Ten Years Later... Read online

  “Please, be blunt,” she instructed, waiting to hear just what he was plotting.

  “I’m trying to give the two of you some alone time—together,” he threw in just in case Brianna was going to twist his words around.

  A sad smile curved the corners of her mouth.

  “That’s very sweet of you, Dad, but you could have saved yourself the trouble of coming here. Sebastian’s in his room packing. His mother is doing very well, so he’s ready to go back to his life and I really doubt that there’s much of a reason for me to be here much longer anyway.”

  She saw that the last piece of information didn’t seem to surprise her father. There was only one reason for that.

  “She never really had heart trouble, did she?” She didn’t wait for him to answer her. “Dad, if this is some kind of a plot that the two of you cooked up, I’m afraid you’ve been wasting your time. Sebastian’s going back to Japan.”

  He’d never known his daughter to give up on anything easily. “In the words of the immortal and far-wiser-than-given-credit-for Yogi Berra, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over.’”

  Brianna sighed. She was not about to knock her head against a stone wall. “Well, it’s over. Trust me,” she said with finality.

  Her father stared at her in complete disbelief. “So that’s it?” he asked incredulously. “You’re just giving up? You, the girl who kept kicking me in the behind because I said the doctors were right? The girl who said she absolutely refused to let me give up?”

  She’d already accepted defeat—why couldn’t he? “That was different,” she insisted.

  “How?” Jim asked. “How was that different from this?”

  Why was he making this so hard for her? “Because it just was. For one thing, you didn’t have a life waiting for you in Japan. You were intent on resigning from life.”

  “But you told me I had a choice. A choice,” he repeated. “And Sebastian has a choice. Just like I did,” he maintained.

  Maybe so, she thought, but he’d picked the wrong one. “Well, he’s choosing to leave,” she told her father, struggling to keep her voice from quavering.

  No matter what she said, Jim found that really difficult to believe. “Did you tell him how you feel?” he prodded.

  More than anything, Brianna wanted to deny that she felt anything at all, but that would be lying and she had never lied to her father.

  “If he doesn’t know by now...” She let her voice trail off, but her meaning was clear.

  “So you didn’t tell him,” her father concluded. He sighed, shaking his head. “Honey, because I love you, I’m going to tell you something that’s going to violate the sacred man-code.” He leaned into her and said in a stage whisper, “We don’t read minds—and when it comes to relationships, we need all the help, all the outright hints we can get.” He looked at her pointedly. “For God’s sake, tell him how you feel. Ask him to stay—unless you don’t want him to,” he qualified, never taking his eyes off his daughter.

  It was a choice between saving face and telling the truth. Since this was her father, she was forced to go with the truth.

  “Of course I want him to stay, but wanting him to isn’t enough.”

  He’d always bragged to everyone that his daughter was incredibly bright—but not this time. “I think you’re wrong there.”

  “Dad, what if I ask him to stay...and he tells me he can’t? Or he won’t?” Which would have been even worse to bear.

  “You’ll never know unless you put yourself out there, Bree.” His eyes, so like hers, held her captive. “And he won’t tell you he can’t stay.” He looked at her and said with conviction, “I know that for a fact.”

  “How? How do you know that?” she demanded, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest, drawing hope. “Did he say something to you?” Not that she thought that was even remotely possible. When would he be talking to her father? And why?

  “No,” he told her, “he didn’t say anything to me.”

  She was aware of how carefully he phrased his reply. “Then to who?” she asked, the edge of her temper becoming frayed.

  Jim debated not saying anything further. But if he didn’t, his daughter would allow the love of her life to leave—for a second time.

  Jim made his decision. “Sebastian intimated as much to his mother.”

  “His mother?” she echoed, stunned. “When did you talk to his mother?” And then she amended her question. “Why are you talking to his mother? Dad, what’s going on here?”

  “Nothing,” Jim lamented, “if the two of you continue to insist on remaining in second gear.”

  “Dad, ten years have gone by since Sebastian and I were ‘together,’ as you put it,” she protested. “We missed our chance.”

  “Who says you only get one chance?” he pressed, then insisted, “Honey, you have been given a second chance. It’s up to the two of you to take advantage of it. Look at it this way,” he advised. “Maybe everything that happened happened for a reason. If it hadn’t, you would have missed out on having Carrie in your life and Carrie would have wound up being swallowed up by the system. You also wouldn’t have become the wonderful nurse that you are today.

  “And maybe,” he speculated, “things were supposed to go this long, roundabout route so that Barbara and I would get together.”

  A medium-size feather could have easily knocked her over. “You and Barbara,” she repeated, utterly stunned by his revelation. “Together?”

  “Yes. Me and Barbara. We’ve been keeping company,” he told her quaintly. “And to tell the truth, I’ve been thinking of asking her to marry me.”

  Maybe a small feather rather than a medium-size one. “When did all this happen?” she cried. Had she been completely blind and oblivious to everything? Or had they been seeing one another covertly? She was usually far more observant than this.

  “I don’t run everything past you,” Jim told his daughter. “It’s enough for you to know it happened—and that I’m hoping you won’t disappoint me and become a bystander in your own life.” He looked at her significantly. “Now, go and get your second chance while I go and spend some quality time with my granddaughter—” he smiled broadly “—and my girl.”

  Because he definitely appeared to be looking past her shoulder, Brianna turned around. What she saw was Carrie walking into the room. She was holding on to Barbara’s hand. A very hale-and-hearty-looking Barbara, she noted.

  There was a glow about the older woman when she looked at her father. They definitely had a connection, Brianna thought.

  “Grandpa is going to make dinner for Mrs. Hunter and me,” Carrie announced cheerfully. “And then we’re going to watch Little People,” she added, referring to a popular children’s movie that had just hit the DVD market.

  Carrie seemed so excited, Brianna didn’t have the heart to say anything except, “Well, have a good time, honey.” Bending down to her level, she gave the little girl a warm hug and kissed her. Carrie dutifully stood still for it, even though it looked as if she wanted to wiggle free.

  “You, too, dear,” Barbara told her significantly as Brianna rose back to her feet.

  Her father offered Sebastian’s mother his arm, which the older woman readily accepted, slipping her own through his.

  “Don’t wait up,” her father told her with a wink.

  And then just like that, he, Carrie and Sebastian’s mother were gone.

  Brianna stood there for a moment in the silent house, staring at the closed door and mulling over her father’s words. She debated whether to ignore them—or act on them.

  She chewed on her lower lip nervously. What if her father was wrong?

  What if he was right and she did nothing?

  Torn, Brianna decided that if she didn’t confront Sebastian about her feelings, if she let thi
s moment just slide by and slip into oblivion, she would never forgive herself.

  Bracing her shoulders, she took a deep breath and went up the stairs. She felt as if she was walking up to his door in slow motion. Even so, she couldn’t get herself to knock right away.

  Instead, she stood there for a moment—maybe even several minutes—arguing with herself in silence.

  This was getting her nowhere. Since when was she such a coward? Brianna silently demanded.

  Biting off a choice word, she knocked on the door.

  The moment she did, the door flew open and she found herself looking up into Sebastian’s soul-melting brown eyes.

  How was she going to face not seeing him again?

  The sudden sharp ache in her abdomen answered the question for her. She wasn’t going to face it. She couldn’t. Not without a fight.

  “Something wrong, Bree?” he asked her. “Is it my mother?” he asked, suddenly thinking the worst. That was where his thoughts were going as he packed, to the worst scenarios. He realized that what he was really trying to do was talk himself into staying a little longer.

  And not just because of his mother...

  “No, she’s fine. Really,” she assured him. Okay, then what are you going to tell him about why you’re standing in his doorway? She searched for an answer. “I just thought I’d pop in for a second...to see if you needed any help packing,” she concluded, looking at the open suitcase on the bed.

  Turning, Sebastian followed her line of vision and then shrugged. He’d been at it for a while, moving in slow motion.

  “I was never very good at packing,” he confessed.

  “Maybe that’s because you don’t want to go,” she suggested matter-of-factly. Brianna held her breath, waiting for his reaction—knowing she was going out on a long, shaky limb.

  Sebastian eyed her sharply. Was he that transparent? “What makes you say that?”

  Brianna sighed, wavering. She debated backtracking. But she’d come this far, so she might as well go the distance.

  “Wishful thinking,” she answered quietly.

  Sebastian realized he was holding his breath. “By wishful thinking you mean—”

  “That I don’t want you to go, okay?” she finally blurted out.

  Her answer made him laugh. “That’s funny, because I really don’t want to go,” he heard himself confessing. Once the words were out, he felt a huge sense of relief.

  She didn’t understand. This whole day, he’d seemed so focused on leaving. “But then why are you packing?” she asked.

  “Because if I stay, I might get used to it, used to being here with you—”

  She was still waiting to hear something convincing. “And that would be bad because...?”

  Pacing now, Sebastian blew out a breath. “Because I have no right to think that you could forgive me for allowing us to drift apart the way I did.”

  The fault wasn’t his alone, she thought now. “It takes two to drift,” Brianna pointed out. “And if you forgive me, I’ll forgive you,” she told him, still holding her breath, still waiting to see if she’d made a mistake by being so honest with him.

  “That easy?” he asked, amused despite himself.

  Brianna watched him for a long moment. She wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not, but she knew that she was, at least about the forgiving part. She wanted no more stumbling blocks, no more obstacles in their way. They’d already lost too much time. To lose more would only be compounding the sin, adding insult to injury.

  “That easy,” she assured him with a smile.

  Overwhelmed, relieved, Sebastian impulsively took her into his arms and kissed her.

  And then stopped abruptly.

  He couldn’t afford to let himself get carried away, no matter how much he wanted to. It was too early in the evening. He was certain that both Carrie and his mother were still awake.

  “Something on your mind?” she asked, mentally crossing her fingers that, whatever it was, it wasn’t going to make him back away from her.

  His grin seemed positively wicked and instantly got to her, speeding up her pulse even more than his kiss just had.

  “Lots,” Sebastian confessed. “But it’s going to have to wait for a few hours.”

  She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was thinking, so she told him with confidence, “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Oh?” And then he noticed that, although his bedroom door was now open, he didn’t hear any noise coming from outside his room.

  Curious, he stepped out into the hallway. The sound of the TV, the hum of voices, a radio on somewhere—none of those typical noises were audible to him tonight.

  He looked at Brianna and asked, “Where is everyone?”

  “Out,” she answered simply, unable to suppress the smile that insisted on playing on her lips.

  “Carrie and my mother are both out?” he questioned. His mother was recovering from a stroke. Why had Brianna let her go out by herself? Or worse, with Carrie?

  “Carrie and your mother are both out,” she repeated. Then, to set his mind at ease, she explained, “My father came by and took Carrie and your mother back to his house for dinner and an animated movie.”

  He could see her father taking Carrie home for that, but his mother as well? It didn’t make any sense.

  “He took my mother?” he asked incredulously. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure,” she answered glibly, then let him in on the rest of it. “It seems that the two of them have been ‘keeping company,’ to use my father’s words.”

  For a second, Sebastian’s mouth dropped open. He hadn’t thought that the two even knew one another. “Since when?”

  “Since a while, apparently,” she told him. “Actually, I think my dad’s getting ready to ask you for your blessings.”

  His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense out of what she’d just told him. “Exactly what is it that I’m blessing?”

  “What do you think?” she teased. Then, to make sure that there was no misunderstanding, she added, “I think those two crazy kids want to get married.”

  “Now you’re kidding me.”

  The next moment, he was surprised to see Brianna shaking her head. “Nope. I’m being serious. They’re being serious,” she specified. “It looks like you’re the only one here who isn’t serious.”

  As if taking his cue, Sebastian pulled her back into his arms, this time with the reassuring knowledge that they were alone and would remain that way for at least several hours to come.

  “Who says?” he challenged.

  She could feel her body heating up already. “Well then, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?”

  The expression on Sebastian’s face sent her pulse scrambling in heated anticipation. “I’d rather put my mouth where yours is.”

  “That, too,” she encouraged seductively.

  He began to lower his mouth, then stopped one more time. “Oh, by the way—”

  “Yes?” she asked, trying hard not to sound as impatient as she felt.

  “Will you finally marry me?”

  “Any time, any place,” she told him without the slightest hesitation. “Now, shut up and make love with me before I jump you.”

  “Promises, promises.” He laughed, then said far more seriously, “Gladly.”

  It was the last word either one of them said for a very long, satisfying time.

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss Marie Ferrarella’s next romance,

  CAVANAUGH ON DUTY, available May 2013

  from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Her New Year’s Fortune by Allison Leigh.

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  Chapter One

  New Year’s Eve. A night of mystery.

  Just like she was mysterious. Beautiful. Exotic. And definitely mysterious.

  Dark, auburn hair spilled in waves down her back, kissing the golden spine revealed by the cut-down-to-there black cocktail dress that clung to her lithe figure. Her companion’s dark blue gaze was focused intently on her face...dropping to her lips as she took a small sip of her martini. Slightly dirty, just the way she’d ordered. She lowered the cocktail and leaned a little closer to him, feeling more than slightly naughty. Beneath the table, she slipped her foot out of her sinfully high black heels and subtly slid her toes along his ankle...

  “Excuse me, miss. Miss? Miss?”

  The fantasy spinning inside Sarah-Jane Early’s head popped like a bubble of spent soap and she focused on the tuxedo-clad man standing in front of the hostess station she was manning at Red, looking none too patient. She was there not to daydream, but to help see to the needs of every guest of the wedding reception that had commandeered the popular Mexican restaurant for the night, and she quickly smiled. “Yes, sir, how can I help you?”

  The man tugged at his skewed bow tie, casting a glance off to one side. “How do I get to the Red Rock Inn?” His question was hurried, and muttered half under his breath. She could have told him he needn’t have bothered trying to be so quiet. For the past three hours, the music from the reception had made conversations nearly impossible. She leaned a little closer to give him the directions to the hotel. He nodded, and took time to thank her before moving away to hold out his hand to the woman he’d obviously been waiting for.