveway. Patty had her arm slipped through the man’s and she was smiling up at him. David narrowed his eyes and trudged on. Patty finally saw him as he neared the rear of the vehicle.
“David,” she said, surprise evident on her face and in her voice. She dropped her arm to her side. “What are you doing here?”
“My arrival is a tad inconvenient, isn’t it?” David said, a pulse beating in his temple. “And to think that I sat in my kitchen drinking orange juice and came to the conclusion that I was wrong about you, had made you pay the price for a mistake—one mistake— I made in my past. Oh, no, I told myself, I now realize that Patty is real and honest and everything that I believe her to be.”
“I—” Patty said.
“I’m speaking here,” David snapped, causing Patty and the man to jerk at his outburst. “Patty doesn’t have an agenda, a crummy motive of wanting my money and my willingness to help with the kids so she can stay home like she wants to and be a full-time mother. Not my Patty. Hell, no.
“Well, here I am, and isn’t this just a pop in the chops, a reality check big-time? Why am I here? Oh, what a joke. I came to apologize, beg your forgiveness for ever doubting you. I came to tell you that I love you, damn it, and I want to marry you.
“What?” Patty said, her eyes widening.
“But I should never have had that conversation with myself while I was drinking orange juice because now I know the ugly truth. You were stringing me along the whole time, and not only that, you were involved with another man while you were doing it.”
He pointed at the man next to Patty. “Don’t try to deny any of this, Patty Clark, because there he is in living, breathing color. I saw the hug and the smiles and the… God, I am such a fool. Well, so what if I’m in love with you. It’s no big deal. I’ll get over it. No problem. None. I’m outta here. Goodbye.”
“Excuse me,” the man next to Patty said pleasantly. “Might I have a word?”
“There’s nothing you can say that I’m interested in hearing,” David said, none too quietly.
“Well, all I wanted to do was introduce myself,” the man said. “I’m…” He stifled a laugh. “I’m Ryan Sharpe. Patty’s brother. Listen closely, please. That’s brother, not lover. Brother.”
David opened his mouth to reply, snapped it closed again, then planted his hands on his hips and stared at the heavens.
“Beam me up, Scotty,” he said. “Forget it. Nobody wants to associate with an idiot.” He shook his head. “I don’t believe what I just did.”
“It was well done, I must say,” Ryan said, giving way to his laughter. “I thought I was going to end up with a broken nose. Now, then, I’m not needed in this fascinating discussion so I’ll shove off and allow you two to straighten out your differences.
“I’m assuming you’re the David Montgomery I’ve been hearing so much about since I got back into town. It was…interesting meeting you, David.” Ryan kissed Patty on the forehead. “Talk to you later, sis. Love ya.”
“I love you, too, Ryan,” Patty said. “Thanks for coming by.”
As Ryan backed his vehicle out of the driveway, David made a quick list of ten places he’d rather be than standing there in front of Patty Sharpe Clark— Patty, who was now folding her arms tightly beneath her breasts and glowering at him with such obvious anger he was back to begging Scotty to beam him up.
“Well,” David said, then cleared his throat. “When I blow it I really do a helluva job, don’t I? Yep.” He paused and sighed. “Patty, I am so sorry for what I just did and said.”
“Come into the house,” she said, spinning around. “We’ve given the neighbors enough of a show for one day. And keep your voice down inside because the kids are napping.”
“He doesn’t look like he’s your brother,” David muttered, as he followed Patty.
“Ryan is adopted, you dope,” Patty said, entering the living room. “He’s half Korean, and he’s the best brother anyone could ever hope to have.” She sank onto a chair.
“Oh. May I sit down?”
“Whatever.”
David sank onto the sofa and dragged his hands down his face.
“Could I start over,” he said, “with what I wanted to say to you, go all the way back to the light that dawned while I was drinking my orange juice?”
“Whatever.”
“Ah, Patty, I know I really messed things up outside, but I’m still on shaky ground em
otionally with all that I’ve discovered about myself. That’s really no excuse for what I did out there but I meant what I said. I love you with all my heart, my soul, with all that I am. I was making you pay the price for what Marsha did and that was so wrong of me. I realize that now and am begging you to forgive me. You are you. Exactly who you present yourself to be.
“You’re a warm and loving, caring and sharing woman and mother, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you, turn my house into a home, create a baby with you and… Please? Say you forgive me. Say you love me as much as I love you. Do you, Patty? Do you love me?”
Patty looked directly at David, then had to blink away tears that misted her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, David, I love you very, very much.”
David closed his eyes for a moment and drew a shuddering breath.
“Thank you,” he said, emotion ringing in his voice. He opened his eyes again. “I’m not certain that I deserve you, but I’m not going to argue that point. All I know is that I’ve put the past to rest at long last, and I want to live in the present and future with you as my wife. Will you? Will you be my wife? Will you marry me, Patty Sharpe Clark? Please?”
Patty got to her feet and crossed the room to sit next to David on the sofa. She smiled at him, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“Will you make love with me, David? Now? Before the kids wake up from their naps? Will you share our beautiful gift with me again?” Patty leaned forward and brushed her lips over David’s, causing a bolt of heat to course through him. “Please, David, make love with me.”
David fully intended to point out the fact that Patty had not given him an answer regarding his proposal of marriage, but when she outlined his lips with a feathery touch from one delicate fingertip, all rational thought fled.
Patty got to her feet, and just as David had done the very first time they had made love, she extended one hand toward him palm up. And in a repeat motion of that long-ago day, David lifted one hand and placed it in Patty’s, rising to stand close to her in the next instant.
They went down the hallway, glancing in at a sleeping Tucker and Sophia as they went, then closed the door to Patty’s bedroom and the world beyond it behind them.
An urgency engulfed them, the need, the want consuming them, building to a fever pitch with swirling heat and racing hearts. They shed their clothes, David tossed back the blankets on the bed, then they reached for the other and tumbled onto the bed.
“I love you,” David said, as he splayed one hand on Patty’s stomach.
“I love you, too, David,” she whispered.
And with those words the gift they shared took on greater meaning; their emotions were much deeper and more heartfelt than before as they intertwined with the physical ecstasy of their lovemaking. They kissed and caressed, hands never still, lips following where those hands had created a heated path.
Patty’s senses heightened and she savored every sensation, feeling womanly and beautiful and so very special. She sighed with pure feminine pleasure as David paid homage to her breasts, laving first one nipple, then the other into taut buttons. She sank her fingers into his thick hair and urged his mouth more firmly onto the soft flesh, closing her eyes to memorize the sensuous moment.
David raised his head to capture Patty’s mouth, his muscles bunching, trembling, as want and need pushed him to the edge of his control.
Patty loved him, his mind sang. They were going to have it all. They would be husband and wife, raising their super kids, living in a home, a real home filled with sunshine and laughter and love never-ending. Patty loved him. And, oh, how he loved her. There was nothing temporary now about the gift they were sharing. No. It was theirs until death parted them. Because Patty loved him.
He left her only long enough to protect her, then returned to her embrace, kissing her yet again, then meshing their bodies. The rhythm began, so perfectly synchronized it was impossible to tell where one body ended and the other began. They were one. One entity. Soaring to the place, their place, that awaited them with the glorious colors and the exquisite release that rippled through each of them seconds apart.
They held fast to each other, not wishing to return from where they had gone, then whispering endearments as they floated slowly and gently back to the bed, the room, the realization that sleeping children could waken at any moment.
“So lovely,” Patty said wistfully. “Mmm.”
“Yes, it was,” David said, his voice still gritty. “I suppose, though, that we’d better get it together here before Tucker comes knocking on the door.”
“Mmm,” Patty said, her lashes drifting down.
“Hey, no sleeping now, my lady.”
Patty laughed. “But I can’t move, sir, because my bones have dissolved.”
David chuckled, kissed her quickly, then left the bed to gather his clothes.
“I’ll take a quick shower,” he said, “then head Tucker off at the pass if he gets up while you hit the suds. Okay?”
“Mmm,” Patty said, then smiled and sat up. “Okay.”
But Tucker was still sleeping soundly when Patty arrived in the living room to find David sitting on the sofa. He patted the cushion next to him and Patty joined him eagerly.
“We need to back up a bit,” David said, then kissed the top of Patty’s head. “You didn’t really answer me when I asked you to marry me. I could get down on one knee if you like, but with this cast I’d be a rather clumsy Prince Charming, I’m afraid. So, I’ll just say it again. Patty Clark, will you marry me?”
Patty shifted on the sofa so she could look directly into David’s eyes, then drew a shaky breath.
“No, David,” she said, a faint echo of tears in her voice. “No, I won’t marry you. I can’t.”
A chill swept through David and he swallowed heavily.
“Why not?” he said. “You love me. I love you. We’re crazy about each other’s kids. Everything is in place, Patty. We’ll live in my house because it’s big enough for all of us, and you can stay home the way you want to and raise the munchkins and… I… I don’t understand.”
“It’s because I love you so much, David, that I know I have to refuse your proposal.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Oh, yes, I am, I truly am,” she said. “You’ve said that I’ve been keeping a secret from you and that’s true. It’s time you knew the truth about me. David, my secret, my horrendous flaw, is not a one-time mistake in judgment as yours was with Marsha. No. Mine is forever, is who I am, or more accurately, who I am not. My flaw would destroy what we have together if we marry.”
“I…”
“Please, hear me out,” Patty said. “David, I… I am not capable of being a proper wife. I just don’t know how, despite how hard I try. I would make you so unhappy, so very miserable, because I’m a failure in that role.
“Yes, I’m a great mother. And our lovemaking has shown me that I’m a woman capable of giving herself to the man she loves with total abandon, as it should be. But as a wife? I am totally inadequate. I drove Peter into the arms of another woman because I didn’t know how to meet his needs, be his other half, his partner. What he did wasn’t his fault, it was mine. Mine, David.”
David shook his head, a deep frown on his face.
“It’s true,” Patty said, leaning toward him. “I’ve accepted that truth and I’ve vowed to never marry again, never destroy another person’s dreams.
“I love you, David. I want to be with you whenever it’s possible. We’ll be lovers as well as the mother bear and the father bear to our baby bears. But you’ll live at your house with Sarah Ann and I’ll stay here with Tucker and Sophia. I will be everything I can be for you, but I will not be your wife because I love you far, far too much to agree to that.”
David took Patty’s hands in his.
“There is no way on earth,” he said, “that I will ever believe what you’re saying. I lived here, remember? You to
ok care of me when I was injured, cheered me up when I was bummed out because I was so frustrated dealing with the amnesia, did everything that a wife would do if her husband was hurt.”
“And how many times did you holler at me for treating you like a child? That wasn’t a wife tending to your needs, David, it was a mother.”
“Well—”
“Granted, you showed me, taught me, that I could separate the woman from the mother but it stops right there. I am offering myself to you as a woman and as a mother to Sarah Ann. That’s all I have to give you. I’m not capable of being a wife.”
“What are you suggesting?” David said. “That we have an affair that lasts twenty or thirty years? Patty, that’s nuts.”
“No, it’s the way it is.” Patty’s eyes filled with tears. “I know you want a wife, a real family living in your lovely home. I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me again so you can move past your feelings for me and find someone who can meet your needs. I’m so sorry, David. I wish things were different. I wish I was different. But I can’t change the facts, the truth.”
This was crazy, David thought frantically. Patty actually believed that it was her fault that her marriage had failed, that Peter the jerk had left her for another woman. No way. He’d wondered if she was harboring that ridiculous conclusion, then dismissed the idea as being out in left field. But now she was telling him that was exactly how she felt. That was her secret, the big flaw? No way.
But he had to be very careful about how he handled this. Patty was very, very fragile on this subject, completely vulnerable. If he hollered his head off and demanded she drop her foolish notion, she was liable to send him packing and tell him not to come back.
Slow and easy, Montgomery.
“Look,” he said, “let’s table this for now. This is a momentous day because we declared our love for each other. We should savor that, don’t you think? We should celebrate. Why don’t we go out to dinner tomorrow night? Just the two of us. Do you think you can get a sitter for a Saturday night on such short notice? I don’t even know any sitters yet so I guess I’d bring Sarah Ann here and pay your sitter extra to add another kiddo to the heap.”
Accidental Family (The Baby Bet: MacAllisters Gifts #14) Page 17
