Love at First Flight (24 page)

The second floor had high ceilings,
large windows, an outdated kitchen, two bathrooms, and two big bedrooms. “There's
another apartment upstairs.”

“Something smells good. Where's it
coming from?”

“Go on up and find out.” He pointed to
the third-floor stairs and gestured for her to lead the way.

Juliana gasped when she walked into a
candlelit room with a table set for two in the middle. There were roses on the
table and soft music played in the background. “Oh, is this what you were
doing?”

“I can't take all the credit. My mother
and my sisters helped a little.”

“A little?” she asked, raising a
skeptical eyebrow.

He smiled. “Okay, a lot. My mother
provided all the candles, and Maggie and Shannon did most of the setup.”

Juliana put her arms around him. “But it
was your idea.”

“I wanted to show you this place, and
since I wasn't in the mood for a crowded restaurant tonight, I thought this
might work.”

“It works,” she said, kissing him. “Thank
you.”

“Are you hungry? We've got shrimp scampi
from Cafe Zelda's in the oven.”

“I'm starving.”

He held her chair, opened a bottle of
wine, and poured them each a glass before he went to get their dinner.

“This place has great service,” Juliana
said when he delivered her dinner. “Very sexy waiters.”

“No hitting on the help, please.”

“I'll try to restrain myself.”

“Don't try too hard.”

She laughed. “This is so good,” she said
after the first bite of spicy shrimp.

“I'm glad you like it. Mary Frances said
I couldn't go wrong with Zelda's scampi.”

“Your sister is very wise. When did you
even have a chance to do all this? You've been with me the whole time we've
been here.”

“Last night while you were playing hair
salon with the little girls, I was plotting and scheming with the big girls.”

“I'll have to keep a closer eye on you
in the future.”

“Nothing would please me more.”

After dinner, he asked her to dance.

Juliana put her hand in his and followed
him to the middle of the big room where the light from the candles flickered on
the bare walls.

They danced for a long while as Michael
held her close to him and breathed in the unique scent that had invaded his
senses the day he met her and held him captive ever since.

“Who is this?” she asked of the music.

“Allison Krauss,” he said, whispering
the words to the song. “It's called 'When You Say Nothing at All.'“

“I like it.”

“I like you.” He ran his lips along her
bare shoulder and up to her neck. When he glanced over her ear with his tongue,
she moaned. “In fact, I love you.”

Her arms tightened around him. “I love
you, too.” She tipped her face up to his for a kiss so hot and so sensual that
Michael almost forgot to breathe.

Lightheaded, he pulled back from her. “Come
sit with me over here,” he said, leading her to a window seat that overlooked
Thames Street and the harbor beyond. He sat down and drew her onto his lap. “There
was another reason why I wanted to bring you here tonight.”

“Oh, really?”

“I have something I want to say to you
and something I want to ask you, but you have to let me get through the whole
thing before you say anything, okay?”

Her eyes widened, and she nodded.

He took her hand and brought it to his
lips. “The other night I said I don't have the words to tell you how I feel
about you. I still don't. I doubt I ever will. We haven't known each other
long, but it took me all of five minutes to know I could have everything I've
ever dreamed of with you. I might not be the last guy who asks, but I wanted to
be the first. Will you marry me, Juliana?”

“Michael,” she gasped.

“Wait. I'm not finished. I know you're not
able to answer me right now, but over the next few weeks when you're going to
have to make some big decisions, I wanted you to have no doubt about what I
want from you and with you.”

He fished a ring out of his pocket. The
antique setting seemed perfect for her, and the diamond, while large, was more
tasteful than the one he had given Paige. He knew the size of the stone would
mean nothing to Juliana. Sliding the ring onto her finger, he kissed her hand. “I
just want to see how it looks.”

“It's beautiful,” she said, wiping tears
off her face.

He kissed her hand. “A perfect fit, just
like us.”

“I don't know what to say.”

With great reluctance, Michael slid the
ring off her finger and reached for the gold chain that held his St.
Christopher medal. He unhooked the chain, slid the ring on with the medal,
clasped the chain shut, and dropped it under his shirt. “I'll hold on to it for
now. It'll be right here with me until you're ready for it.”

“I'm overwhelmed, Michael, and I don't
deserve you. You should be with someone who could say yes—without
reservation—to such a lovely proposal.”

“I don't want anyone but you, and I'll
take you any way I can get you.”

“I have some things I need to resolve,
and it's going to have to happen soon. I know I'm asking so much of you, but I
need you to be patient with me. Can you do that?”

 
“I
can do anything for you.”

“This was a wonderful evening. I'll
never forget it.”

“Just don't forget who asked first.”

She kissed him. “I won't forget that,
either.”

CHAPTER 20

THEY WERE UP EARLY THE NEXT MORNING TO
TAKE A walk on Easton's Beach followed by breakfast at Michael's favorite
greasy-spoon diner. The police detail was never far from them.

“Oh my God!” Juliana clutched her
stomach on the way back to the car. “
Why
did you let me eat so much?”

“You were like a regular truck driver in
there.”

“I probably gained ten pounds this
weekend. When we get home, we're going on a diet.”

“Why do I have to?”

“If I have to, so do you.”

“Oh, I see,” he said, laughing. “Is this
what life with you is going to be like?”

Juliana's smile faded.

He took her hand. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be.” She reached up to caress his
face and gazed into his eyes, which were even bluer than usual under the bright
light of the sun. “There are times when I wish...”

He leaned her against the car and put
his arms around her. “What, baby? Tell me. What do you wish for?”

“That there was nothing—or no
one—standing in our way. I can just see how it would be for us. I think we'd
have a happy life together.”

“I know we would.” Reaching up to his
chest, he touched the ring through his shirt. “We can have it, Juliana. You
only have to say the word, and we can have it all.”

She touched her lips to his. “I know.”

“Come on.” He opened the car door for
her. “Let's go say good-bye to my parents and get on the road.”

At the Maguire's house, Juliana stayed
inside with Maureen while Michael went outside with his father, who insisted on
checking the oil in the car.

“I'm so glad you came this weekend,
Juliana,” Maureen said. “I hope we'll see you again.”

Something about the way Michael's mother
looked at her told Juliana she knew what was going on. “I hope so, too. Thank
you for all your hospitality.”

Maureen hugged her. “Come again. Any
time.”

Michael walked in. “Ready?”

Juliana nodded, and Michael hugged his
mother.

“Be careful during that trial,” Maureen
said. “I mean it, Michael.”

“I will. Don't worry.”

“Yeah, right.”

Outside, Sean hugged them both. As
Michael backed the car out of the driveway, his parents waved from the front
yard.

Juliana wondered if she would ever see
them again.

***

The closer they got to Baltimore, the
quieter Michael became.

“What's wrong?” Juliana asked.

He glanced over at her and then at the
road.

“What?”

“You know I want you with me all the
time, right?”

She smiled. “You've made that pretty
clear.”

“I'm so afraid of you staying with me
after everything that's happened. I really want you to go to Mrs. R's until the
trial's over. Will you do that for me?”

“No.”

“Juliana...”

“
No.
”

“They know where I live, baby. They know
I live with a woman. What better way to get to me than to get to you? If
something ever happened to you, I'd go crazy.”

She put a comforting hand on his leg. “Nothing's
going to happen to me, Michael.”

“Just until the trial's over?”

“I'm not leaving you until I have to.”

He glanced over at her. “So you see
yourself leaving one day?”

“I'm going to have to deal with Jeremy
at some point. You know that.”

His jaw tightened with tension. “We're
talking about the trial. I want you to be safe, and I can't guarantee you will
be if you stay with me.”

“I'm not going anywhere. Not now.”

“How do I go to work tomorrow morning
and leave you sleeping there alone? How do I think about anything else but
whether you're safe?”

“The house has an alarm system, right?”

He nodded.

“Then we'll use it.”

“That won't keep another rock from
coming through the window.”

“They won't do that again,” Juliana said
confidently.

“So now you're an expert on criminal
behavior?” he asked, amused. “You won't even think about going to Mrs. R's for
a few weeks?”

“No.”

***

When they got home, Michael showed her
how to use the alarm system. He also let the police know they were back in
town. With two officers trailing close behind them, they walked to a
neighborhood restaurant for dinner.

“I'm getting used to being followed
everywhere,” Juliana said as they strolled hand-in-hand back to the house after
dinner. The whole time, she kept an anxious eye out for Jeremy in case he
hadn't gone back to Florida as scheduled.

“Good, because after what happened the
other night, you have your own detail now.”

Juliana made a face at that news. “Oh,
goodie.”

“Tomorrow I want you to come by the
office to look at some photos we have of the Red Devils to see if you recognize
the guy you saw in Newport, okay?”

She nodded.

“I'll call you at some point to set it
up. I have a meeting with the judge at nine. After that, I'm not sure if he'll
stay in recess or want to get back to the trial.”

“I'm off, so I can come whenever you
need me to.”

Back at the house, they called to check
on Rachelle. Michael talked to her first and told her that depending on what
the judge had to say in the morning, he hoped to call her to testify by
Thursday—Friday at the latest. “This is it,” he said before he turned the phone
over to Juliana.

They chatted for a few minutes before
Juliana sensed there was something the girl wanted to say to her. “Honey? What
is it?”

“It's none of my business, and I
remember you said that you and Michael are just friends because you have a
boyfriend and all that, but...”

“What?”

“I think you belong with Michael.”

“What makes you say that?” Juliana
asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“I don't know. It's just a feeling I
have.”

“Well, your opinion means a lot to me,
so thank you for telling me. You ought to get some sleep. You've got a big week
ahead of you. I'll be thinking of you.”

“Thanks,” Rachelle said softly. “Good-bye,
Juliana.”

“Bye, hon.”

“What did she say?” Michael asked.

“That you and I belong together.”
Juliana struggled to define the odd sensation that had come over her during the
conversation with Rachelle.

He smiled. “They say kids speak the
truth.”

“You never miss an opportunity for
self-promotion, do you?” she asked with a grin.

“I can't afford to.” He stood up and
held out a hand to her.

“Where are we going?”

“You'll see.”

They went upstairs to his room where he
grabbed a heavy blanket and led her to the secluded roof deck. The lights of
the city twinkled in the clear night sky as Michael drew her down next to him
on the blanket. He tugged the shirt over her head and then did the same with
his own.