GOING … GOING … WED!

by Amy J. Fetzer

  "Then how did you find me?" Her daddy moved away.

  He met her gaze, the festering wound in her eyes cutting through to his soul. "You should know by now I get what I want."

  She scoffed. "You don't know what the hell you want, Alexander Donahue."

  "Oh, yes, I do," he said with a long look, before he slammed the hammer and drove each nail home in one blow.

  "Oh, yeah, a toy company."

  Throwing down the hammer, he strode up the porch steps. Her pulsing stuttered with every step. "I didn't buy it." His gaze searched hers for the love she'd had, the love he'd ignored. He hoped to God it was still there.

  "But you worked your whole life to get Little People."

  "Angus knew we weren't married." He told her about their conversation. "I didn't want the toy company for me. You were right. I was so driven, I didn't see the world moving along without me. I'm to blame for Celeste going to another man. I'm to blame for ignoring everything for my quest of my father's dream. His. Not mine." He drew a long breath. "And I'm to blame for being so scared of losing anyone I cared about that I pushed you away before I realized how great I had it."

  "I gave you what you wanted, Alex." Her voice broke. "How much do you have to hurt me before you're satisfied?"

  Alex's heart sank. "I'm sorry, honey. I know I said some horrible things to you."

  Her lip trembled and her eyes threatened tears. "You destroyed me."

  His throat burned, and he stepped closer. "I was afraid. I couldn't admit to myself how I felt about you, really felt, let alone say it to Elizabeth."

  She couldn't do this now and turned away, but from behind, he gripped her arms.

  "Don't do this, baby," he whispered in her ear. "We have to work this out."

  In the glass door, she stared at his reflection, her throat closing with anguish. "We're too far apart, Alex."

  "Not as far as you want to believe." He rubbed her arms.

  She spun around. "Don't say you are ready, because you aren't ready for me, Alexander. You aren't." She exhaled, a tired sigh that cut through him. She looked exhausted and thin and weary. "Go home."

  "My home is where you are." He leaned, bracing his hands on the door frame, hemming her in. He gazed deep into her eyes. "You can stand there and say you don't love me, but I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it every time you take a breath. I'm not leaving." His look was utterly belligerent. "So what are you gonna do about me?"

  "I have a twelve-gauge."

  He grinned. "That won't stop me."

  "Alex." Her shoulders drooped. She couldn't think straight with him this close, smiling at her like that. "I don't need this right now."

  "What do you need?" came tenderly. "Tell me, and I'll do it."

  Her gaze flew to his. "All I ever wanted was the chance to love you."

  "Then give me the chance, baby." He mashed her up against the wall, cupping her face between his palms. "I love you."

  She searched his gaze, her heart in her throat.

  "I love you, Madison." She shook her head, but he held her still. "I do love you. I can't eat, can't sleep, you walk through my dreams. What else do I have to do to make you believe I'm ready for this?"

  "This? See, you can't even say it. Commitment, Alexander. Marriage. You still act as if it's a death sentence. I don't want you that way, and you never asked." Pushing him back, she slipped into the house and closed the door.

  Inside the house, Madison stood just behind the door, fighting tears and watching him through the window. She felt Claire move up behind her.

  "Go to him, Maddy."

  "I can't." He'll run when he finds out I'm pregnant, she thought. Love, marriage and kids didn't always go together. She couldn't allow herself to hope.

  "Yes, you can. All you have to do is forgive him."

  "It still hurts."

  "And only he can heal the pain. Let him do it."

  A pause and then, "Don't you think that if I had a chance to be with Mitch I would? But he's dead. Dead," she snapped, and Madison flinched. "But Alex is out there, waiting for his chance."

  Madison let out a shuddering breath. "Pride is an ugly thing, isn't it, sister?"

  "Yeah, and he's swallowing his for you."

  * * *

  In the middle of the night, Madison felt the sheets slip away and she turned in the bed. A figure loomed in the shadows. "Alex!" she hissed.

  "Glad you still recognize me in the dark," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her, deep and thrilling, loving the greediness of her mouth on his.

  She tore her mouth away. "You can't do this. Daddy and Claire are—"

  "Your father is spending the night with his woman in Bluffton, and Claire is over at her friend's place."

  She slept naked, and Alex took advantage. He bent, closing his lips around her nipple.

  Her breath caught, then shuddered softly. "Unfair," she gasped as he drew the tender tip deeper into his mouth.

  "I know."

  She sank back, pulling him with her. "Oh, Alexander. I've missed you."

  "I love you, Maddy. I love you so much it hurts. Let me show you."

  She trembled with want and didn't argue, didn't think, letting her love for him show by her touch as she peeled off his clothes. His hands were never still, and before she could take a decent breath, he smothered the curves of her breasts with wet kisses, licked a path up her spine. He drew patterns over her tattoo of Yosemite Sam, telling her he wasn't going anywhere. Ever. Then he tasted her sweet center with long flowing strokes and felt her tremble, felt her heave and sigh and call his name as the pressure of desire swelled in her. She opened for him, pulling him down on top of her, and in one smooth motion he filled her, without anything between them, risking all and risking his heart to win her back. He absorbed her into him, calling her name, telling her how much he adored her and it was different than before because he loved, and different now because he knew it.

  He told her he wanted her love back, wanted to marry her, make babies with her, and she cried in his arms. He held her close, feeling her body clench around him and gave a final push, watching her peaking pleasure explode over her features and grip him.

  Nothing in his life was better than when she was holding him inside her.

  "I love you, Alexander," she whispered into the curve of his ear. "I always will."

  Alex closed his eyes, murmuring his love and absorbing the completion she made in his soul. But when he awoke sometime around dawn and reached for her, the warm spot beside him was empty. Then he heard a noise and flicked on the light. Leaving the bed, he pulled on his jeans, fitting his shirt over his head as he stopped outside the hall bathroom. "Madison?"

  "Go away."

  "Damn, honey, you keep saying that, and I'm going to get a complex."

  "Please," she cried.

  He opened the door and found her sitting on the floor, her back braced against the tile tub. She was pale as a sheet.

  "You don't listen very well, do you?"

  "What's going on?"

  "Nothing." She tried to stand, but made it as far as her knees before she retched into the toilet. Alex soaked a washcloth and, kneeling, he pressed it to her flushed cheeks.

  "You're pregnant."

  "No kidding." She struggled to her feet, then rinsed her mouth and washed her face. He loomed behind her, his expression angry and disappointed.

  "You were going to keep this from me." This is why she vanished so quickly.

  "You didn't want a future. This—" she patted her tummy "—is a living, breathing future. I can handle this alone."

  Her exclusion of him, after all they'd been through, sent his anger mounting, and he wanted to shake some sense into her. "You're being damned unfair, Madison. I love you. I wanted to marry you before I opened this door, but you had no right to keep this from me."

  He forced her to look at him, his gaze ripping over her face. Then he kissed her, hard and compelling before he let her go, tucking in his shirt as
he descended the stairs. Minutes later she heard his Jaguar peeling down the gravel drive, heading for the highway. Madison covered her face with her hands and slid to the floor.

  * * *

  He didn't come back. He didn't call. She was afraid she'd lost him for good. Three days passed before she heard anything, and it was from Kat.

  "He did what?"

  "He put up a billboard on Abercom Street

  . It's rather huge, Mad. And it says, Alexander Donahue loves Madison Holt. With a plea to marry him. Every radio station is talking about it."

  "Oh, Lord." A pleasant warmth seeped into her blood.

  "He's adorably pitiful."

  "Flowers, gifts – billboards. It's talk."

  "Honey, it's shouting."

  "Kat."

  "Why, Maddy? You love him, don't you?"

  "More than anything, but Alex can't change overnight."

  "Hey, from what I've seen he's been changing all along. I've never seen the man so determined to get what he wants. And he wants you."

  Her heart skipped. "I have to think of my family and this child."

  "And when the hell are you going to just take what you want! You've been giving for so long, Maddy. It's your turn."

  Oh, how she wanted desperately to take it all for herself. But she still had family obligations and couldn't ask Alex to take on the burden. Yet the nice, neat little package loomed ahead, and Madison wondered exactly what was stopping her. He loved her, wanted to marry her even before he knew of the baby. But she couldn't just abandon her family. Daddy needed her. Claire had another year of school left. And you're scared to take the chance, a voice pestered. You're terrified that homegrown and simple isn't enough for Alexander.

  The sound of tires splattering gravel on the drive drew her attention, and she brushed back the curtain and saw a four-by-four ATV. "Someone's here. Probably made a wrong turn off the highway." She said goodbye and hung up. Kat's words ringing in her ears, she stepped out onto the porch.

  Alex got out of the truck.

  Her eyes widened and her pulse pounded as he marched up the steps, took her hand and dragged her after him.

  "When did you get this?"

  "After I sold the Jag."

  Her brows shot up. "You sold it?"

  "Didn't I just say that?"

  She jerked free. "I'm not going anywhere with you when you're mad."

  He sighed and came to her. In an instant he gathered her in his arms and kissed her senseless. "Come with me, please."

  "Since you asked nicely." Not that she ever thought of resisting, she thought, climbing into the ATV and examining the interior. There was an infant-care seat in the rear, and her heart turned to mush. She faced front as he got in and started the engine. He didn't talk, driving onto the highway, listening to country music.

  "Where are we going?"

  He wiggled his brows, ever silent, and her pulse accelerated with anticipation. He pulled in front of a large white house with dark green shutters. Madison climbed out of the truck. It was beautiful. Low-country style with a wrap-around porch and a waist-high fence around the yard. There wasn't another house within four acres.

  "Whose is it?"

  Taking her hand, he strode up the porch and opened the door before stepping back. "Ours."

  She blinked. "What?"

  He gave her a push inside.

  Madison liked the outside and fell in love with the inside. Spacious with plenty of windows. A formal living room and dining room, but as she stepped into the kitchen, she couldn't help but smile. It was huge, the counter overlooking a Carolina room, a dining slash family-room area with a river stone fireplace and a bank of windows and French doors.

  Alex leaned against the frame, watching her run her hand over the counter, poke in cabinets. The look on her face told him more than she said, and he nearly groaned with relief. Now for the big guns.

  "Come on." He turned out of the kitchen and walked through the foyer to the hall. There were four bedrooms and an office. He stopped in front of the room across from the master suite and pushed open the door.

  Madison stepped inside and lost her breath.

  It was the only room with furniture. Baby furniture. The decorating was detailed down to the pattern on the rug and the trim on the curtains. The nursery was filled: a high chair, cradle and crib, a stroller, stuffed toys, clothes. There was nothing more that a child needed. Their child.

  She spun around and found him close.

  Pushing up against her body, he gripped her arms, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I love you, Maddy."

  Her heart jumped every time he said it. "Why did you do all this?"

  "I couldn't think of any other way to convince you that I'm ready for commitment. For sixty years or so." He gathered her close, gazing into her eyes. "I've been going through the motions of living, and I felt as if I didn't belong to anything or anyone. I lost my way. Till you found me. You showed me everything I was missing and let me touch all I could have. I know you are capable of taking care of our child alone, but you don't have to. I won't let you. It's time for you, time for us. We'll do this together. I love you."

  She swallowed repeatedly. "I'm afraid that love isn't enough."

  The question in her voice slayed him. "Does anyone know if it's enough? Does any one person know exactly how to make a marriage work, or how to raise a child? We all take the risk. I'm terrified of losing this one chance, and all I am certain of right now is that I want to spend my life loving you."

  Her eyes watered. Oh, how she loved this man.

  "This is our house. Where we start our life. Our new beginning. And see?" He brushed back the curtain. A good hundred yards away, near the edge of the woods, lay a cottage similar to the house. There was a plowed garden plot beside it.

  "Your dad can come live here, and you can fuss over him all you want."

  "But Claire—"

  "Claire has her college paid for, a nanny for her son and a place of her own, just as she wanted."

  "Alex, I can't ask you to—"

  He silenced her with a strong kiss. "You didn't ask. That's what's so incredible about you, baby, you. never ask for yourself. Now I'm asking for us. I've spent my whole life missing the good things, simple joys, and the reason why people fall in love and have kids and stay married for fifty years. I've missed your laughter, your jokes. I can't survive without you, darlin', so I'm begging. Marry me. Put me out of my misery with your twelve-gauge or just say 'I do.' I'm not ready to be your man … I am your man." His eyes grew suspiciously glossy. "Now I want to be your husband." He covered her still-flat tummy. "And a daddy."

  "Alexander," she said in a slow drawl that left him shaking. "I do love you so."

  The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile, and between thumb and forefinger he held up a ring, a proper diamond solitaire. "Believe in me, baby. You're the only one who matters."

  A tear rolled down her cheek. "Yes, I'll marry you." He slipped it on her finger, his relief palpable as he closed his arms tightly around her, burying his face in the curve of her throat. He trembled in her arms, and Madison smoothed her hands over his broad back.

  "Thank God you said yes," he muttered, then rained kisses over her face. "The decorator comes on Monday."

  She pulled back and met his gaze, sniffling. "You were so sure of yourself?"

  With his thumb he swiped tears from her cheeks. "With you, I'm never sure of a damn thing. But I was going to camp out on your doorstep until you committed to me."

  She smiled, a smile that lifted his heart, and Alex crushed her in his arms and knew he'd found a home. A real home. And a place to belong, not in the structure surrounding him, but in the woman in his arms.

  * * *

  Epilogue

  «^

  "We haven't decided on a name."

  "Now is not the time, Alexander." Madison nodded to the obstetrician and rose up, pushing, panting, pushing, the obstetrician like a quarterback ready for the catch. Alexander, bless
him, mopped her brow, held her upright and labored with her as she forced their child out. The poor man was going to rupture something vital.

  "That's it, Mrs. Donahue, keep going, keep going," the doctor urged.

  "I am."

  "Almost."

  "Only wins in horseshoes," she muttered, took a deep breath and pushed. She strained for what seemed like minutes, then let out a rebel yell of triumph and freedom, and sank onto the labor bed.

  "You did it, baby."

  "Not like I had a choice, huh?" she gasped.

  "It's a boy!" the doctor said and Alex choked as his son's wail filled the delivery room. After measurements and tests, they placed the child in his arms and tended to Madison. Her eyes never left her husband as he held their child reverently and dropped a tender kiss to his forehead. Then Alex came to her, laying their son in her arms.

  "He's beautiful. I never thought anyone fell in love at first sight," Alex whispered, unmindful of the tears streaking his lean cheeks.

  "Gee, I thought that's what happened with you and me?"

  He looked at her then, smiling. "Yeah, it was. Those legs got me." He crawled into the bed with her, snuggling his new family close as the nurses and doctor left the room. "Thank you, baby." From his pocket he withdrew a gold bracelet and clasped it over her wrist.

  She stared at her son's birthstones encrusted in the gold. "Oh, Alexander."

  He still loved the way she said his name, slow and sultry.

  "I never forgot what you looked like holding Shannon, never forgot how much at that moment, I wished it was my baby you held."

  She was astonished. "You never said."

  "I was too scared to even dream then, Maddy."

  "And now?"

  "You are my dreams."