Accidental Family (The Baby Bet: MacAllisters Gifts #14)
Page 20
“Yes.”
“But—”
“Listen to me,” Peter said, reaching over and gripping one of her hands. “You did not fail me as a wife. I swear to God, Patty, you didn’t. I was the luckiest man in the world to have your love and devotion and I was too stupid to realize it until it was too late. I quit coming to visit Tucker because I didn’t deserve to hear him call me Daddy. I didn’t acknowledge the new baby for the same reason. The least I could do for you, for our children, was to stay out of your lives.”
“I thought… I thought it was my fault that you—”
“No, no, never,” he said, releasing her hand and slouching back in the booth. “It was me, all me. And Gloria? When I started suggesting that we stay home more, spend quiet evenings watching TV, cook dinner there, she sent me packing and went to work for another company. I haven’t seen her in months.”
“I had no idea,” Patty said.
“I destroyed our marriage, Patty,” Peter said, his voice thick with emotion. “And I didn’t even entertain the idea of begging you to forgive me because I didn’t deserve to be forgiven. I’m leaving next month to head up the office in Kansas City. It’s the only thing that I have left to give you and our children—to have me permanently out of your lives so you can move forward, all of you.
“But, Patty? Don’t ever doubt yourself as a wife, a woman, a mother. Please, don’t do that. If this man you’re seeing deserves you, then he already knows how damn lucky he is that you’re a part of his life.
“Don’t let what I did to you stop you from being happy, having everything I wasn’t capable of giving you. Just be you. When you’re with that man, just be you, and if he’s smart he’ll spend the rest of his life thanking God that you chose him to be the recipient of the kind of love you give so freely.”
“Oh, Peter, I don’t know what to say.”
Peter dug in his pocket, then tossed some bills on the table. He slid out of the booth and met Patty’s gaze.
“Don’t say anything,” he said. “Just be happy. I’m so damn sorry for what I did. Follow your heart. Just be you.”
Peter strode away, and Patty pressed her fingertips to her lips and closed her eyes for a long moment. She opened them again and stared at the opal ring on her finger, her mind racing with all that Peter had divulged to her.
She turned her hand slowly to the left, seeing the colors of the opal shimmering in the light.
Woman, she thought, then tipped her hand in the opposite direction, bringing new shades for her to see. Mother.
With a smile slowly forming on her lips she lifted her hand directly in front of her, producing yet another facet of the beautiful ring.
Wife, her heart sang. Oh, Grandpa, thank you. There was a message connected to Robert MacAllister’s gift. She had just been far, far too frightened to listen to the whispers from the ring.
As Patty slid out of the booth, the waitress rushed to her side.
“Is something wrong?” the woman said, glancing at the table. “You and your friend didn’t even touch your meals.”
“Oh, no,” Patty said, smiling. “Nothing is wrong. In fact, for the first time in a very long while, everything is very, very right.”
The waitress shrugged. “Okeydokey.”
As Patty drove across town she ordered the butterflies that were threatening to return to hit the road. She was well aware of the importance of what she was about to do and needed all her courage. The rest of her life, her future happiness, was going to be determined at her destination, and there was no room for shaky nerves or trembling knees.
“I am woman,” Patty said aloud. “I am mother. And, oh, David, if you can forgive me for being such a frightened child, then I am wife.”
A rush of relief swept through Patty when she saw David’s SUV parked at his house. She could only hope that he was following the plan of taking Sarah Ann to the Fuzzy Bunny while he finished unpacking, then having the new housekeeper come in later so he could begin to look for office space.
Not allowing herself to think how far it was from her vehicle to the front door, Patty turned off the ignition and got out of the car. She drew one steadying breath, then hurried to the front door, pressing the doorbell when she arrived.
“Yeah. Coming. Hang on,” David yelled from inside the house.
Hurry, David, Patty thought, before I faint dead out on my face.
The door opened and David appeared with a stack of books in his arms, his chin resting on the top volume.
“Patty?” His shock at seeing her caused him to lose control of the teetering tower of books and they fell crashing to the floor. “Hell.”
“I’m sorry,” Patty said. “I obviously should have called first. I’ll help you pick up the books.”
“Forget the books,” he said. “Come in. Just step over this mess. Why are you here?”
Patty entered the house and David scooped the books to the side to allow him to close the door behind her. He looked at her questioningly.
“May I sit down?” she said.
“Oh, sure. Sure.” He swept one arm in the direction of the living room.
Patty sank gratefully onto the sofa and David settled onto a large barrel chair across from her.
“Is Sarah Ann at the Fuzzy Bunny?” Patty said.
David nodded.
“Good, because I need to speak to you privately, with no interruptions.”
“I’m listening,” David said.
Patty stared at the opal ring for a long moment, slid one fingertip over the stone, then met David’s gaze again.
“David, you were right. There was a message connected to this ring, but I was just too frightened to listen to it, believe in it. There are many facets to me, depths I didn’t have the courage to embrace any longer because I believed that I had failed Peter as a wife and would always be a failure as a wife.
“But I just met with Peter and I finally know the truth. He assured me that I didn’t fail him, that he was the one who fell short in his role of husband, man, father. I should have believed in myself all along but I was just so devastated by what Peter had done that I…” She shook her head.
“Go on,” David urged.
“I’m like this opal,” Patty said, sudden tears misting her eyes. “I have many facets, depths, that I now know are mine to own, to glory in. I am a woman. I am a mother. And, oh, God, David, if I’m not too late, if your proposal still stands, if you can forgive me for hurting you, then…”
A sob caught in Patty’s throat. “…then I will also be a wife. Your wife. I love you so much, David. I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you, but if you can put all that behind you and… Please, David? Will…will you marry me?”
David moved so fast that a gasp escaped from Patty’s lips. He closed the distance between them, hauled her up into his arms and kissed her so passionately she was convinced her bones were dissolving. When he finally raised his head, they both drew shuddering breaths.
“I thought I’d lost you forever,” he said, his voice raspy. “I thought… Oh, thank God, you listened to the message from the ring. Patty, I love you, will always love you. Yes, Patty Clark, I will marry you.
“We are going to have it all. We’ll be a family, here in this house that will be a home filled with love and laughter. If we’re blessed with another daughter I want her middle name to be Opal. Hell, if we have a boy, his middle name will be Opal. That ring opened the tightly closed door to our future together. Oh, how I love you.”
“And I love you, David Montgomery,” Patty said, smiling through tears of joy. “Goodness, wait until Tucker and Sarah Ann learn they’re to be officially brother and sister. They’ll be so excited.”
David smiled. “We’ll tell everyone, the world, that we’re going to be married. But before we go nuts with our big announcement, there’s something I want to do.”
“Make love to me?” Patty said, raising her eyebrows.
“Oh, yes, ma’am, that is definitely on the agenda.�
�� David paused. “But this is something else. I’d like to go see Robert MacAllister and shake his hand, thank him from my heart for being so wise, for loving you enough to give you the opal ring.”
“That’s wonderful,” Patty said. “You’re wonderful. Visiting my grandfather will be the first step on the path that represents our journey into the future…together.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-2931-0
ACCIDENTAL FAMILY
Copyright © 2004 by Joan Elliott Pickart
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* The Baby Bet
†Family Men
ΔThe Bachelor Bet
◊The Baby Bet: MacAllister’s Gifts