She tore her gaze from his to look down. She gasped when she saw a gold engagement ring lying in his palm. The blue pear-shaped stone dazzled her eyes.
“You know what it means. I love you more than I thought I could ever love a woman. I want you for my wife, Laurel. I realize it’s too soon, but after nine years…”
Unless he can come to terms with the situation on his own…
Joy beyond description welled up inside her.
“Marriage to you is all I’ve been able to think about since the day you took me to the doctor,” she admitted. “If you’d proposed to me in the Blazer, I would’ve said yes. That’s how much I want you as my husband.
“But before you put that ring on my finger, we have to talk about something that’s been keeping me awake nights.
“It’s not what you think!” she cried when his face darkened. “It’s not about Scott.”
“Go on.”
“There’s no easy way to tell you.”
He sprang to his feet. “Just say it,” he demanded. Already that forbidding wall was in place. His whole body had gone taut.
She was terrified of losing him, yet if she wasn’t honest now…
“I have to say this, for your sake as well as mine. I know flying is your life and someone has to do it, but I’m selfish enough at this point to want my husband to come home to me at night. Every night. I need to know he’s on the ground, where his chances of surviving are better than in the air flying combat missions.
“I crave a normal life, Nate. I should never have asked you to take me to Holland with you. I said it in a moment of weakness because I couldn’t bear to be apart from you. But the truth is, the thought of you being in a war or out on deployment for weeks or months at a time—”
She buried her face in her hands, unable to go on.
“That’s it?” He sounded incredulous. “That’s the thing that’s been keeping you awake nights?”
“Yes.” She tried to smother her sobs. “I know it’s too much to ask.”
The next moment, he was crouching in front of her. “Look at me, Laurel.”
She lifted a tear-ravaged face. His eyes shone with a new light.
“I went about this proposal all wrong. My plan was to spend the whole day with you before I asked you to marry me. But as you found out, once I got you inside the door I couldn’t wait even five minutes.
“Laurel.” He reached for her left hand and kissed the palm. “My flying days are over.”
She shook her head. “No, Nate. This is exactly what I was afraid of. You say it now, but tomorrow you’ll be climbing the walls. You’ll want to be back with your buddies talking the talk, one-upping each other, bragging about some dive you pulled out of at the last second.”
When he started to speak, she stopped him with a raised hand. “If you weren’t so totally hooked, you couldn’t do what you do. Believe me, Nate, I’m the last person who’d ask you to give it up. You’d learn to hate me for it. I couldn’t bear that.”
He pressed her hand to his cheek. “When I was a teenager, I admit the idea of being a fighter pilot became my obsession. The day I got my wings, I thought nothing could surpass that feeling. I thought I’d never want anything else.
“Then I met you,” he said in a husky tone. “That’s when my real education began. I suddenly realized there was something else in life, something I wanted even more. But I couldn’t have you. From that point on, my career became a job. You became my obsession.”
“Nate—”
“Let me finish. With hindsight, I can see that if it hadn’t become just a job to me, I wouldn’t have resigned my commission, not even for my father’s sake. I could have asked for a leave of absence. Instead, I got out. Are you still listening to me?”
She nodded, scarcely able to believe what she was hearing, yet wanting to believe it with every part of her.
“Before I picked you up today, I talked with Colonel Harker, my old commanding officer. I told him I was getting married—if you’d have me. We’ve worked everything out. I’m going to be a flight instructor for the Academy.”
“In Colorado Springs?”
“There’s only one Air Force Academy,” he drawled.
“Forever?”
“How about until you and I decide it’s time for me to retire.”
“You don’t ever have to go overseas again?”
“Not unless our president calls every boy and man to arms.”
“Oh, darling!” Laughing and crying with happiness, she threw her arms around his neck. They both ended up on the floor in a heap of tangled arms and legs. By now Nate’s joyous laughter had joined hers.
Their noise woke Becky, whose frightened cries were growing by decibels.
“Quick. Put the ring on my finger.” She held out her left hand.
“I don’t know if it’ll fit.”
His hands trembled, yet she wasn’t worried. He never left anything to chance. Just as she’d expected, the ring slid home without a problem.
She gazed up at him with her heart in her eyes. “You’ve done it now. You’re all mine. To have and to hold from this day forth.”
He gave her mouth a hard, swift kiss. “As soon as you’ve fed our little girl, I’m going to make you keep that promise. Let me help you onto the couch.” When she was sitting down again, he handed the baby to her.
“Come here, little sweetheart. Did we frighten you?” She rocked her back and forth to quiet her. “I know you’re upset and hungry, but your daddy’s just made me the happiest woman in the world.”
Laurel looked up at him. “You have, you know. The love I feel for you is so intense, it actually hurts.”
“I’ve been in pain for a much longer time.”
“I’m going to take it away,” she promised him. “All of it.”
“Our wedding day can’t come soon enough for me,” he said softly. “While you feed Becky, I’ll get our lunch.”
WHEN NATE OPENED the fridge, he saw something that hadn’t been there when he’d left for Denver earlier in the day.
He smiled as he pulled out a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne. Rick had taped a note to the label.
“A nursing mom can’t drink the hard stuff yet, but who needs it when you’re both floating ten feet off the ground? I couldn’t be happier for you, Nate. Enjoy!”
Nate felt a surge of gratitude to his brother—and for him. But as he started making sandwiches, he thought about Rick.
His brother was struggling.
Maybe it was the wonder of Laurel’s love that had given him second sight. All he knew was that if Lucky Hawkins had done something as drastic as break his contract, there was a reason. A reason beyond their dad’s state of mind…
Absorbed in Rick’s dilemma, he hadn’t realized Laurel had come into the kitchen. The feminine arms that slipped around his waist left him breathless.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“If you want to know the truth, I’d like you to sit down at the table. I can’t think, let alone function, while you’re touching me.”
She kissed the middle of his back through his shirt. “I’m just the opposite. I can’t think or function unless I’m touching you. Give me one kiss and then I’ll do it.”
He laid the knife on the counter and turned around. “You think one kiss will satisfy me?”
She looked at him adoringly. “I hope not.”
Those lips were an enticement he’d never be able to resist. Not in a thousand tomorrows.
One kiss became another, then another, until there was no beginning, no end. Ten minutes must have passed before he slid his hands to her shoulders. Pressing his forehead against hers, he said, “I want to marry you now. This instant.”
“I feel the same way.”
Nate drew her against him, burying his face in her hair. “I’ve hungered for you too long. I want it all now. I don’t know how to be patient. I haven’t even met your family yet. Our engagement’s going to shock your parent
s.”
“A wonderful shock.” My in-laws will be another matter. “I can’t wait to tell my whole family. But first let’s eat this delicious lunch you’ve made for us.”
“Lunch. What’s that?”
She pulled away from him with a grin. “It’s what keeps you alive. And Nate—I want you alive.”
He opened Rick’s gift and poured it into champagne flutes before sitting next to her. He raised his glass. “To you. To Becky. And to us.”
She raised her glass, too, gazing directly into his eyes. “And to Scott.” Tears gathered as she whispered, “I think he’d be happy for us.”
Nate nodded solemnly.
“I love you, Nate,” she said. “I love this sapphire ring. I’ve never seen anything so breathtaking. The pear shape—it’s perfect.”
“It’s a blue diamond to match your eyes.”
“A blue diamond? I’ve heard of them. They’re horribly expensive. Oh, darling, I never expected a ring! You do too much for me.” She looked at him through her lashes. “This isn’t a dream, is it?”
Emotion made his throat close up. “If it is, we’re in it together.”
“After we eat, I want to call Mom and tell her our news. Dad’ll still be at the office. We can phone him there.”
“He’s a newspaper columnist, isn’t he?”
She finished another bite of her sandwich. “In the beginning. Now he’s a managing editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer.”
“I’m impressed. That newspaper must be one of the top five in the whole country.”
She smiled. “He’s a hotshot in his own right. Between him and my mother with her Neapolitan heritage, there’s never a dull moment.”
“Does she speak Italian around the house?”
“Oh, yes. When my grandparents come to visit you should hear them.”
Delighted by all he was learning, he asked, “How about you?”
“Growing up, I only understood and spoke a little bit. But as soon as we were stationed in Italy, I went to a local university for two years. I received enough credits in Italian that I only need to do some undergraduate general education courses at a university here to obtain my BA. Once I’ve done that, I plan to go on to graduate school and eventually teach Italian at the college level.”
Spade had never told him that. There was still so much to learn. Every minute with her was an adventure.
“Of course, my grandmother never fails to inform me I speak with a northern accent.”
Nate broke into laughter. “My mother was from Are, Sweden. She had an accent too.”
“I was in Are with my girlfriend two years ago!” Laurel blurted. “She lived next door to me on the base in England. In high school she’d been an exchange student to Stockholm and she wanted to go back to visit the family who’d hosted her. We traveled everywhere. That’s a fabulous ski area.”
More information Spade hadn’t confided. Laurel had spent a lot of time on her own as an Air Force wife.
“You’re right. I have a grandmother who still lives there with an aunt. My mom learned English at an early age, but she always retained an accent and my dad teased her about it. Now he’s married to a Texan.”
Laurel chuckled. “When we get everyone together, it’ll be hilarious. Is your father a native of Colorado?”
“No. He was raised in Stowe, Vermont.”
“Ah… No wonder he became an Olympic skier.” She nudged him. “What happened to you?”
His lips twitched in response. “To my parents’ disappointment, Rick and I found other fields to harvest.”
“You certainly did. When you introduce me to your father, I’ll tell him how thankful I am he raised such an independent spirit. Otherwise we wouldn’t have met.”
Those were Rick’s exact words.
The worshipful look in her eyes entranced him. Laurel, Laurel. Is this really happening to us?
She drained her glass. “How did your parents end up in Colorado?”
“They met during the Olympics when they won their medals. Before that, they’d raced in some World Cup events here and they both fell in love with the place. After they got married, they decided to settle in Copper Mountain.
“Both sets of grandparents used to come for long visits until one by one they passed away, except for my mother’s mother, of course.”
She reached for his hand and clasped it. “I want to know everything about you, even down to how much you weighed when you were born. But I can’t wait any longer to tell my parents we’re engaged. Let’s take advantage of the silence before Becky wakes up.”
Nate pulled out his cell phone. “My father already knows my intentions. He’ll be expecting a call, too. What’s your parents’ number?”
He pushed in the digits as she dictated them. “It’s ringing.”
Laurel took the phone from him and waited for her mother to answer.
After four rings, she heard, “Hello?”
“Mom?”
“Laurel! Just hearing your voice cheers me up.”
“Your bronchitis sounds better than yesterday.”
“I’m improving. The doctor told me to keep breathing steam.”
“Then you continue to do as he says.”
“How’s my little Becky?”
“Thriving.”
“Pictures are wonderful, but I can’t wait to hold her and kiss her.”
Laurel laughed. “I do enough of that for three people.”
“I haven’t heard you this happy in years. Becoming a mother has changed you.”
“There’s no question about that, but there’s another reason as well.”
Nate was sitting back in the chair, smiling that half smile that made him utterly desirable.
“I’m in love,” she said simply. “We’re going to be married.”
“Oh, Laurel. This is something you’re sure about?”
“Very sure, Mom.”
“You’ve always known your own mind, so I trust your feelings about it.” She paused. “Who is he? We want to meet him.”
She smiled, nodding to Nate. “He wants to meet you, too. His name will be familiar. It’s Nate Hawkins.”
A quiet gasp came through the line. “Scott’s best friend?”
“Yes. We happened to bump into each other by accident in Breckenridge. He’s incredible, Mom. I love him the way you love Dad and I wanted you to be the first person to know.”
“That’s a lot of love. Is he on another extension?”
“No. We’re at his parents’ home. He’s sitting right next to me. I’m using his cell phone.”
“I’m glad he can’t hear me. Just listen for a moment. You know I’m overjoyed with your news. I’m so glad you’re ready to resume your life. Your father will be, too, but don’t say a word to anyone else in the family about this yet.”
Laurel knew what was coming.
“While I chat with your fiancé, I want you to be thinking about how you’re going to present this to Reba and Wendell.”
“I’ve already decided. When I fly to Philadelphia with Becky, Nate’s coming with me. So are Julie and Brent and the kids. Nate and I will take the baby to their house and tell them our news together.”
“That’s probably the best way to deal with it. When I get on the phone with Nate, I’ll invite him to stay with us.”
“Thanks, Mom. You’re wonderful. Here he is.”
His expression had sobered. “What was that all about?” he whispered.
She needed to be honest with him, but she didn’t dare say too much. Brent’s warning still made her anxious.
“Mom realizes I’m in love with you. She doesn’t want me to get so carried away I forget to reassure Scott’s parents they’ll always have access to their granddaughter.”
“That goes without saying. Let me talk to your mother.”
Laurel whispered, “Her name is Silviana Bardelli Hayes. Just call her Sylvia.” She bit gently on his earlobe before handing him the phone. “I’ll check on Becky
.”
She left the kitchen without worry. Her mother was not only the soul of discretion, she was also a great conversationalist. Before he got off the phone, she would know more about Nate than Laurel did.
The thought pleased her to no end as she leaned over Becky to kiss her cheeks. Her baby was a good eater and a sound sleeper. It almost seemed as if she was intentionally cooperating.
When Nate walked into the den a few minutes later, he was still talking on the phone. To her surprise, he’d already hung up with her mother and was now chatting with his father.
“Hold on, Dad. She’s right here.”
Wearing a smile that lit up his eyes, he sat down and placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “It’s your turn,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck before he handed her the phone. Everything must have gone fine with her mother.
Ecstatic, she said, “Hello? Mr. Hawkins?”
“At last we speak. You know, Laurel, you’ve made him a totally happy man.”
“I love your son.”
Nate squeezed her harder.
“He’s a deep one.” There was a barely discernible pause. “He needs your love.”
His father seemed to be sending Laurel a message, but it wasn’t necessary. She knew her husband-to-be was still vulnerable right now.
“If he hadn’t proposed, I probably would have. Becky and I can’t wait to be with him.”
“I can’t wait to meet you and my new granddaughter.”
Her child would have three grandfathers. Three wonderful men who’d each bring something different to her life.
“What a lucky little girl she’ll be to have a grandfather who was an Olympic champion. Maybe she’ll want to become a famous skier like you one day.”
His laugh reminded her of Nate’s. “I gave up on that dream for Nate the day his mother stuck his first drawing of an F-16 on the door of the refrigerator. However, your words have given me fresh hope.
“As soon as I tell Pam your news, I’ll make plans to fly home next weekend and spend a few days with all of you.”
“That would be great. Do you want speak to Nate again?”
“If I know my son, he’s counting the seconds until you get off the phone and pay attention to him, so I’ll say goodbye for now.”
Another Man's Wife Page 19
