“I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you contacted us, Miss Montgomery. My father is very impressed with your—”
“Excuse me, Mr. Lindsborg—”
“Please, call me John.”
“John.” She grabbed her purse. “Could you excuse me for a minute? I’ll be right back.”
Before he could answer, she hurried off for the ladies’ room. Inside, she glanced at herself in the mirror as she dialed her cell phone. She was an attractive woman; she liked her hair longer like this, not so stylized. But the red suit. It just wasn’t her. Never had been.
The phone rang and Liz picked up. “’Lo.”
“Liz?”
“Elise, what time is it? You can’t possibly be done with your meeting with Lindsborg already.”
“Liz, listen to me. How fast can you get over here to the restaurant?”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Elise looked at herself again in the mirror and smiled. “How fast can you get dressed in one of your power suits and be here?”
“I…I’m still dressed. I can be there in ten minutes.”
“Perfect. You’ll be meeting with John Lindsborg. He has a wife and three children. It’s all in the portfolio along with the details of the land agreement, which I’ll leave on the table for you.”
“Leave on the table? What are you talking about, Elise? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She couldn’t stop smiling at herself. This might not work. It probably wouldn’t, but no matter what, the decision was her own. “I’m great, Liz.”
“But where are you going? You’ve worked so hard on this project—the sale is practically in the bag. Why can’t you meet with Lindsborg yourself?”
“I’m going to South Carolina to make an apology, and then I’m quitting my job.”
“Quitting?” Liz asked, in obvious shock.
“Yup, I’m quitting.” She leaned on the sink, not caring if she watermarked her silk skirt. “I don’t like the realty business. Don’t know that I ever have.”
“But you’re so good at it,” Liz said. “You’re the best.”
“So I’ll be the best at something else. Something I like.”
“So you’re going after him,” Liz said quietly.
“I’ve probably ruined it. It’s probably too late, but I at least owe Zane an apology.”
“And he doesn’t owe you one?” she asked. “He’s the one who broke up with you over this whole thing to begin with.”
“Well, love isn’t about keeping score. And our breakup was a little more complicated than that. Listen, I’m heading for the airport.”
“You’re just going to leave? You’re not going to pack? Get directions?”
“Nah.”
“Boy, you’ve got balls, Elise Montgomery, I’ll give you that.”
Elise laughed, pushing though the ladies’ room door. “I’ll talk to you when I get back. Thanks, Liz.”
“Thank you.”
Elise hung up her cell and walked back into the dining room. “John,” she said, approaching her table. “Something’s come up, and I have to go.”
He started to get out of his seat. “Is there something I can—”
“Please, sit. Have a glass of wine on us. I have to go, but Liz Jefferson, our top salesman last month will be here shortly. Now, all of the information you need is here in my files that I’m going to leave for her, so don’t worry, you’ll be in great hands.” She picked up her leather briefcase from the floor and set it on the empty chair across from him. “It was very nice to meet you.” She shook his hand. “And good luck with the golf course.”
Elise walked away. As she passed the older couple, she saw them take each other’s hands across the table and she smiled. That was what she wanted in life and no matter what her father said, what Liz said, what any self-help book said, it was what she deserved.
She looked at her watch as she walked out of the restaurant. Even if she had to drive all the way, she’d be in South Carolina by the time Zane got up in the morning.
Zane sat barefoot in his boxer shorts on the edge of the bed in his hotel room and stared out the window. It was still dark outside, but he could see little streaks of light just beginning to appear in the western sky. He’d been up all night, thinking. Going over and over in his mind what he had said to Ellie, what she’d said to him.
“It was her choice,” he said aloud stubbornly.
The silence of the dark room was oppressive.
He missed Pops so much that it hurt. He missed Ellie even more.
“So what do you think, Pops?” he asked the empty room.
The funny thing was, suddenly he sensed he wasn’t alone anymore. He smiled sadly in the darkness. He could almost feel the mattress shift as his grandfather sat down beside.
“I really screwed this one up big-time, didn’t I?” He ran his hand through his bed-tousled hair. “What was wrong with me? Was I just looking for an excuse to dump her or what?”
He listened to the quiet.
“I guess I was just scared, Pops. I was upset that you were gone. That you left me. Mom left me. Dad left me. Judy left me. Maybe I thought if I sent Ellie packing, I wouldn’t have to experience the pain of having her leave me, too.” He gave a little laugh. “Pretty dumb, huh?”
Again, the room was quiet.
“So now what?” he said softly. “She’s not going to want to talk to me. She was as afraid this wouldn’t work as I was. But she’s come so far in the last few months. I know you saw it, Pops.”
Zane smiled at the thought of it.
“Some things were just subtle. You know, letting her hair grow out, wearing things she’d never worn before. But she was definitely learning about herself, about what she liked and didn’t like. Who she really was. It took a lot of guts for her to reach out to you. To love you. It certainly took a lot of guts to stand up to Meagan.”
Zane laughed and he could almost hear his grandfather chuckle.
“I guess I don’t have to ask you what I should do, do I?” He turned his head and in his mind’s eye, he could see Pops sitting beside him, smiling at him.
“You want to go with me?” Zane got up off the bed. “No?” He grinned. “Yeah, I made a jerk of myself in front of her, guess I have to apologize by myself, too.”
He went to his suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “I guess Carter and Amy will understand if I miss their wedding, won’t they?” He stepped into his pants. “Of course the whole drive back is going to be a waste of time. She’s not going to want to listen to me. It’s too late for apologies now. She’s not going to want to marry me. Heck, I wouldn’t want to marry me after the way I acted.”
Pulling his shirt over his head, he slipped into leather moccasins. “So, I’ll see you around, Pops?”
Zane felt a warmth wash over him, and he closed his eyes for a moment, lost in his grandfather’s embrace.
“I’ll give you a buzz, let you know if you have any great-grandchildren still in your future.”
With a smile, Zane grabbed his suitcase and walked out of his room, out of the hotel and into the early-morning light.
Elise counted the traffic lights as she drove through town. She remembered where Zane had said he’d made hotel reservations in Amy’s hometown, and she’d stopped at an all night minimart to ask directions. She’d made good time driving. When Zane woke up, she planned to be camped on his doorstep. She knew he’d be angry. He might not even want to hear what she had to say, but she was going to make him listen.
Spotting the hotel sign, Elise signaled and turned her car into the parking lot. As she drove in, a car passed her.
A car that looked just like Zane’s with a driver who looked remarkably like Zane….
As she passed, she turned her head to stare. It was just getting light so she couldn’t see well, but she was sure it was Zane. Where was he going so early in the morning?
He turned his head at the same time and looked at he
r, equally surprised.
Elise pulled into the nearest parking space and cut the engine, but she held fast to the steering wheel for a minute. She was shaking all over.
Zane came around and pulled up right next to her.
She opened her car door and light flooded the pavement.
He opened the door of his rental car and she saw him, handsome good looks, tousled blond hair. He looked as if he’d just climbed out of bed…or not slept at all.
“Ellie?”
Tears filled her eyes as she walked around in front of his car in her wrinkled red suit and black designer heels that were now killing her feet. She wished she’d had the good sense to stop at a dollar store.
“What are you doing here?” Zane asked, meeting her halfway. “Didn’t Lindsborg’s plane make it in?”
“Zane, I’m so sorry.” She reached out to him, taking both his arms, and thankfully, he didn’t push her away. “You were right and I was wrong.”
He rested his hands on her hips, and his touch felt so good.
“No,” he said. “I was wrong. It was wrong of me to give you that kind of ultimatum. I’ve been in those kinds of positions before. Had I been you, I’d have done the same thing.”
“You wouldn’t have given up your life for the person you love just to prove a point,” she whispered. “Just so you could prove yourself.”
“I almost did,” he answered, his blue-eyed gaze meeting hers.
“Oh, Zane,” she breathed. Only she didn’t try to hold back her tears. He pulled her into his arms and she hugged him tightly. “I was doing what everyone else told me to do, she said. “I was relying on them. On my father, on Liz, on Mr. Gallagher.” She laughed, crying at the same time. “I even bought this stupid book telling me how to find the right husband for me. And they were wrong.” She lifted her head from Zane’s shoulder. “They were all wrong. I was the only one who knew who could make me happy. You made me happy.”
“I should never have compared you to Judy or to my mom. I knew from the first minute I met you that you were nothing like them. Heck, Pops knew.”
She laughed, sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“I’m really sorry about what I said to you about your father.”
“But you were right,” she murmured. “Unless I become him, just as successful, just as miserable, he’s never going to accept me. But that’s his problem, not mine.”
Zane smiled at her and brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “You know what I figured out this morning? Well, what Pops helped me figure out?”
She shook her head, unashamed of the tears that slipped down her cheeks. “That I don’t care if you’re a career woman. I don’t care if you want to work seven days a week, twelve hours a day. I love you, Ellie. And I’ll love you any way I can get you, and if that means I have to marry the most successful real estate agent on the eastern shore, then that’s just how it will have to be.”
She started to laugh, then laughed harder.
He clasped her shoulders, looking down at her. “Tell me.”
“Well, there may be a little problem with that.” She pressed her lips together, still unable to believe she had done what she’d done. “Because I think I quit my job.”
“What?”
“I realized I didn’t like it,” she confessed. “I don’t want to work all those long hours. I don’t want to miss out on all the fun in life. I don’t want to miss seeing our children grow up.”
“What do you want?” Zane asked, brushing her hair back with a gentle caress.
“I’m not sure yet,” she said thoughtfully. “I know I want to marry you. I know I want to have your child. I think I might like to teach school, but I’d like to have some time to think about it. So how do you feel about supporting an unemployed woman?”
“I think that can be arranged.” He grinned. “So Ellie Montgomery, will you marry me?”
“Only if you’ll marry me, Zane Keaton.”
He didn’t have to answer. Instead, he took her in his arms, covered her mouth with his and kissed away any uncertainty she might have ever had that Zane was the perfect husband for her.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Elise was sitting on the porch swing snapping the last of the green beans from the garden when she saw Liz’s new Mercedes convertible pull into the drive. Her friend parked under the oak tree beside Zane’s pickup and followed the path up to the house, escorted by the bounding dog.
“Now don’t you look a sight,” Liz said. She was dressed elegantly in a pale yellow skirt and matching jacket with high heels that made those long legs of hers look like they went on forever.
Elise opened her arms to show off her rounded belly. “I’m only seven months, but I look like I’m ready to pop, don’t I?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Liz smiled, dropping onto the porch swing beside her. “You look pretty happy to me.” She gazed down at Elise’s feet, pointing. “But, girlfriend, that may be a little over the top.”
Elise wiggled her toes and burst into laughter. “I get it—barefoot and pregnant. Well, I was the one who convinced Zane we should have a baby a year after we married—he wanted to wait. As for the shoes.” She shrugged. “My feet are swollen, and it’s hot in the garden.”
Liz laughed and grabbed a green bean out the basket that rested between them on the swing. “I can only stay a minute because I’m showing a house down the road. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m doing great, but wish you’d come by more often,” Elise said. “I miss you.”
“But you don’t miss work?” Liz sounded hopeful.
“Not a bit. I’m going to have the baby, hang around here for a while, and then once we’re ready, I think I’d like to go to grad school.”
Liz shook her head. “I still can’t believe you just quit like that. Do you realize how much money you lost on the Lindsborg deal? I just bought land on the new course and contracted to have a five-bedroom, three-bath house built!”
“Lot of bathrooms to clean,” Elise teased, tossing the last bean into the bowl on her lap.
Liz laughed with her as she reached to squeeze her hand. “You really are happy, aren’t you?”
Elise nodded. “For me, this was the right choice for now.” She rubbed her belly. “It’s what I want.”
Liz rose, setting the swing in motion. “Well, I have to run.” She threw up her hands. “Please don’t get up. You don’t want to pop.”
Elise laughed. “Come back soon—when you can stay.”
“I will.” She waved.
Just as Liz pulled out of the driveway, Zane walked up the porch steps. “Was that Liz?”
“Yeah, she was in the neighborhood, and she just stopped by to say hi.” Elise stuck out her hand and Zane grasped it, helping her to her feet.
“You okay?” he asked.
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Better than okay. I’m great.”
He kissed the tip of her nose and she ran her hand over his cheek, guiding his mouth to hers. “You busy?” she murmured.
“Never too busy for you,” he said huskily. “What did you have in mind?”
She lifted up on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear.
“I think I can oblige you,” he teased, his voice low and sexy.
Hand in hand, Elise and Zane walked into the house, through the kitchen, down the hall past the framed The Husband Finder checklist and up the stairs.
One of the best things about not being a career woman these days, Elise had learned, was that she could make love to her husband any time. She didn’t know how long she would be a stay-at-home wife and mom before she joined the workforce again, but she was going to take advantage of the perks for as long as she could….
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5429-2
BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT?
Copyright © 2004 by Colleen Faulkner
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Barefoot and Pregnant? Page 13
