Forever Fall (21 page)

Though her heart triple-timed, and her breath felt as though it were trapped in her chest, Mandy remained silent.

“Marry me, Mandy.”

And she still waited
 . . .
waited for
the
words she so longed to hear from Luc. Without those words, marriage would be empty and meaningless. Without those words, she could never say yes. Without them, she’d be entering into the same loveless existence her mother had endured.

Still, she waited, praying for the three words that were more important for her to hear than even the marriage proposal. But they never came.

He squeezed her hand. “Well, will you marry me?”

Slowly, her heart torn to shreds, disappointment clogging her throat, she pulled her hand away and stood. “No.” That one word had taken every ounce of her willpower to utter.

Through the tears gathering in her eyes, she took one last look at the man she loved and then walked from the room.

“Mandy!” Luc had followed her and grabbed her arm to prevent her leaving. “I thought
 . . . .
I thought you loved me. Was I wrong?”

More tears filled her eyes and spilled over onto her face. The aftereffects of so much pain and disappointment blocked her ability to speak. She so wanted to say yes to his proposal, but without his love, she couldn’t.

Finally, she managed to squeeze the words out. “No, you weren’t wrong. I do love you. I think I started loving you the day you went with me to see Alyce, and you offered to help her get her GED. I saw something good and honorable in you, something that told me I could trust you.”

He frowned. “Then why won’t you marry me?”

The tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. “Because
 . . .
because you
 . . .
don’t love
 . . .
me.” The silent tears turned to sobs.

“What? Of course I love you.”

She blinked back the tears. Joy unlike she’d ever known filled her heart. “But you didn’t say that. You said you wanted to marry me just so you could have a home and everything.” She hiccupped.

Luc laughed and pulled her into his arms. “Silly girl. I want a
home and everything,
but only if you share it with me. I want to spend my senior years sitting in front of a fireplace and looking over to see you across from me playing with our grandchildren.” He put her away from him and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry I never said the words. I guess I figured that if I asked you to marry me, you’d know I loved you.”

Mandy stood on tiptoe and kissed him long and hard. “Sometimes, a girl needs to hear it.”

He grinned and kissed her back. “I’ll make sure I remember that and tell you every day from now on.”

This time, she kissed him. She curled her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down hard on hers. The joining transmitted all the pent up longing that had hovered beneath the surface for so many days. All the wanting and needing. All the times she’d looked at him and wondered how it would feel to be in his arms because he loved her and not just because he desired her.

Luc pulled back, gasping for breath. “You are playing with fire, Ms. James.”

She grinned mischievously. “I know.”

A twinkle glittered in his eyes. “Well, being the gentleman I am, I can hardly turn you away, now can I?” Then he grew serious. “Are you sure about this?”

She kissed him again, this time not letting him go until she couldn’t stand the need building in her any longer. Taking a deep breath, she smiled up at him and whispered, “As sure as the sunrise over Hawks Mountain.”

He scooped her into his arms and walked toward his bedroom. “What do you say we get started on that family?”

Mandy snuggled her face into the warm curve of his throat. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

The silky wedding gown had grown cold against her skin, so Mandy tucked her coat more securely around her and gazed out on the frozen surface of Lake Hope sparkling in the winter sunlight. An early snow fall had turned the entire landscape before her into a scene straight off a Christmas card. At times like this Mandy wished she could paint and preserve the memory on canvas. Unfortunately, she didn’t have an artistic bone in her body.

She laughed and took great joy in the sound. It hadn’t been all that long ago that genuine laughter had been missing from her existence. Had it only been a couple of months since she’d been sure she’d lost Luc, and her life had ended? Little did she know back then that it had just begun.

Mandy had come to Carson determined to make a difference in the lives of the teenagers in the town, and thanks to Catherine Daniels she had. The Carson High School Family Planning classes now included the baby simulators, and from all the preliminary reports, all was proceeding as expected. Catherine reported just yesterday that some of the teens had been rethinking their priorities.

But in accomplishing that, Mandy had changed her own life from one of a solitary existence to one filled with more happiness than she’d ever thought possible. She’d found love
 . . .
real love
 . . .
with a man she could lean on and trust to always be there for her, and she and Luc had made his lovely little house into a cozy home they would fill with love and laughter.

And soon—

Her thoughts were interrupted by two strong arms encircling her body from behind. “Shouldn’t you come inside? It’s cold out here.” Luc’s warm breath fanned the side of her chilled face.

“Not anymore.” She smiled and snuggled into the haven of his body, enjoying the security it always offered her.

“I don’t want you to catch cold.” He slid his hand over her stomach. “Either one of you.” He kissed her neck just below her ear, and pleasant chills coursed up her spine.

Mandy turned in his arms and cupped his face. “We’re both fine. I promise.” She pressed her mouth to his. Her entire body awakened. She pressed closer.

They’d kept her pregnancy a secret. Not because conception had happened before marriage, but because they both wanted to bask in the miracle of their baby for a while before they shared the news.

He pulled away and grinned. “You’re a brazen hussy, Mrs. Michaels.”

“And you love it,” she countered, enjoying the banter they often engaged in.

“Yup, every second of it.” His grin widened, and he kissed her as if his life depended on it, and then released her lips. He studied her for a moment. “Are you sorry we had a bigger wedding than you wanted?”

Mandy recalled struggling with him about his desire for her to wear a white gown, not to mention the flowers and the caterer, but she’d finally given in when he explained that he wanted their wedding to be something she could look back on in the years to come. Something she could smile about and relive through the photos he’d taken. But mostly, she’d caved because he’d already given her more than she’d ever dreamed she could have, and this concession seemed to mean so much to him.

She shook her head. “No. I’m glad we had all our friends here to share it with us.” A breeze blew in off the lake, chilling the silk material of her wedding gown and in turn, stealing the warmth from her skin where the material touched it. Mandy shivered. “I guess it is a little colder out here than I thought. I could use a drink of something warm. I’ll even settle for that poor excuse for coffee the doctor makes me drink.”

“Decaf isn’t all that bad, once you acquire a taste for it.” He pulled her against him and guided her toward the French doors.

“And exactly how long will that take? I only have a little less than eight months, you know.”

Luc slid the large glass door open and stepped back to allow her to enter the noisy room. As they stepped into the crowded reception Catherine had insisted on throwing to celebrate their wedding and Luc’s reinstatement as principal of Carson High School, Becky Hart, her maid of honor, approached them.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.” She looped her arm in Mandy’s and began pulling her toward the hallway. “I have another wedding present for you.”

“But you’ve already given us your gift.” She and Nick had given them a full set of monogrammed, Irish table linens. “What else could there be?”

Becky smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see.”

As Mandy made her way across the floor of the large living room, she glanced around at the people who had come to mean so much to her and Luc, as well as people with whom she had only just become acquainted.

Granny Jo winked at her and cuddled Lili, her great, great niece, closer to her shoulder. Davy Collins devoured a piece of chocolate cake, while keeping a sharp eye on the window, beyond which a large, gray wolf waited patiently for him on the porch. Lydia, Davy’s mom, was talking to a tall, handsome man that Mandy had been told was Ken Mackenzie, the brother of the town vet, Hunter Mackenzie. Hunter and Rose had been invited, but their twin baby girls had colds, and they’d opted to stay home. To Ken and Lydia’s right, Jonathan Prince, a newcomer to Carson, and the owner of the fine mansion that had just been built outside of town, was deep in conversation with Catherine Daniels.

Gathered around the punch bowl, Mandy’s bridesmaids, Shannon and Alyce, talked animatedly to Luc’s best man, Nick Hart. Since Mandy and Luc started seeing each other, Nick and Luc had become fast friends due to their shared passion for baseball, and Luc had been adamant about asking Nick to stand up with him. Alyce was no doubt picking Nick’s brain for her term paper on life as a military corpsman.

As Mandy took in the roomful of people, she marveled for the hundredth time at how full her life had become.

Becky urged her from her musings. “Come on.”

She tugged on Mandy to get her to move faster, obviously very excited about her mysterious surprise. Then, when they’d made it into the hall, Becky stepped away from Mandy, leaned toward Luc and whispered something in his ear.

His eyebrows arched. “Really?” Becky nodded. “Okay.” He kissed Mandy’s cheek. “Be right back.” Then he disappeared into the crowd.

Mandy came to an abrupt halt. “Okay, Becky, fess up. What’s going on?”

Her boss grinned and shook her head. “You can stop asking because I’m not telling.” Once more she began propelling Mandy toward the den at the back of the big house.

When they entered the den, the room was empty. As she glanced around the room, Mandy saw nothing that she would categorize as a surprise. Everything looked exactly the same. She sent Becky a questioning glare.

Becky sighed. “Lord, but you’re impatient.” She moved to the door that went into the kitchen, opened it and beckoned to someone Mandy couldn’t see. “Please, come in.”

The woman who entered the room was perhaps in her late forties or early fifties. Dressed casually in a navy dress, her earlobe-length, brown hair showed signs of graying, and her figure, while not plump, couldn’t be classified slender either. She smiled at Mandy.

Mandy had seen that smile before. Did she know this woman? Mandy searched her memory.

“Hello.” The woman extended her hand.

As Mandy reached for it, Becky said, “This is Helen Anderson.”

Still at a loss as to who this person was, Mandy returned her smile. “Hello, Helen. Nice to meet you.” Though she couldn’t figure out why this stranger was at their wedding reception. She glanced at Becky, who just grinned. Obviously she wasn’t ready to explain.

Before Helen could speak, the den door opened, and Luc ushered Catherine Daniels into the room. Becky took her hand and led her to within a few feet of the woman. “Catherine, this is Helen Anderson. She’s a bit older than she was the last time you saw her, but you probably remember her as Hope.”

Catherine gasped. Her face paled. Her hand flew to cover her heart. Tears filled her eyes. “My Hope?” she finally whispered.

Becky nodded, and Mandy collapsed onto the sofa. She couldn’t believe that Catherine was finally getting to meet the daughter she’d last seen as an infant.

“How?” Catherine muttered, never moving her gaze from the woman standing silently before her, a faint smile curving her lips, moisture filling her eyes.

“You can thank Mandy. She insisted we find her for you.” Becky’s soft words cut through the emotion-filled silence.

Catherine remained frozen, oblivious to everyone and any conversation going on around her. She had eyes only for the child she thought never to see again.

Mandy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She glanced at Luc and extended her hand to him. As his warm fingers closed around hers, she looked back at the two women facing each other.

“Momma?” Helen spoke for the first time.

She extended her open arms toward Catherine. With a sob, Catherine walked into them.

Luc caught Mandy’s and Becky’s eye and motioned them toward the door. They all left, but not without Mandy glancing back at the mother and daughter reunion. A feeling she couldn’t describe, a mixture of happiness that they’d finally found each other, and sadness that it had taken all this time, brought fresh tears to her eyes.

Luc put his arm around her and drew her to him. “You’re a good woman, Mrs. Michaels. I love you, and, just as I promised, I plan on telling you that every day for the rest of my life.”

Mandy caressed his cheek with her fingertips. She’d never tire of hearing him say those words. “I love you, too.” She began walking back into the party arm-in-arm with him and then stopped. Looking up at this man whom she knew with all the certainty in her heart would never leave her side, she smiled contentedly. “Your father was wrong, you know.”

“Oh? About what?”

She stood on tiptoe and kissed her husband. “Some things are forever.”