There was no possible way Rick could ever forgive her nor could he begin to understand what drove her need to remain in a self-contained cocoon of safety. Unfortunately she no longer felt as safe or protected as she once had. Instead she felt ripped raw, exposed, and she hurt badly. But if she hurt, she was feeling. For the first time.
Which meant just maybe she had a future.
* * *
Raina sat in the living room of Eric’s house while he made himself busy doing heaven knew what. She didn’t mind, rather she enjoyed the solitary time she spent in his home. It had been too long since she’d enjoyed the sounds of a man puttering around her and she savored the feeling. Soon she’d have even more family around her when Eric’s daughters and their children arrived.
Raina couldn’t wait to spend the time with them and her heart swelled at being included and accepted. Eric planned a quiet afternoon at home and dinner at Norman’s in deference to her charade. He didn’t approve of her faking a heart condition but he accepted, his only stipulation that if ever directly questioned by Raina’s sons, he refused to lie.
Which was why his associate, Dr. Leslie Gaines, was now her doctor of record. Personal and professional lives should be kept separate anyway though at this point, it didn’t much matter. Roman knew, Rick had just found out, and no doubt they’d fill Chase in next.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” Eric said as he joined her in the living room and sat by her side on the white sofa.
In his striped polo shirt and khaki pants, he looked handsome. Her heart fluttered each time he walked into a room, a sensation she still hadn’t gotten used to after being a widow for twenty years, but a feeling she definitely enjoyed. Eric’s attention made her feel years younger and she thanked God every day for a second chance at happiness—the same happiness she wanted for all three of her sons.
“I had some paperwork I had to finish up. But now I’m yours for the day,” he said, a pleased smile on his face.
“That’s wonderful.”
“Then why do you sound so miserable?” He turned toward her, taking her hand in his.
She shook her head. “Not miserable. Just a bit worried about Rick and Kendall.”
He let out a sigh. “I understand. That display the other night was completely inappropriate. Is Rick any closer to finding out who switched pictures?”
Out of respect for her middle son and his hurt over her actions, Raina had tried hard not to meddle more or ask him too many questions. But this one she did know the answer to. “He has a hunch it was Lisa Burton but he can’t prove anything.”
“Lisa?” Eric’s eyes opened wide. “Now that’s a shock. I’ll assume jealousy was the motive but I can’t believe she’d go to such extremes to find information on Kendall’s past. She had to have dug deep or how else would she have found something to embarrass poor Kendall with?”
“Well, she may not have had to dig too deeply. Apparently Lisa’s got a kinky fetish not many people know about.”
“Then how do you know?” Eric asked.
Raina chuckled. “I overhear things. Rick’s not the only one drawing the same conclusion about Lisa. It seems Mildred in the post office got tipped off immediately since she’s been putting those smutty lingerie catalogues in Lisa’s mail for years. Those are Mildred’s words, you understand.”
“I certainly do. You’re searching for information to redeem yourself with Rick.” He shook his head, clucking his tongue at the same time. “Raina, Raina. When are you going to take my advice and get more involved in your own life than in your sons’?”
She sighed. “Not this again. You know good and well I read to kids at the hospital children’s ward once a week, I exercise when I’m not in fear of being caught, and I see you whenever you aren’t working. My life’s very full and rewarding.” Very rewarding indeed, she thought, staring into his dark eyes.
“Is it now? Then how about making it even richer?” He reached over to the lamp table beside the sofa and picked up a small box she hadn’t noticed earlier.
Coming up on sixty in a few years, she’d been around and Raina had a hunch she knew exactly what kind of jewelry sat in that box. As her pulse rate tripled, she thanked God she didn’t really have a heart condition or she’d find herself prostrate on the floor right now. As he held out the box, she accepted it with shaking hands.
“It’s different when the surprise is on you, isn’t it?” he murmured.
She met his amused gaze. “I’m not sure what to say.”
“That’s a first,” he said wryly. “Then don’t speak. Just open it.”
The smooth material glided against her skin as she lifted the box top and revealed a round sapphire blue ring that sparkled in a traditional platinum-looking setting. “It’s . . . it’s spectacular.” She blinked back tears, knowing she didn’t deserve anything so beautiful or precious.
“I thought since this is the second time for us both we could dispense with the expected and go with the more personal touch. The sapphire reminds me of your blue eyes,” he said, his voice suddenly gruff and husky. Unexpectedly he dropped to his knees. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
The beauty of both the ring and the gesture took her off guard and emotion swelled inside her chest making it difficult to breathe or talk.
“You’re silent.” Eric waited a beat, then took her hand, anxiety obvious in his eyes. “Can I take that as a stunned yes?”
Somehow, she managed a shaky nod. “Yes. Yes.” Before she could act on her feelings and throw her arms around him in a hug, the doorbell rang, interrupting the moment.
He sat back on his heels. “Timing,” he muttered. “That must be my kids.”
“We can’t tell them just yet.” She held the box reverently in her hands, staring at the ring that represented the start of a whole new life. A happy life as a couple, the wife of a man she loved.
“Not until we tell our children together. We could plan a dinner, perhaps.”
Warmth suffused her at the notion. “Oh, a family dinner. I could cook and have everyone over . . .” After Chase found out about her perfect health. “But I need some time. Until Rick and Chase get themselves settled first. Please, Eric. I need my boys happy before I can completely be the same.”
The doorbell rang once more.
“Hang on,” Eric called. “We’ll be right there.”
He glanced at her and narrowed his gaze. “I’ll tell you what? I’ll wait until Rick and Kendall have gotten themselves settled one way or another. Good or bad. And then, regardless, we’re announcing this.”
She’d known she’d have to bargain him down and was grateful he understood her need to wait at all. But he also understood the compulsion to assure herself her boys weren’t depriving themselves of the best things in life.
Grandchildren, she assumed, would come soon after. She hoped. She treated him to a beaming smile. “I love you for accepting me.”
He brushed a soft, endearing kiss over her lips and her stomach fluttered with a combination of newness and familiarity at the same time, then sat back and smiled. “Accepting is the least I can do since you’ll become familiar with my faults in good time.” He laughed, his smile wide and pleased. “Besides, I do love you, Raina.”