Nicola Marsh - Valentine's Day

CHAPTER NINE

“AS I UNDERSTAND it, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.”

Cari straightened as Max came into the nursery two days later. She gave him a mischievous smile.

“You are correct, sir,” she replied.

He stood gazing down at her, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Is it true that this is a fairly important day to women in this country?” he asked.

She frowned, wondering what the catch was going to be. “Well, it can be.”

“Good.” He smiled like the proverbial cat. “I’ve made arrangements.”

“Arrangements?” Did she really have to hear about the details? “Are you going to do something with C.J.?”

His dark gaze was like velvet. “No. I’m going to do something with you.”

“Me.” Her eyes widened. Why not C.J.? Wasn’t that the woman he was supposedly going to marry? Maybe not. She knew he’d been working on that for the past few days.

“There’s got to be a way to convince her to sell that wreck of a ranch,” he’d fumed more than once. “I’m willing to pay her twice what it’s worth. And I want her to close on this as soon as possible. I want to begin renovating the place before my mother finds out what a mess it’s in.”

“She claims she’ll never sell.”

He’d stared at her with haunted eyes. “She has to sell,” he’d said. “She’ll do it. If I can just find the right approach.” But he didn’t sound very convincing.

And now he was talking about taking her to a romantic dinner instead of C.J.

“I can’t go anywhere,” she protested. “I’ve got to be here for Jamie.”

He nodded. “We’re going to bring him along.”

She gazed at him suspiciously. “Where are we going?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Nowhere.”

“What?”

He grinned, chucking her under the chin. “It’s a surprise. You wait and see.”

And then he was gone.

She sighed, half laughing. Anyone watching the two of them over the past few days would swear they were lovers. And in truth, she felt like his lover. The only things missing were commitment and some honest-to-goodness lovemaking. But neither of those things could happen with C.J. lurking in the wings.

And of course there was the constant awareness that this was a passing fancy, something meant to last for days, not years or a lifetime. But she was intrigued that he meant to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her and not with C.J. And just what would C.J. have to say about that, she wondered?

The phone call came the next afternoon, just as Cari began getting ready for their Valentine’s dinner. The DNA test results were in. Max was asked to meet with a panel of lab technicians and legal representatives, and he left right away. Cari stayed behind and worried.

They’d had a small memorial service for Sheila. C.J. and Randy had come. Cari had taken Jamie as well, just so someone could tell him in later years that he had been to a ceremony honoring his mother’s life, even if he had no idea what it was all about at the time.

And now they were going to find out whether Jamie would be staying with Max, where Cari was completely sure he belonged, or not. It was nail-biting time. She went into the nursery and watched Jamie sleeping. If they had to give this adorable child up, surely she wouldn’t be able to stand it.

She heard Max come in and she ran to the front room. One look at his face told her all she needed to know. The test had come in with a positive match. With a shriek of joy, she ran to him and he swung her up in the air, both of them laughing with happiness. Tears streamed down her face. It was the best moment she’d had in many years.

They went into the nursery and Max looked down at the little child who carried his brother’s legacy. Finally he was free to let his heart fill with love for the boy without reservation. This was truly a special day.

“The first thing I need to do is call my mother,” he noted.

“Not now,” she protested. “The time difference.”

He shook his head. “She won’t care. Not when she hears what I’m calling about.”

“Does she have any idea that there is a baby?”

“No. I didn’t want to get her hopes up so I never told her about Sheila’s claim.” He grinned, shaking his head. “This is just incredible, isn’t it? I can hardly believe it.”

Cari nodded happily. She was bound and determined not to let herself think about the fact that this meant it was the beginning of the end for her and her connection to Max. She would think about that tomorrow. Tonight, they would just enjoy the news.

“Now we really have something to celebrate,” Max said.

Two hours later he was leading her, with Jamie in the stroller, to the elevator.

“Did you talk to your mother?” she asked.

“No. It turns out she is staying with a friend. But I left a message for her to call me as soon as she gets my message.”

“Good. Now tell me. Where are we going?”

He shook his head, eyeing her with thinly veiled affection. “My lips are sealed. I ought to put a blindfold on you. That way you might actually be surprised.”

“No blindfolds,” she said. “I promise to be as surprised as I need to be.”

She’d assumed they would be eating somewhere in the hotel, but she hadn’t realized it would be a private conference room. When he opened the double doors to let them enter, she gasped. Max had ordered up decorations, and the staff had filled the room with red and white balloons, with white lacy streamers hanging from the rafters and beautiful potted trees covered with white and red birds in each corner. A small table was set with delicate china and gleaming silver. In the corner, a guitarist was setting up his music and soon was playing soft, romantic melodies.

Cari was enchanted. She’d never seen anything more beautiful. She turned to Max, her eyes shining.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said.

“Oh, Max, thank you. This is lovely.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips and then escorted her to her place at the table and rolled the stroller up next to her. Luckily, Jamie had fallen asleep as soon as they had started on their journey through the hotel, so she would have some time to devote to Max and the wonderful dinner he’d ordered up. She tucked the blanket around the baby, then straightened and noticed a long, flat velvet box had been set in front of her.

“Max,” she said warningly.

“Just a little Valentine’s present,” he said.

Her heart was beating in her throat as she pulled open the box, then drew her breath in sharply. She was almost blinded by the flash of fire from diamonds—more diamonds than she’d ever seen in one place before.

“What…?”

“Let me help you.”

He came behind her to put on the necklace. It was surprisingly light for something with so many diamonds. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror on the other side of the room and she could hardly breathe. She’d never seen anything so beautiful.

“And to go with the necklace…” He reached into the pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a matching bracelet. “One without the other would be incomplete,” he said as he put it on her wrist.

“Oh, Max.” She was stunned and over-whelmed. “Oh, Max, I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” he said firmly. Going down on one knee so that he could look into her eyes, he was adamant. “Cari, don’t insult me by refusing my gift. I can well afford it. You don’t have to feel any special obligation or gratitude or anything like that. It’s just a gift. A token of my affection for you. And you know very well that’s for real.”

He kissed her gently, softly, and with a purity of emotion she could hardly stand to accept. It was like looking into the sun. It was almost too much to bear.