She tossed her hair back. “You thought I was lying about everything else. Why not that, too?”
“Let’s just agree that I was an idiot.”
“Okay, I can agree on that,” she said, biting back a smile.
“I want you back, Trish.”
Almost as quickly as it came, her smile was replaced by a frown. “Adam, it would never work between us. We’re too different. You’re wealthy and powerful and I’m just…me.”
He took a step closer and said quietly, “I was dumped outside a hospital when I was two years old.”
She hadn’t known that and instantly, her heart wept for that tiny abandoned boy. “Oh, Adam.”
“Believe me, Trish,” he said. “My brothers and I have built a business and I’m proud of what I’ve done with my life. But I’m not all that wealthy and powerful on the inside. I’m just me. And all of me wants all of you with every last fiber of my being.”
Tears threatened to erupt and Trish had to take some deep breaths before she could speak. “Adam, I don’t know if I-”
He held up his hand. “I told you there was something I wanted to show you. Can you leave right now and come with me? I promise it won’t take long.”
Without another thought, she called out to her old neighbor, Sam, who was helping his friend Howie repair bikes in Howie’s booth across the aisle. “Sam, can you watch my booth for a little while?”
Sam looked up and winked at them. “Sure, honey. You go on. I’ll take care of things for you.”
Adam said, “Thanks, Sam.” Then he swooped Trish up in his arms.
She let out a little shriek. “Is this really necessary?”
“I don’t want you to get away.”
As he carried her down the aisle toward the door, people called out encouragement and a few ladies applauded.
“See?” he said, grinning. “It’s a good thing.”
She shook her head. “You’re impossible.”
“I just know what I want.”
The drive to the beach in his Ferrari only took a few minutes. Adam turned onto a side street and drove another block, then pulled to the curb in front of a row of six lovingly refurbished Craftsman-style bungalows. They had all been converted into small retail businesses.
Each house was painted a slightly different muted shade of sage green or terra-cotta. Flowers bloomed along the walkways and charming signs were planted in the well-kept front lawns. Each house had a porch where goods were displayed, and each had a private owners’ dwelling attached to the back.
“Oh, aren’t they beautiful?” Trish whispered as she got out of the car. “I didn’t know these were here.”
“I didn’t, either, until I started looking,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “But they were exactly what I wanted.”
She gazed up at him. “You own one of them?”
“I own all of them.”
“You-”
“Or rather, Sam Sutter owns that one.” He pointed to the house on the end. “See the sign?”
Trish stared, then read, “Sam’s Beachside Bikes.”
“Oh, my gosh,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “He never said anything.”
Adam smiled. “The old guy’s got the kind of poker face that could make him rich in Vegas. Mrs. Collins owns that one. Check out those mannequins on the porch. By the way, she’s quite the diva.”
Just then, Mrs. Collins walked out onto the porch and waved a huge scarf in their direction. “Yooohoo, Trish! Isn’t this marvelous?”
Trish choked out a laugh but said nothing.
Adam pointed to the last house down the row. “Tommie and Bert Lindsay have already started moving their beauty supply inventory into the place on the far end. And Claude and Madeleine Maubert want the one next door for their patisserie. I think a French bakery and restaurant like theirs will do really well in this area. This is a well- traveled area, close to the beach, with a lot of small, upscale businesses and pedestrian traffic. I ran some demographics for all your friends’ shops and-”
She launched herself at him and he managed to catch her. “Thank you,” she said, as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I don’t know how or why you did it and you’re probably insane for doing it, but I can’t thank you enough for this.”
He stroked her hair, kissed her forehead, then turned with her in his arms and pointed again. “Did you notice this place here in the middle?”
Adam had thought it was the prettiest house in the row, painted three different shades of muted green with beveled glass windows in front. The door was old oak with wrought-iron fixtures and the porch was wide enough for a table and chairs and lots of potted plants.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
“Read the sign, sweetheart.”
Trish turned her gaze toward the white sign that swung from a post in the middle of the lawn. She gasped. The sign read “Trish’s Treasures.”
She stared dumbly at Adam.
“It’s not Anna’s Attic, but it’s all yours,” he said. “If you want it.”
“Oh, Adam.”
“There’s one more vacancy,” he explained quickly, hop ing if he just kept talking she would change her mind and take a chance with him. “That’s in case one of your other friends from the old building wants to move their business here. I tried to track them down, but I haven’t heard back. Anyway, whoever claims the last place, I’ll sign over the deed to them.”
“But…why?”
He pulled her back into his arms. “Isn’t it obvious? Because I love you, Trish.” His gaze roamed over her face as he took in every inch of her. “I want to make you happy, sweetheart. I swear, I never would’ve torn down your beautiful home. It’s my fault that I didn’t keep better track of what my company was doing, but that will never happen again. I hope one day you’ll believe me.”
“I do believe you.” She sniffled as she tried to blink away her tears. “The more I got to know you, the more I doubted you had anything to do with it. But that man, Strathbaum…”
“I fired him.”
She bit her lip for a moment, clearly conflicted, then said, “Well, I hate to wish pain on anyone else, but I’m glad he’s gone.”
He stared into her eyes, so green and misty. “I hate that my name caused you so much pain. I wish more than anything that I could bring back your grandmother, but I can’t. I just hope you’ll be able to forgive me someday.”
She reached up and stroked his cheek. “I’ve already forgiven you.”
“Tell me I have a chance. Tell me you still love me.”
Her bright smile lit up his heart. “Of course I still love you. I never stopped loving you.”
“Marry me, Trish. Put me out of my misery and say yes.”
“I thought you’d never marry anyone, ever.”
He grimaced. “Did I mention earlier that I was an idiot?”
She laughed as one last tear rolled down her cheek. “You did.”
He rubbed away the tear with his thumb. “You changed me, Trish. I want to be with you forever. Say you’ll marry me.”
“Of course I’ll marry you.” She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Adam. I love you so much.”
“Thank God.” He kissed her, then grabbed her in a fierce hug and felt the formerly empty spot in his heart overflow with love.
