“I was afraid of losing you.”
“That won’t happen,” she told him. “Don’t you know how I feel about you?”
When he didn’t reply, she said, “I wasn’t planning to fall in love again, but—”
“You love me?” he interrupted.
Shana hadn’t meant to declare her feelings so soon, and certainly not like this. The way she’d envisioned the scene, it would be a romantic moment over dinner and champagne, not in the middle of her small rental house, with her niece standing in the bedroom doorway listening to every word.
“She does,” Jazmine answered for Shana. “She’s been impossible ever since you went to Hawaii.”
“Jazmine,” Shana warned.
“Sorry,” the girl muttered.
“Maybe it’d be best if you closed your door,” Adam suggested.
Jazmine stamped her foot and shouted “Okay,” but when Shana’s gaze shot down the hallway, she noticed that her niece’s bedroom door was only halfway shut.
“You were saying?” Adam said and motioned for her to continue.
“I forget where I was.”
“I believe you’d just declared your undying love for me. I’d like to hear more.”
“I’m sure you would,” she said, smiling despite their interruptions, “but I was thinking it would be good to hear how you feel, too.”
“You will, I promise,” Adam assured her, “but I’d appreciate if you finished your thoughts first. You were saying you hadn’t planned to fall in love…”
Shana lowered her eyes. It was difficult to think clearly when she was looking at Adam. The effect he had on her was that powerful. “I think sometimes love finds you when you least expect it. As you might’ve guessed, my opinion of the opposite sex was somewhere in the basement when I came to Seattle. And then Jazmine arrived. At first I envied the easy relationship you two shared. And my sister couldn’t stop singing your praises.”
“You weren’t in the mood to hear anything positive about a man. Any man.”
“Exactly,” Shana concurred. “But you were so patient with Jazmine and…you were patient with me, too.”
“I was attracted to you from the moment we met.”
“Really?”
“You knocked my socks off.” They both grinned at that. Then his expression grew serious again. “Having this surgery wasn’t a pleasant experience.” He pressed his hand gently to his shoulder. “I was in pain, and my life felt empty, and all of a sudden you were on the scene. I felt as soon as we met that I could love you.”
“You did?” Her voice lifted with joy.
“And I do love you. I recognized that I had to give you time. Coming out of a long-term relationship, you were bound to need an adjustment period. I understood that. But I don’t think you have any idea how badly I wanted to be with you.”
“You love me,” she repeated, hardly hearing anything else he’d said. “You love me!”
“I know you wanted to marry Bernie—”
“It’s Brad, and no…not anymore.”
“Good, because I’m hoping you’ll marry me.”
Jazmine’s bedroom door flew open. “Aunt Shana, say yes. I beg of you, say yes!”
“Jazmine!” Shana and Adam shouted simultaneously.
“Okay, okay,” the nine-year-old moaned and retreated back inside her bedroom.
Adam hesitated only briefly. “Well, what do you think?”
“You mean about us getting married?” Just saying the words produced an inner happiness that radiated from her heart to every single part of her. “Being your wife would make me the happiest woman alive.”
Adam stood and she met him halfway. Seconds later, they were locked in each other’s arms and his mouth was on hers. From the way he kissed her, she knew he’d been telling the truth. He loved her! After several deep kisses, Adam raised his head and framed her face with both hands. His eyes bored intently into hers.
“One question, and if my asking offends you, I apologize in advance. I need to know something.”
“Anything.”
His eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Why was it necessary to talk to Ber—Brad?”
Shana sighed and kissed his jaw. “I wanted to say goodbye to him properly.”
“And you intended to see me next week.”
She nodded, then caught the lobe of his ear between her teeth and gently bit down on the soft flesh. The shiver that went through him encouraged her to further exploration.
“What were you going to say to me?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper.
“Hmm…” she responded, her thoughts clouded with desire. “Hello, and that I’m crazy in love with you.”
“Good answer.” Adam directed his mouth back to hers, and soon they were deeply involved in another kiss.
The sound of a throat being cleared broke into Shana’s consciousness several seconds later.
“Did you two forget something?” Jazmine asked, hands on her hips. “Like me?”
Shana buried her face in Adam’s shoulder.
“Howdy, squirt,” he managed in a voice Shana barely recognized as his.
“This is all very good, but we have a wedding to plan, you know.”
“A wedding?” Shana lifted her head and murmured, “We have plenty of time to work on that.”
“I don’t think so,” Jazmine insisted. “We’ll be in Hawaii next week. We should do it then. Let’s get this show on the road!”
“Next week?” Shana looked questioningly at Adam, not sure that arranging a wedding in such a short time was even possible.
“Would you be willing?” he asked, catching Jazmine’s enthusiasm.
Shana nodded. “Of course, but only if Ali can be there. I want her at our wedding.”
Adam brought her close. “I do, too.”
Jazmine applauded loudly. “I know it isn’t good manners to say I told you so,” she announced with smug satisfaction, “but this time I can’t help it.”
“We’ll let you,” Adam said, his arms around Shana. “Because this time you’re absolutely right.”
Shana leaned against the man who would soon be her husband and sighed with contentment. She’d never known that being wrong could feel so right.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Mom!” Jazmine slammed into the bathroom of Shana’s old house in West Seattle, where Ali was preparing for work. They’d been living there for the last seven weeks, ever since her discharge from the Navy. Her life and that of her sister’s had been a whirlwind for the past half year.
Once Shana and Adam had decided on marriage, their wedding had happened fast, but not quite as fast as originally planned. Fortunately—for the convenience of the guests—it had taken place in Seattle, not Hawaii. No sooner had Ali returned to San Diego in December than she boarded a plane to Washington for the wedding. From everything she heard, in phone calls and e-mails, Shana and Adam were blissfully happy and enjoying life in Honolulu.
At the end of her tour, Alison had left the USS Woodrow Wilson and within a matter of weeks was released from her commitment to the Navy.
Because Shana had signed a lease on the rental house in Seattle, Ali was able to move there. Jazmine was back in the same school now and doing well. Ali liked Seattle and it was as good a place to settle as any.
The retired couple who’d purchased Shana’s ice-cream and pizza parlor had been accommodating and helpful when Ali arrived in Seattle. They loved her daughter and she loved them, too.
“Mom,” Jazmine repeated. “Do you remember what today is?”
As if anyone needed to remind her. “Yes, sweetheart, I remember.”
“It’s Dad’s birthday—and it’s the day you’re meeting Commander Dillon.” Apparently her daughter felt it was necessary to tell her, anyway. “What time?” she asked urgently.
“One o’clock in Pike Place Market.” Alison had arranged a half day off before she’d been hired at West Seattle Hospital. Her hand shook as she brushed her hair. Frank
and Alison talked nearly every day and sent e-mail messages when it wasn’t possible to chat on the phone.
Because of Navy regulations, they’d controlled their growing attraction and their intense feelings for each other while they were aboard the carrier. But now that Alison had been officially discharged, they were free to explore those emotions, and to express them. Circumstances had made that challenging; Alison had moved to Seattle and Frank was stationed in San Diego with the USS Woodrow Wilson.
“He’s going to ask you to marry him.”
“Jazmine!” Overnight her daughter had turned into a romance expert. Given the success of her matchmaking efforts with Shana and Adam, the girl was convinced she had an aptitude for this.
“Mom, Commander Dillon would be a fool not to marry you.”
Frank and Jazmine routinely chatted via the Internet, too. Maybe her daughter knew something she didn’t, but Alison doubted it.
“You’re in love with him,” Jazmine said with all the confidence of one who had insider information, “and he’s crazy about you.”
“Jazmine!”
“Yup, that’s my name.”
Alison put down her brush and inhaled a calming breath. “I’m very fond of Frank…. He’s a wonderful man, but we barely know each other.”
“I like him,” her daughter said.
“I know and I like him, too.”
“Like?” Jazmine scoffed and shook her head. “Who are you kidding? I don’t understand adults. Every time I tell him he should marry you, Commander Dillon—”
“What?” Alison exploded, outraged that her daughter had this sort of conversation with Frank. Her face burned with mortification; she could only imagine what he must think.
“Don’t go ballistic on me, Mom. You know Commander Dillon and I e-mail each other.”
“Yes, but…”
“Okay, okay,” Jazmine asserted, shaking her head as if she were losing her patience. “Here’s the deal. You and Commander Dillon talk, and if you need me to sort anything out for you, just let me know. He’s coming to dinner tonight, isn’t he?”
“I invited him, but—”
“He’ll be here.” She kissed Alison on the cheek and added, “I’ve gotta go or I’ll be late for the bus. Have a great day.” With that Jazmine headed out of the bathroom. She grabbed her coat and backpack, and adjusted her hood against the January drizzle.
Alison followed her to the door and watched her daughter meet her friends and walk to the bus stop. Jazmine seemed utterly sure that this meeting with Frank would have a fairy-tale ending. Alison wished she shared her daughter’s positive attitude. She was nervous and didn’t mind admitting it.
In an effort to settle her nerves, Alison reached for the phone to call her sister. Remembering the time difference between the West Coast and Hawaii, she replaced it. Eight Seattle time was far too early to phone Shana and even if she reached her, Alison wouldn’t know what to say.
By noon when she left the hospital and drove into downtown Seattle her stomach was in a state of chaos. Jazmine knew her far too well. Alison did love Frank. She had for months, and now they were finally meeting at the time and place they’d arranged last summer. Because she was no longer in the Navy, there were no official barriers between them. As for other kinds of obstacles…She didn’t know.
After parking in a waterfront lot, Alison climbed the stairs up to Pike Place Market, coming in the back entrance. They’d agreed to meet at the figure of the bronze pig in front. Her heart pounded hard, but that had little to do with the flight of stairs she’d just climbed. A glance at her watch told her she was fifteen minutes early.
A part of her feared Frank wouldn’t show. Shades of that old movie, An Affair to Remember.
It had started to rain and the sky was dark gray. This was an ominous sign as far as Alison was concerned. The fishmongers were busily arranging seafood on beds of crushed ice as tourists and shoppers crowded the aisles. With extra time on her hands, Alison could do a bit of shopping. But her nerves were stretched so tight she didn’t think she was capable of doing anything more than standing next to the bronze pig.
To her surprise, Frank was already there, looking around anxiously. He seemed uncomfortable and unsure of himself, and almost immediately Ali’s unease left her.
“Did you think I wouldn’t come?” she asked softly, walking over to meet him.
From experience, Alison knew Frank wasn’t a man who smiled often. But when he saw her, his face underwent a transformation and he broke into a wide grin.
Alison wasn’t sure who moved first, but in the next moment, she was in his arms. They clung to each other for a long time. It would be completely out of character for him to kiss her in such a public place, and she accepted that.
“Have you had lunch?” he asked, as she reluctantly stepped out of his embrace.
“No, but there’s a great chowder bar on the waterfront,” she told him. As they held hands, she led him down the same path she’d recently taken from the parking area. She liked the feel of his hand in hers, and the way that simple action connected them.
They ordered fish and chips and ate outside under a large canopy on the wharf, protected from the elements. She felt too tense to be hungry. They talked very little.
“The ferry’s coming in,” Alison said and by unspoken agreement they walked to the end of the pier to watch it glide toward the dock.
Standing side by side, they gazed out over the choppy water of Puget Sound. After a few minutes, Frank placed an arm around her shoulders. Alison leaned against him, savoring this closeness to the man she loved.
Without warning, he turned her so that she faced him and then he kissed her. His mouth was gentle and she instinctively opened to him. Seconds later his hands were in her hair, bunching it as he slanted his lips over hers and his kiss grew more insistent.
With his arms around her, Frank rested his chin on her head. “I told myself I wouldn’t do that,” he said in a low voice. “Not here, not like this.”
“I think I would’ve died if you hadn’t,” she whispered back.
“I’m no bargain, Alison.”
“Stop.”
“No, I mean it, but God help me, I love you and I know I’ll love Jazmine, too.”
Alison smiled softly. “She’s eager to meet you in person.”
His arms relaxed as he brushed his lips against her temple. “I have a week’s leave, but then I have to head back to San Diego. It isn’t much time to make an important decision, but I’m hoping that by the end of the week you’ll know how you feel about me.”
Alison didn’t need any time; her decision was made.
“I know you loved Peter and that he’s Jazmine’s father,” Frank continued.
“I’ll always love Peter,” Alison said.
“I want you to. He was your husband and he died serving his country. I respect him and I have no intention of replacing him in your life or Jazmine’s.”
“Frank, what are you saying?”
He inhaled harshly. “I was hoping, praying actually, that by the end of this week you might know your feelings well enough…What I mean is that I’d like you to be my wife.”
“I don’t need a week—”
“You do,” he told her, “we both do.” And he kissed her again with such abandon and joy that when he released her, Alison was convinced she’d rather be in his arms than breathe.
A week later, just before Frank was scheduled to return to San Diego, the three of them planned dinner together. While Alison flitted about the kitchen checking on their meal, Jazmine set the table.
Before they sat down to eat, Frank pulled two small boxes out of his pocket and ceremonially placed them on the table.
Alison was carrying a large green salad and nearly dropped the bowl when she saw the velvet cases.
Frank glanced at her with a mildly guilty look. “If you’d rather wait until after dinner, that’s fine, but I know I’d enjoy the meal a lot more if I had your answer first.?
??
“Do I get to choose between two rings?” she asked, wondering why he’d brought two boxes.
“No,” he said. “There’s a necklace in one of them for Jazmine.”
Her daughter came out of the kitchen clutching three bottles of salad dressing. It didn’t take her long to assess the situation. “The answer is yes,” Jazmine stated matter-of-factly.
“Yes,” Alison echoed, nodding vigorously.
Frank opened the first of the two velvet boxes and slipped the small single-pearl necklace around Jazmine’s neck and fastened it. “I felt it was important that I make a promise to you, too,” he said to Ali’s daughter. “I wanted to assure you that I will love you. I plan to be a good stepfather and, most importantly, I vow to always love your mother.”
Jazmine blinked back tears and so did Alison. “I’ll wear it every day and I swear I’ll never lose it.” Frank hugged the child.
Then he opened the second box and took out a large solitaire diamond ring. While Alison tried not to weep, he slipped it onto her ring finger. He held her gaze, and in his eyes Alison saw his love and the promise he was making. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
The doorbell chimed, and before Jazmine could race toward it, the door opened and Shana hurried into the house, Adam directly behind her. “We aren’t too late, are we?” she asked, laughing and excited. “Frank’s still here, isn’t he?”
“Shana.” Alison ran across the room to her sister and they threw their arms around each other.
Frank and Adam shook hands and introduced themselves.
“Actually, your timing’s perfect,” Alison told Shana, and with tears clouding her eyes, she thrust out her left hand so her sister could examine her engagement ring.
Shana squealed with joy and hugged Alison excitedly, then hugged her brother-in-law to be.
“How did you know?” Alison asked.
“We didn’t,” Adam answered. “We came because we have some exciting news of our own.”
“We’re pregnant,” Shana burst out.
Now it was Alison’s turn to shout with happiness.
“Can I babysit?” Jazmine asked. “I could spend the summers with you in Hawaii and—”