Driftwood Cottage (18 page)

She reached for his hand. “Connor, it’s okay. I’m right here. The crisis is past. And I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. It’s time for you to start working for Joshua Porter. I’m sure he must be anxious to have you take on some of his cases.”

“Work’s not the issue,” he said impatiently. “I’m trying to say something important here.”

“What’s more important than getting off on the right foot with this new job?” she asked.

“You, dammit! You’re more important. I’m trying to tell you that the day of the accident I realized just how much I love you. I don’t want to lose you, Heather.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small jewelry box with the ring in it and held it out. She stared at it, shock written all over her face.

“What is that?”

He knew she was neither blind nor stupid. She knew what it was. She’d just never expected to see such a thing in his hand. Maybe the element of surprise would be a good thing.

“Marry me, Heather,” he said quietly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our son, taking care of you, making sure you’re happy.”

She didn’t look half as bowled over by the proposal as he’d anticipated. In fact, she looked more confused than anything. Maybe even a little sad, though he had no idea why getting what she’d always wanted would sadden her.

“And you?” she asked. “Will getting married make you happy? Have you changed that much in a week?”

“I’m asking, aren’t I?” he said, unable to control his impatience.

“And I love you for asking, but no,” she said, her voice filled with so much tenderness that it made him want to scream.

“But I made a promise,” he said before he could stop himself.

“A promise?” she asked blankly. “To whom?”

“To God. I told Him if you pulled through, I’d marry you just the way you wanted.”

He knew, even as the words crossed his lips, that he’d gotten it all wrong. Telling her he’d made a bargain with God was absolutely the worst thing he could have admitted. It was too late, though, to scramble for another explanation. Nor could he take back the words. At this point, he couldn’t even rephrase the proposal and make it more romantic, more believable.

He stared into Heather’s eyes, saw the pain there, and knew he’d blown his chance. He might have others—in fact, he would see to it that he had as many as necessary—but this one had slipped away. He was probably lucky she was confined to bed, or she might very well have dumped those beautiful peonies over his head.

“I don’t get it,” he said, unable to stop himself even though he knew he was only making things worse. “I thought this was what you wanted.”

“Not like this,” she said softly, then rolled over and turned her back on him, but not before he’d seen the tears that filled her eyes.

Heather should have known that turning down Connor’s proposal wouldn’t be the end of it. Apparently working up the courage to say the words once had emboldened him. For the past two days he’d been asking just about every time he walked into the room and they were left alone. She finally lost patience.

“Connor O’Brien, I will not marry you just because you had some epiphany on the way to the hospital,” she declared, scowling at him. “How many times do I have
to tell you that? You’re being very sweet, but the answer is still no!”

All of the pretty words he’d been spouting should have been gratifying, but his proposals were getting on her nerves.
Everything
was getting on her nerves. She wanted to go home.

The only way that was going to happen, though, was if someone was there to look after her. Her cracked ribs were going to take time to heal, as was her broken leg. Right now the whole process looked daunting.

The entire O’Brien family had volunteered to help out, but it was Connor’s offer that she found most troubling. It came with totally unexpected strings, and it seemed he wasn’t above using her release as a means to get what he wanted.

“You want to leave here, don’t you?” he asked yet again, a coaxing note in his voice. “You can do it with full-time help. That’s what the social worker has said. I can provide that, but only if you’ll agree to marry me.”

“That’s blackmail,” she accused, stunned that he could be so sneaky. How dare he make a mockery of the one thing he knew she wanted above all else—the two of them together forever?

“No, it’s giving you everything you claimed to want,” he countered. “You get to go home and you get me in the bargain. Forever this time, with a marriage license to prove it.”

“Why do I feel as if I’m on
Let’s Make a Deal?
” she asked, thoroughly disgruntled, even though, as he said, he was offering everything she’d wanted. “A proposal’s supposed to be romantic. This one sounds an awful lot like bartering for a few sheep and a couple of cows.”

“Hey, that worked in a lot of cultures for a very long time.”

She frowned at the flip comment. “Connor, I can’t marry you just so I’ll have a caregiver for a few months. What happens once I’m well?”

“We’ll have the life we deserve,” he said as if it were as simple as that.

She shook her head. “No, you’ll start having regrets.”

“No, I won’t,” he insisted. “Why are you fighting me so hard on this? You said you loved me.”

“I do,” she confirmed. “That’s beside the point.”

“Hardly. And I love you.” He held her gaze. “I really don’t see the problem.”

“Love was never enough for you before,” she reminded him. “You’ve always assumed it would vanish in a puff of smoke by the time the ink dried on the marriage license.”

“I’ve given the matter more thought,” he claimed.

She rolled her eyes. If she’d been even a tiny bit stronger and the least bit mobile, she would have crawled out of bed to shake him. “Connor, stop with this nonsense,” she nearly shouted instead. “You still don’t believe in marriage. That’s why this whole idea is crazy.”

He reached for her hand. His grasp warmed her, even if the situation sent a chill right through her.

“Look at me,” he commanded. She met his gaze, and he continued, “When I thought I was going to lose you, I nearly went out of my mind. It made me realize that I don’t want to live another minute without you. Whatever time we have together on this earth, I want to spend it with you and our son. I want to have more kids with you. I could be content to do that without a wedding license,
but you can’t, so I’m going to focus on how important you are to me and take that walk down the aisle because it matters to you.”

Heather wanted so badly to take what he was offering and let it be enough, but how could she? She’d always feel as if she had somehow trapped him into doing something that went against his deepest convictions. She’d always know he’d gone into the marriage under duress.

“No,” she whispered, barely able to utter the word. “It won’t work that way, Connor. It can’t.”

He looked thoroughly shaken by her latest refusal, as if she’d finally pushed him too far. He’d put aside his own beliefs and laid himself on the line, and now she’d rejected him.

But what else could she have done? she wondered. She knew him better than he knew himself. If he made this crazy sacrifice and they married now, he’d be miserable.

He stood up, his spine rigid. He started for the door, then stopped and looked back.

“Because I’ve always been honest with you and told you how I feel, you’re going to hold it against me forever, aren’t you?” he said, his voice empty of emotion. “I see now that I’ll never be able to persuade you that I’ve changed, that I’m really ready to commit to you for the long haul.”

“Maybe not,” she admitted, though saying it nearly broke her heart.

And watching him walk out of her hospital room, his shoulders hunched, an air of defeat about him, finished the job.

C
onnor walked blindly out of the hospital, trying to grapple with the fact that Heather had been so adamant in her refusal of his proposal. He thought he’d offered everything she’d ever claimed to want, and it wasn’t enough. What was he supposed to do now? Accept that their relationship was well and truly over? He didn’t think he could do that, and yet he was out of ideas.

He was walking so fast, he didn’t even notice Bridget Donovan approaching.

“Connor!” she said urgently, grabbing his arm just as he was about to step off the curb and into the path of an oncoming car in the hospital parking lot. Her brow creased with worry. “What’s going on? You look upset. Is Heather worse?”

He regarded her blankly for a minute, then shook his head. “No. No, she’s fine. Stubborn as a mule, in fact.”

Bridget actually smiled at that. “Ah, then she’s definitely feeling better. What did she say to get under your skin?”

Connor thought about ignoring the question, but perhaps Bridget was exactly the ally he needed. “Could we talk a minute?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Would you like to go inside for a cup of coffee or tea?”

“I’d prefer to sit right out here in the garden in the sunshine, if you don’t mind. It’s such a peaceful setting.”

They found a bench just past the rosebushes and sat down. She studied him curiously. “What’s on your mind?”

“You and I got off on the wrong foot,” he admitted. “I know the relationship that Heather and I had was a disappointment to you.”

“It was,” she agreed candidly. “But I’ve seen a different side of things since I’ve been here. I’ve seen just how deep the love between the two of you runs, to say nothing of how devoted you are to your son. I want my daughter to be happy, Connor, and you seem able to accomplish that. It might not be the way I’d have chosen, but I don’t think it’s up to me to judge.”

He gave her a wry look. “Can I assume that my mother and Nell have given you a less than subtle push toward that conclusion?”

She laughed. “Oh, they’ve sung your praises, no question about that, but it’s what I’ve seen for myself that’s done the trick.”

“Then perhaps, if the opportunity arises, you could put in a good word for me with Heather,” he requested.

She seemed startled by the request. “Why on earth would you need me to do that?”

“I’ve been proposing for a few days now, and she’s turned me down flat each and every time,” he admitted in a chagrined tone.

Shock spread across her face. “But why?”

“She seems to think my epiphany is unbelievable or
that it’s come too late. I’m not really sure of her logic. I just know she’s pretty adamant.”

“Well, that’s just crazy!” Bridget declared.

Connor smiled. “I was hoping you’d think so. Then you’ll put in a good word for me?”

“I’m not sure having me on your side will be much help, but I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “For whatever it’s worth, I do think the two of you belong together. And a word of advice. Give her a bit of time to adjust to this new outlook of yours. It’s quite a turnaround, and the girl has already had her share of whiplash lately.”

Impulsively, Connor hugged her. “Thank you for the assistance and for the insight.”

She patted his cheek. “Let me go in there and see what mood I find her in. No time like the present to start on this mission you’ve given me.”

Connor watched her head into the hospital, her stride purposeful. To his astonishment, he realized that Bridget Donovan wasn’t even half the ogre he’d been making her out to be. As his mother had told him, Bridget was just a mother who cared desperately about her daughter’s happiness.

After Connor’s departure, Heather thought for a long time about what had happened, about how defeated he’d looked when he left. The image was burned in her mind. She couldn’t prevent her tears from spilling over, though she certainly tried. Crying seemed like such a waste of energy, but the tears had been bottled up for too long. She cried as she hadn’t in all the months since she’d walked away from their home in Baltimore and their life together.

Once started, she couldn’t seem to stop, not even when
her mother walked into the room, took one look at her face and gathered her close. If anything, the rare display of unquestioning, unconditional sympathy made her cry harder.

After a while, she wasn’t even sure why she was crying—over a lost opportunity, the end of a dream, her mother’s unexpected comfort or a mix of everything.

“This is about Connor, I imagine,” her mother said eventually. “I saw him leaving here as I was on my way in, and he didn’t look a bit happier than you do. He told me his side of things. What’s yours?”

Heather stared at her in shock. “He told you that he’d asked me to marry him?” she asked, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“He did.”

Heather tried to make sense of that, but she couldn’t. “Did he also tell you it wasn’t the first time?”

Her mother nodded, still stroking her hair as she had when Heather had come to her with some childhood hurt.

“I think it will be the last time,” Heather told her with a sad sniff.

“And you’re unhappy about that?” Bridget said.

Heather nodded. “I’m absolutely certain it would be a huge mistake for us to marry now,” Heather said with a touch of her old spirit. “He doesn’t really want to get married.”

“But he asked. Isn’t that cause to celebrate?”

Heather shook her head. “You’re not hearing me. I turned him down—not just today but every time he’s asked since the accident.”

“But why would you do that?” Bridget asked, clearly mystified. “I know you love him.”

“He didn’t ask because he wants to be married,” Heather said. “He asked because he made some deal with God.”

To her shock, her mother smiled. “Did he now? To save your life, I imagine.”

Heather nodded. “That’s what he said.”

“Then he’s an honorable man, wanting to live up to his end of the bargain.”

“Of course he’s an honorable man,” Heather said impatiently. “There was never any doubt about that.”

“From where I sat, there was,” her mother said wryly.

Heather scowled at her. “This is so not the time for another lecture on your low opinion of Connor.”

Again, her mother’s lips curved into a smile. “I might have been wrong about him. Wouldn’t you enjoy rubbing that in my face from now till Kingdom come?”

“You’re not taking this seriously,” Heather accused. “He’s furious because I turned him down, and now I can’t even go home, because there’s no way I can manage on my own. I’ll be locked away in this hospital forever.”

Her mother actually laughed at that. “You always did have a flair for drama,” she teased. “If you want to go back to your apartment, I’ll come with you. I can stay on for a while longer.”

“I thought Dad was insisting you come back home,” Heather said, though she took heart from the unexpected offer. She wanted so badly to be out of this place and back to normal, or at least what passed for normal these days without Connor living under the same roof.

Her mother waved off the concern. “Your father can
manage on his own for a while longer,” she declared, an oddly guilty expression on her face. “The truth is, I haven’t felt such a sense of freedom in years. Who knows? Maybe I’ll settle in Chesapeake Shores, too. It seems like a nice town.”

“Without Dad?” Heather asked, unable to hide her shock.

Her mother merely shrugged. “You never know. Maybe it’s time to shake things up.”

Heather brushed at the last of her tears as if to clear her vision, then stared at her mother. “Are you serious?”

Bridget hesitated, then admitted, “I might be. But I do know I intend to stay right here until you’re back on your feet and are able to manage on your own again.”

Though she was still reeling from her mother’s unexpected offer and the hint that she might make a permanent move, Heather seized on the prospect of an obvious solution to another of her problems. After all, she’d learned quilting from her mother. “Would you be willing to teach the quilting class at the shop for me, just for a few weeks?”

Her mother’s eyes immediately lit up. “I’d love it,” she said enthusiastically. “Megan took me by to see the shop and showed me some of the quilts you’ve made. You haven’t forgotten any of the lessons I taught you. In fact, your stitches are better than mine and you’re more creative than I ever dreamed of being. You’re willing to break the rules for your own designs. I never dared.”

“But without the basics I learned from you, I never would have risked trying my own designs,” Heather told her. “I’m so grateful to you for sharing your talent with me. And I would love it if you’d work with my class.
They’re all really nice people. I think you’d enjoy them. Some are around my age, but there are a couple of older women, too.”

“I’ll be happy to do it, but I think you could teach it yourself, at least in another week or two,” Bridget said. “We could find a way to get you down the stairs.”

“Oh, I plan to be there,” Heather said. “But I wouldn’t mind a few of your lessons myself. It’ll be like a refresher course for me.”

“Then that’s settled,” Bridget said, looking pleased. “Now let’s talk about this latest proposal of Connor’s.”

“No,” Heather said, her good mood vanishing.

“Later, then,” her mother said a little too agreeably.

Something told Heather she was just going to lie in wait until Heather was at her most vulnerable before taking Connor’s side again. Who would have thought Bridget Donovan and Connor would ever take the same stance? It was one of the more ironic turn of events since the accident. And Heather had a feeling they both still had plenty to say.

Connor couldn’t bring himself to go anywhere near the hospital. In fact, even after he discovered a few days later that Heather had been released and had moved back into her apartment with her mother there to look after her and little Mick, he stayed away. So far he’d managed to cajole other people into picking up his son and bringing him over for his visits with his dad.

Though his caseload was already picking up with the kind of legal matters he wouldn’t have bothered with in Baltimore, there was still not enough work to distract Connor from the lousy mood he was in. He expected
someone in the family to call him on it, but he hadn’t expected it to be go-with-the-flow Jess.

He was sitting in the kitchen at the house just after dawn, staring into his cup of coffee, when his younger sister walked in, scowled at him, poured herself some coffee, then sat across from him. It was obvious to someone who knew her well that she had something on her mind. Connor braced himself.

“This has to stop,” she said. “You have the whole family tiptoeing around you, terrified they’re going to say the wrong thing about Heather.”

“Since when has anybody in this family avoided any topic that suited them?” he asked, considering Jess’s comment a gross exaggeration. “Everyone in this family is always in trouble with one person or another for being too outspoken.”

“Come on, Connor. You snapped at Gram!” she said indignantly. “What has she ever done to deserve that?”

Connor flushed, recalling the incident with immediate shame. “I never meant to,” he said. “She made a comment about Heather and little Mick. I took it the wrong way and told her it was none of her business what Heather and I did or didn’t do. I apologized almost as soon as the words came out of my mouth. Gram understood.”

“Well, of course she did,” Jess responded with exasperation. “That’s what Gram does, no matter how badly we behave, but, Connor, you have to see how wrong that was.”

“I do. It won’t happen again.”

“It will unless you fix things with Heather. If I loved somebody as much as you obviously love her, and he loved me back, you can bet I wouldn’t be dillydallying
around and letting him get away just because I had my doubts about whether I had what it takes to make a marriage last.”

Connor regarded her with surprise. “It’s not about me doubting myself,” he insisted. “If I committed to getting married, I’d make it work.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“I gather the grapevine hasn’t reported that I asked Heather to marry me,” he replied. “Several times, in fact.”

Jess blinked. “Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“Well, hallelujah! Why doesn’t anyone know about this? And why are you walking around in a funk?”

“Because she turned me down flat each and every time.”

Now it was his sister’s turn to look stunned. “You’re kidding me. Why? Did she say?”

“She didn’t believe I’d really done a one-eighty on the whole marriage thing.” He gave her a wry look. “It probably didn’t help that I admitted I’d made a pact with God when I was scared she was going to die.”

Jess stared at him. “You told her that?”

He nodded.

She punched him in the arm. “You’re an idiot.”

“That seems to be the consensus.”

“How are you going to fix it?”

“I’m not,” he said. “No matter what I say now, she won’t believe it.”

“Then stop talking and show her you’re ready to be the kind of husband she’s always dreamed about. Actions
speak louder than words. At least that’s what a shrink we both know is always telling me.”

Connor grinned for the first time since the uncomfortable conversation had started. “How is Will these days?”

“Annoying,” Jess said at once. “Irritating. Impossible. Underfoot too darn much, thanks to you.”

“If the guy doesn’t get to you, why do you waste so much energy making sure you’re never alone with him? Seems to me that’s a dead giveaway that you have a thing for him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Besides, I didn’t come over here to talk about Will.”

“No, you came as the family’s duly designated representative to make sure I straighten things out with Heather. You can report back that it’s not going to happen. Not this time. If anything, things between us are worse than ever.”

“Because you’re too stubborn to swallow your pride and grovel.”

“Ask your friend Will what kind of prayer a relationship that requires groveling will have.”