Tempting Fate (40 page)

She sat cross-legged on the walk, feeling the gritty sand embedded there dig into her thighs. With her hand splayed, she touched the tiny print she’d made years ago. Back then her only ambition was to please her parents. How had she gotten so headstrong and stubborn that she’d sabotage her own happiness with Devin just to prove them wrong?

A crunching sound on the pavement caused her to look up. She was met by her brother Manny’s warm smile.

“That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?” Manny held his arms open wide and Cara rushed up to give her brother a hug. “I knew I’d find you here. Everyone’s been worried?”

“I know. I should have been here to see Mom and Dad off,” she sobbed. “I’ve been so stupid.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She pulled away, wiping her tears from her cheeks as she looked at him. It amazed her that after all this time seeing him in the collar, she still could look at Manny and see the snotty little brother he’d always been to her. “Who’s been talking about me?”

He laughed. “Everyone! When the bride doesn’t show up for her own wedding, people start to talk.”

“What do--you mean they’re all down at the church...waiting for me?”

“Yes. Mom sent me back here to see if I could find you. Devin’s having a coronary.”

Her eyes flew open wide. “Devin’s there!?”

Manny chuckled. “It’s usually customary for the groom to be present at the wedding, too.”

“Wedding,” she muttered. Yes, it was Labor Day. It was supposed to be the day her parents would renew their wedding vows. Or rather, she and Devin would become man and wife.

“I thought he’d gone back to Manhattan.”

Manny shook his head. “You can’t get rid of Devin that easy. Not this time anyway.” He pointed to the moving van. “This is all his stuff.”

Tears rolled down Cara’s cheeks and she trembled. “Devin bought the house?” She couldn’t believe it. This must have been one of the “plans” Devin had mentioned while they were in Nantucket. Except she’d been too stubborn to listen to him.

Manny bent down and kissed her cheek. “Come on, Sis. This isn’t just Mom’s day, it belongs to you and Devin, too. Your gown is down at the church. All we have to do is get you there.”

* * *

The organist started to play the traditional wedding march as Harold took Cara by the arm. She was wearing the dress intended to be a bridesmaid’s dress for her mother and father’s ceremony. But then, of course, her mother had planned this whole affair all along with Cara being the center of attention. It was her wedding day.

“Wait, Daddy.”

Harold groaned and checked the watch on his wrist. “What now?”

“I need to see Devin.”

He grinned. “Honey, you have the rest of your life.”

“No, I need to see him before we get married.”

“Why?”

“I just do.”

“Are you sure?”

Cara nodded. “Please?”

Harold heaved a sigh. “Okay, but your mother won’t be too happy about the groom seeing you in your dress before the wedding.”

Cocking her head, she sputtered, “All of the sudden she’s going to pull tradition on me?”

He nodded. “You have a point, dear. I’ll see if I can smuggle him back here without your mother catching wind of it.”

She threw her arms around her father. “Thank you, Daddy.”

As the door closed, Cara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She’d never told Devin she loved him. Somehow, that was vitally important for her to do before they became man and wife. Nothing else mattered more than that. The cake could melt in the heat, the balloons could pop, the canopy on the back lawn of the rectory could collapse, and all the flowers in Westport could go ahead and wilt in the sun.

But it was important that Devin knew she was marrying him because she loved him more than anything else in the world. She always had and she always would. She needed to say it and he deserved to hear it from her first, before she professed it in front of a church filled with people.

Cara paced the room, smoothing down the skirt of her dress with her sweaty palms. She turned to the sound of the knock on the door and waited for it to open before she was able to breathe again.

Devin’s worried face greeted her. He looked bewildered, tired, and absolutely the most wonderful sight a girl could ever hope for. His black tuxedo was neat as a pin and he filled out every inch of it as if it were tailor formed to his body.

It took visible effort for him to breathe, too, as he carefully closed the door to the bride’s room behind him and took a few steps into the room. His face, she’d never forget it, was like that of a starving man who’d finally had a banquet laid out in front of him.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered, then took in a deep breath, stretching the fabric of his tuxedo jacket against his chest.

She couldn’t help but feel giddy and lightheaded. “Do you really think so?”

He smiled at her shocked expression. “I always have.”

She looked down at the bouquet of tiny pink and white princess roses in her hand. “What are we doing here?”

“I thought we were getting married.” For a fleeting second a worried expression clouded his smile. “Are we?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” No, that wasn’t it. That’s not what she wanted to say. “You were right. I was scared, Devin. The way I behaved, it was never that I didn’t want to be with you. So much was changing around me, Mom and Dad moving to Florida, me re-evaluating my life, you coming back to Westport. I was scared of all that change and I thought, if I could just keep us the way we were, you wouldn’t leave, too.”

She bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering.

“I just want you to be the first to hear me say how much I truly love you.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and advanced toward her. She wanted so much for him to take her in his arms and melt the uncertainty away, but there was still so much that needed to be said. She held up her hand to keep him from his quest and his expression collapsed.

“Is that really enough, Dev? We’ve been down this road before. I don’t want to blow it.”

“That's not going to happen,” he assured her with a smile. “Seventeen years ago we weren’t ready to love each other. Our ambition never would have survived if our love did. One of us would have had to give up our dreams for the other to realize theirs. I had to leave you then because I couldn’t face us having to choose. But we don’t have to make that choice anymore.”

“Are you sure? This is all so crazy.”

“Sure it is. But what’s even crazier is if we let this chance slip away from us.” He looked at her, pleading like a desperate man about to hang on the noose. “I love you, Cara. Nothing else matters as much as that anymore. Nothing.”

It was if the clouds parted and the heavens were shining down on them. It all made sense with Devin, just like she knew it would. Time had seasoned them enough to realize what was important.

She hooked her arm around his and reached up, giving him a sound kiss on the mouth. “I guess we’ve waited long enough, huh?”

He smiled his answer and led her to the door. After opening it a crack, she pushed back the door and swung around, a sinking feeling flooding her stomach.

“The marriage license,” she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

“What about it?”

“My mother must have had it forged. It’s not legal!”

Devin returned a devilish grin, pulling her into his arms. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

She pushed at his chest, not finding the same humor he found in their predicament. “I finally have all that I want right here in my arms and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it go now on a minor technicality. I want this marriage contract to be legal!”

“Don’t worry,” he whispered, opening the door. “Manny is used to your mother’s antics, remember? He’s got another marriage license for us to sign right after the ceremony. We can take that down to city hall and apply for a valid license then. This marriage contract is legal.”

Minutes later, with her arm hooked on her father’s, staring at Devin through the sheer fabric of her veil, she realized, in their hearts, it had always been.

The End

# # #

THE KNIGHT AND MAGGIE’S BABY

by

Lisa Mondello

KINDLE EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Lisa Mondello

THE KNIGHT AND MAGGIE’S BABY

Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Mondello

License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only or been authorized through the Kindle Lend program then you should it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Sometimes fate needs a little help…

Jonah Wallace knows what it’s like to grow up without love. Despite having more money than the Queen of England, his childhood was cold and stale as he grew up in boarding schools. He’s dedicated his life to helping homeless and displaced children find the love and support they need by creating the Haven House Foundation, work that resulted in him being knighted by the Queen.

Now that he’s living in America, his work is going along just fine…until his grandfather gives fate a little nudge by insisting he take a wife before he can inherit.

Coffee shop owner, Maggie Bonelli, is pregnant and the baby’s dad has gone AWOL. She knows too well the pain of growing up without a daddy. So when Jonah Wallace comes into her shop proposing marriage for a year, she takes him up on his offer, even if it’s only for a year. Live in a mansion and give her baby a name and a daddy to call his/her own. But can they keep their perfect arraignment strictly business…or will fate’s helping hand bring them love at last?

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THE KNIGHT AND MAGGIE’S BABY

Chapter One

There were more digits in his bank account than most corporate portfolios saw in a lifetime of business.  But right now, for the second time in his life, Jonah Wallace had empty pockets. 

As a flurry of people swirled around him, he stood on the crowded Harvard Square sidewalk, roasting in the blistering sun, contemplating his options, such as they were.  Dragging a deep breath of humidity into his lungs, he decided it was no use.  He was going to have to swallow a mammoth lump of pride to get out of this pickle. 

The first time he'd been forced to admit his failings he'd been thirteen, alone, and on the run.  He had made an oath then it would be the last time he found himself in such a scrape.  The fact that he was standing there penniless, wearing a satin-lined tuxedo in the middle of an August steam bath of an afternoon, the sun unmercifully beating him into the concrete, only magnified his current predicament. 

How had he managed to let this happen again?

A taxi horn whined loud and long at his back, signaling the driver's unrest over the hordes of people jaywalking through the Square.  Every one of them was in a hurry to go somewhere.  At this time of the day, they were probably all heading home, which was where he intended to go. 

But first...

He dragged his gaze back to the coffee shop door.  It was his last hope.  Tugging on his bow tie to give him some needed room, he reasoned the fastest way to make it home and deal with his disastrous day would be to swallow what was left of his stolen pride. 

That is if he didn't choke on it first.

As his hand connected with the door handle, the heated metal bit into his palm.  Jonah yanked open the door in front of which he had just spent the last ten minutes standing, hoping there was no one other than the owner inside.  If he had no choice but to grovel, he'd prefer it be without audience.

As he swung through the doorway, the cool air from the air conditioning bathed his face, giving him immediate relief from the heat.

He drew in a deep breath to gather some courage and scanned the empty diner as his eyes adjusted from the sudden change of light.  The room smelled of sugar and cinnamon and gravy.  A strangely appealing combination, he thought.  But at this point, anything was appealing.  His stomach protested loudly at the scent of food assaulting his nostrils.  Yeah, he was starving, but first things first.

Jonah had never stepped foot inside the small coffee shop, despite the fact that he practically lived at his office, located just across the street, for the past three years.  The diner was compact; just a few booths lined the outer-glassed wall.  A few more tables with red and white checked vinyl tablecloths occupied the center of the room.  It reminded him more of something he'd see in the North End of Boston rather than Harvard Square.

Clusters of white spotlights shone against the brightly colored walls, and it took a moment for his eyes to register the color fully.  Behind the counter were rows of parfait cups lying upside down on a glass shelf along with glasses and dinnerware.

A picture on the wall by the kitchen door caught his attention.  Since the restaurant was empty, he took a few steps toward the counter for a better look.  The photo was of two women, one elderly and one much younger, maybe even in her early teens, standing on the sidewalk from which he'd just come, arm in arm, smiling affectionately.  Draped around the frame was a tiny cross of gold on a delicate chain.

A swish of cool air blew into the room.  Instinctively, he glanced up toward the source.  That's when he noticed the woman standing in the kitchen doorway, one arm on the door, the other in the pocket of her apron.  She let go of the door and breezed into the dining room, slipping a psychedelic purple pencil from her apron pocket, and reaching for a small notepad at the same time.  

“You caught me.  I was just about to close up the shop early.  I think the heat has been keeping people away.” 

Her voice was smooth as velvet and her smile seemed genuine, not just pasted on for show.  Her rich dark hair was pulled back tight into a ponytail, resistant tendrils curled around her face, framing high cheekbones.