Want Me (18 page)
“So, I’ve made a couple of changes to my itinerary,” he said.
“Don’t tell me you have to leave sooner than you’d planned.”
He shouldn’t have started off so glibly. Shannon looked as though one more blow would do her in. “No, I’m not. In fact, I’m not leaving at all.”
Her fork clattered on her plate. “What? What does that mean?”
He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “It means I’m not going back to Bali. Or going to Africa. Well, okay, I’ll have to go to Bali to get my things, but I’m hoping you’ll come with me, because you really need a vacation after this week.”
Shannon stared at him, her lips parted, her eyebrows raised in a perfect picture of shocked surprise. “That makes no sense.”
“Why not?”
“You love your job. Your work is everything to you.”
“Not…quite,” he said. Then he picked up his glass of wine and held it as if in a toast. “Turns out, you’re everything to me.”
That didn’t make her any less shocked. In fact, he wondered if she should be worried about how pale she looked. “Shannon?”
“Did you just say…?”
“Yeah. I’m staying here, in New York. In the co-op I just bought. And I’m hoping you’ll consider moving into that co-op with me. When we’ve finished furnishing the place.”
“What about…everything?”
“I’ve decided there’s my kind of work to be done right here in the city. I’m going to buy out Albert Gill’s half of the business. We’re still going to make fast-food franchise buildings and ugly strip malls, but I’m also going to repurpose our business plan to include restoration and rebuilding of community areas, starting with a certain corner basketball court. If the owners let us, that is. Anyway, I’m an urban planner and architect, and New York needs my kind of people. So I’m staying.”
Shannon’s mouth opened, then closed. Then she leaned forward. “You mentioned living together?”
“Right. That’s kind of key to the whole deal. See, I’ve fallen in love with you. I didn’t expect to, but you are just the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met, and the idea of leaving you doesn’t work for me anymore. I want to start a new life here, Shannon. With you. I’d like for you to consider working on the nonprofit side of the new firm. Only if you want to. I still think you’d be fantastic on the city council, but more than that, you should find out what you want. I hope that what you want includes me.”
“You’ve fallen in love with me.”
He hadn’t seen her blink in a while. “Yeah. Pretty hard, to be honest.”
“Oh. I…”
“Shannon? You okay?”
She blinked. And then she smiled. And it was one hell of a smile. “I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”
“Thank God.” He put his wine down, then went over to where Shannon was sitting. He leaned over and kissed her. Then he kissed her again. “This is a whole new beginning.”
“We can start our own legacy,” she whispered, her eyes moist and sparkling.
He brushed the back of his fingers across her pale cheek. “It’s going to be fantastic. Even the scary parts.”
She laughed. Then she stood up, and they kissed some more.
* * *
B
Y
THE
TIME
THEY
GOT
TO
THE
park on Sunday, Shannon had gotten a lot of things straightened out in her head. She had personal apologies yet to make, and no matter how many of her friends from the lunch exchange said it wasn’t necessary, she would be in touch with every single trading card man.
She’d gotten on a speaker call with the family, who’d made a few decisions of their own. They weren’t going to sell the plant after all. Brady wanted to stay, and there were so many new orders and so much interest in the trading cards that they were going to hold off. See what happened. But they were going to have to find themselves a new Shannon. Because after she’d helped train whomever they hired, she was going to be busy.
Moving out of the brownstone was going to be a huge undertaking. For everyone. Her parents would be heading off to sunny Florida. Brady was moving in with Paula. And she was heading to a brand-new life with Nate.
The booths were all set up, the Easter baskets looked terrific on the beautiful April day and her whole clan was already in position. Little kids were arriving in their Sunday best, Easter bonnets were everywhere and the sound of laughter rippled in the breeze.
When Shannon tried to get behind the counter to take donations, she was summarily dismissed by one of her mother’s book-club friends. In fact, Shannon wasn’t needed anywhere. Friends from the lunch exchange, from the neighborhood, the church, business contacts…it felt as if everyone she’d ever met was in the park that afternoon, and they all wanted to speak to her about the trading cards, about that horrible Grant Yost and how he was so apologetic on the news. And on the internet. And on every other local New York TV station.
It was all pretty glorious. But the best part was the man with his arm around her shoulders. The man she’d fallen head over heels in love with.
The man whose trading card was still in her purse.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459225824
Copyright © 2012 by Jolie Kramer
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