Love at First Flight (40 page)

Forcing herself to move fast, she went
upstairs to his bedroom to pack her remaining clothes and personal items. She
tried not to think about the last passionate night they spent in his bed or
making love with him in the shower before she left to meet Jeremy. Was that
really only yesterday? Brushing away a tear that escaped despite her iron will
to get through this without them, she zipped the last of her bags and carried
them downstairs and out to her car.

When there was nothing left to do, she
sat on the sofa to wait for him. The room soon grew dark, but Juliana couldn't
seem to move, even to turn on a light. She had no idea how much time passed
before she heard his key in the door.

“Juliana?” He flipped on a light. “Hey,
baby, I was so happy to see your car out there. What're you doing in the dark?”
A smile lit up his face as he dropped his overnight bag inside the door and
crossed the room to her. But when he noticed the tears in her eyes, he froze
and his smile faded to an expression of agony that would remain etched upon her
heart forever. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “No, you're not going back
to him. You can't.”

His devastation rendered her helpless
against the flood of tears she had managed to contain until that moment.

“Do you love him the same way you love
me?”

“No,” she said, wiping her face.

“Then why are you doing this? I don't
understand.”

“Because I don't love you the same way I
love him.”

He grimaced in unabashed pain.

Wincing, Juliana stood up to go to him. “That
came out wrong.” Frustrated, she buried her hands in her hair. “Oh, I never
should've let this happen between us!”

He took her by the arm. “Don't insult me
by pretending you had any more power over it than I did.”

“Michael,” she said softly, “I love you
so much. You know I do, but I've been with him my whole adult life. He made one
mistake, and he regrets it terribly. I just couldn't bring myself to walk away
from him after he was there for me during all the years when no one else was.
I'm so sorry.”

The anger seemed to leave him as fast as
it had come. “I don't want you to be sorry. You had a decision to make, and
you've made it. I've always known this could happen.”

“I'll never forget any of it.” Tears
streamed down her face. “I'll never forget you. I promise you that.”

“I want you to promise me something
else— something much more important.”

She brushed at her tears. “What?”

“That when it blows up with him, you'll
come find me.”

“No, Michael—”

“I'm only asking you for one thing,
Juliana. Come find me. I'll either be here or in Newport—you know where—and
I'll be waiting for you. I don't care if it's a week, a year, five years,
twenty years. Find me.”

“But surely you'll be married with a
family—”

He shook his head. “Never. It's you or
no one. So don't think for one minute I won't still want you or that my pride
is too wounded to forgive you. I've already forgiven you. That's how much I
love you.”

“You can't mean that,” Juliana said,
choking on a sob. “You'll meet someone else. You'll fall in love again.”

With his index finger to her chin, he
forced her to look at him. “Have I ever said anything to you that I didn't
mean?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Do you promise, Juliana? I need to hear
you say it.”

“Okay, I promise, but I don't want you
to wait for me. I want you to find someone else—”

He laid a finger over her lips to stop
her. “It's not going to happen.”

“I'm so sorry, Michael.” She handed him
her house key.

He put it in his pocket and reached for
her left hand. “He didn't even give you a ring?”

“It was too big.”

Michael made a sound that might have
been a chuckle if he was amused rather than devastated. “And mine fit
perfectly. Ironic, huh?”

Juliana couldn't dispute that point so
she didn't try. “What happened with Paige?”

“Turns out she
was
pregnant.” Juliana gasped.

“She lost it. She was in the hospital
when I got there.”

“Oh, Michael. I'm sorry. Is she all
right?”

“She will be.”

“Will you be?”

Resting his hands on her face, he ran
his thumbs gently along her jaw in a gesture so familiar, so uniquely his, it
took her breath away. “You'd better go while I'm still able to let you.” He
brought her into his arms one last time, as if to prepare himself for all the
days he would have to live without her. “Remember what I said, Juliana. Come
find me.”

“I don't ever want you to think, for
even one second, that I don't love you as much as I said I did.”

“I know you do.” He touched his lips to
hers. “That's why I'll be waiting.”

CHAPTER 34

JULIANA WENT BACK TO WORK TWO DAYS AFTER
THE emotional scene at Michael's house. Her co-workers were full of questions
about her long absence, but she kept the details vague because it was too
painful to think about everything that had happened with Michael.

She was so sad about what she had done
to him that it took tremendous effort just to get out of bed, let alone
function. Their time together had been brief but intense, and she couldn't deny
that she left a big part of her heart with him. Despite what he had said,
though, she hoped he would eventually find someone else who could give him the
happiness he so deserved.

The next three weeks were a whirlwind.
Jeremy and Juliana put their rowhouse on the market and sold it four days
later, scheduling the closing for the end of January. Pam helped her find the
perfect white silk sundress for the beachfront wedding. During their shopping
outing, Pam asked what became of Juliana's relationship with the prosecutor.

Cut to the quick by the question and the
reminder of Michael, Juliana forced herself to say, “Nothing. Nothing became of
it.”

Jeremy was thoughtful, attentive, and
considerate. He seemed to understand that she needed space to work through some
things before the wedding. At the same time, he went out of his way to keep his
promise to bring the romance back into their relationship. As their wedding day
drew near, Juliana loved him more than ever and felt confident that she had
made the right deci-sion to marry him.

On the thirtieth of December, they took
an early morning flight with Pam and David to St. Thomas. They caught a ferry
for the brief trip across the sound to the remote island of St. John. The four
of them were in high spirits as a taxi deposited them at the oceanfront resort.
Juliana and Jeremy checked into a two-bedroom suite and then joined Pam and
David to explore the lush resort.

They were enjoying elaborate tropical
drinks at the bar when Jeremy's mother Barbara and her husband Gary arrived.
She whispered, “It's about time, huh?” into Juliana's ear as she hugged her.

Gary shook his stepson's hand and kissed
Juliana's cheek. “I sure do hope you kids will be as happy as your mom and I
are.”

Barbara, a petite blonde who was dwarfed
by her husband and son, blushed.

Jeremy ordered drinks for his mother and
Gary before they all walked over to check out the pavilion where the wedding
would take place at sunset the next day.

“It's beautiful, son,” Barbara said,
dabbing at her eyes.

“Oh, jeez, Mom!” Jeremy said with a
grin. “You're already blubbering! What will you be like tomorrow?”

“Leave me alone. My only child is
getting married. I can blubber if I want to.”

“That's right, darlin.'“ Gary put his
arm around his wife. “You just go right ahead and cry if you want to.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes at his mother and
took Juliana's hand to lead her up the stairs to the pavilion. At the center of
the big open area, he put his arm around her and turned her to face the ocean. “What
do you think, babe? Will this do the trick?”

“Definitely. It's just right, Jer, isn't
it?”

He kissed her left hand where the
resized engagement ring now resided. “Everything's just right as long as I have
you.”

With their guests whistling, he leaned
in for a passionate kiss that had Juliana blushing by the time she finally
managed to extricate herself.

“Get a room!” David hollered.

“We've got a room,” Jeremy replied,
adding just for Juliana, “two of them, in fact.”

She smiled up at him. “One more night.
You're almost there.”

“And hanging by a thread,” he whispered.
They went down the stairs to join the others. “Who's ready for some lunch?”

***

That afternoon, David announced that he
and Gary would be throwing an impromptu bachelor party for Jeremy at the
poolside bar while the ladies went to the spa.

“I don't know about that,” Juliana said
with a wary look at Jeremy.

“What do you mean?” David asked with
indignation. “It's a right of passage you can't deny him. Now go get your nails
done, and leave the groom to me.”

“I don't want you hung over tomorrow,”
Juliana said to Jeremy.

He leaned down to kiss her. “Don't
worry, babe. I'll behave.” Into her ear, he whispered, “There's no way I'm
going to be sick for our wedding night.”

Juliana smiled at him, and he kissed her
again. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“Behave, David,” Pam warned her husband.
“I mean it.”

“It's all right, girls.” Barbara put her
arms around Juliana and Pam. “Gary will keep an eye on them.”

With a reluctant last look back at
Jeremy, Juliana let Barbara lead her away to the spa where they were pampered
for the next three hours. Barbara surprised them by springing for massages on
top of the manicure and pedicure.

“Oh my God, this is heavenly,” Juliana
groaned as the masseuse worked out all her kinks.

“I thought you might enjoy it,” Barbara
said from the next table. Pam had opted for a private room.

“I'm so glad you and Gary could be here
for the wedding,” Juliana said.

“We're delighted to be included, honey.
I'm sure it's no secret that I've been urging Jeremy to take this step with you
for years. He's very lucky to have you, and I think he knows now just how lucky
he is.”

“So you know about what happened? About
the time we spent apart?”

“Yes, he told me. I think it says an
awful lot about the love you have between you that you were able to find your
way back to each other.”

“I do love him, Barbara, and I'm going
to do every-thing I can to make this marriage work.”

“I have no doubt you'll make it work,
honey. None at all.”

***

They met Pam in the lobby of the spa.

“I don't know about you girls, but I'm
like a new woman,” Juliana said. She rolled her loose shoulders, feeling
rested, refreshed, and ready to take the next step in her life with Jeremy.

“What do you say we crash the bachelor
party?” Barbara asked with a twinkle in her eye.

“Sign me up,” Pam said.

They strolled through fragrant gardens
on their way to the pool to find the guys. Approaching the bar, Juliana gasped
when she heard Jeremy and David singing at the top of their lungs. A row of
overturned shot glasses lined the bar in front of them.

Gary greeted the women with a sheepish
shrug. “I tried to stop them, but they're on a roll.”

“There she is!” Jeremy hollered. “There's
my bride! Come on over here, babe, and give me some love.”

Juliana took a step toward him,
intending to tell him to pipe down.

He almost knocked her over when he put
his arm around her and hauled her to him.

“Jeremy, cut it out. You're embarrassing
yourself.”

“Do you hear that? She says I'm
embarrassing myself!”

Juliana pushed at him in an attempt to
break free of his tight embrace.

“You know what's embarrassing?” he asked
in a loud voice that had everyone in the poolside bar listening to him. “I'll
tell you what's
embarrassing.
My good
buddy Dave here has been telling me
quite
a story about my bride. Something about her hanging
all over
a guy she told me was
just
a friend
.”

“David!” Pam gasped.
“You did not!”

David took a sudden interest in the
floor as his wife glared at him.

“Oh,
ho!”
Jeremy
bellowed. “What do you know? You saw it, too, did you, Pam? What am I? The last
asshole
on earth to find out what my
bride's
been up to?”

“Jeremy, stop this right now,” Barbara
hissed.

Everything in the bar came to a halt,
and all eyes were on Jeremy and Juliana.