Jane’s world tilted on its axis for a brief moment. She was so startled her tears stopped abruptly and she peeked through her fingers up at Max. Had he really just said what she thought he said?
But yes, she could see it there in his eyes, the love shining through.
He sat back down in the chair across from her. “There’s an easy solution to this whole thing, and I can’t believe you didn’t see it. We’ll get married.”
“What?”
“It’s perfect. Kaylee wants me to be her daddy, I’ll be her daddy.”
“But…but…”
“You have a problem with this?” he asked, as if he’d just brought her a coffee with too much cream rather than confidently declaring they should spend the rest of their lives together.
“You can’t just go around marrying someone because their kid wants you as a daddy!” she exploded. “There are a million reasons we can’t get married. I just got divorced. You’re my boss. You’re a confirmed bachelor-”
“Who says?”
“You. At the Hotel Alexander. You said you didn’t like dating single moms angling for marriage. Then you said it again, after we made love the first time. You told me you weren’t ready to settle down.”
“I was in denial. I was scared by how deeply I was starting to care for you. None of it was true.”
“But, Max…marriage? What about all those women?”
He looked puzzled. “What women?”
“Your little black book is bulging with them. You’re going to give that up?”
He reached into his jacket, extracting the worn leather address book. “This? You want to know how much all those other women mean to me? I’ll show you.” He got up and headed outdoors.
Jane followed. “Max, what are you doing?”
He walked all the way to the
“Max! You had business contacts in there, too.”
He turned and smiled at her as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “The important ones are on computer.” But then he turned serious. “There would be only one reason in the world why we shouldn’t get married, and that’s if you don’t love me. Do you love me, Jane?”
She nodded, afraid to speak.
“Then, seriously, will you marry me? ’Cause I’m not kidding around here. We are good together. All of us-you, me, Kaylee. I’ll try to be the best husband and father I know how to be. And since I know you don’t like the idea of marrying the boss, I have a solution for that, too.”
“You’re firing me?”
Max slapped a hand to his forehead. “Jane, for God’s sake, I’m not going to fire you. I actually came over here with a very different proposal in mind, a business proposal. I want to make you a partner in the agency. An equal, 50-50 partner. I want to change the name to Remington & Selwyn. You’ve already invested a significant amount of money in the-Oh.”
Jane was suddenly dizzy, and she sank onto one of the padded benches. “What?”
“I just realized where the money came from. You sold your boat. Damn it, Jane, you just march right back in there and unpack. We’ll buy it back.”
“With what? Max, it’s a done deal. I wanted to sell the
Finally he smiled at her. “See, you’re already thinking like a partner. You’ve been functioning like one almost since the beginning. You’re involved in decision-making and key meetings. Frankly, I’m not sure we can survive without you. So what do you think?”
Jane pursed her lips, appearing to give it serious thought. “I think it would be too expensive to change the name of the agency. That would mean a new logo, new legal papers to file, all new stationery…”
Max looked at her quizzically.
“I think,” Jane continued, “it would just be easier if I changed my name to Remington.”
Max smiled again, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. “Cheeky. That’s what I thought of you the day you tried to guilt me into a job. Cheeky girl.” But when he swept her into his arms, there was nothing amusing about his kiss. He kissed her long and hard until Jane was so limp she could have melted over the side of the boat.
When they were both in danger of fainting from oxygen deprivation, he pulled back just enough so he could look her in the eye. “I want to hear you say it.”
She knew immediately what he meant. “I love you, Max, and I enthusiastically accept all proposals.”
Epilogue
“Mommy!” Kaylee had apparently seen their car coming, because she bolted out the front door of the Sunsetter B and B before Jane and Max could reach the front porch.
Jane dropped her purse and leaned down to scoop up her little girl, hugging her and covering her face with kisses. Her honeymoon with Max-all of five days-was the longest she and Kaylee had ever been separated.
“Oof, I think you grew while we were gone!” Jane said as she set Kaylee down. “I guess Aunt Sara hasn’t let you miss any meals.”
But Kaylee wasn’t listening. Her eyes were for Max, and his were for her. He picked her up and swung her into the air. “Oh, my gosh, am I happy to see you.” He hugged her, too, and Kaylee threw her arms around him with abandon. The look of pure bliss on the little girl’s face did Jane a world of good.
Given Kaylee’s attachment issues, Jane had worried about how she would fare with both her mother and Max gone for five days. But Sara, who had happily agreed to care for Kaylee during the honeymoon, had reported that she handled it fine. A daily call from Jane and Max had reassured Kaylee that she hadn’t been abandoned.
Sara met them at the door, so eager to hug them that she barely let them inside. “You all look great! How was Jamaica? I’ve always wanted to go there. Reece, let’s go there next vacation.”
Reece was right behind her, also with a hug for Jane and a hearty handshake and thorough shoulder-pounding for Max that ended in one of those quick, self-conscious guy hugs.
“Step aside, the party can start now,” came a voice from behind Jane.
She whirled around and found Cooper and Allie right behind her. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Just a little gathering,” Sara said innocently. “Since you guys wouldn’t let me throw you a big wedding, I did the next best thing. A party. You know how I love parties.”
“Oh, Sara.” Jane hugged her friend again.
Others soon arrived-Eddie and his wife, Rhonda; Carol and her new beau, Reggie; friends, neighbors and people Jane and Max had never even met-they all showed up to toast the newlyweds and enjoy Sara’s fabulous buffet.
Minutes earlier, Jane had been exhausted from traveling and was looking forward to retreating with her newly reengineered family to her cozy beach house. She and Max had bought the house that Kaylee had so loved when she and Jane were looking for a place to live, and after a bit of sprucing up, it would be everything a home should be.
But she was touched by her friends’ efforts on her part, and her fatigue lifted as she sampled everything on the buffet and celebrated her marriage with her friends. Who would have guessed that in a few short months she would go from divorced, destitute and jobless to having so much!
Max had healed her broken heart, but he’d healed her spirit, too, and allowed her to blossom into the person she was meant to be. Kaylee was also thriving now that she had the fatherly love she had so desperately needed.
Jane exchanged a look with Max across the room and her heart swelled with the love she saw in his eyes. She’d caught a good one this time.
