Wife in Disguise

on the inside.

“Be mine forever.”

He started to slip the ring onto his left hand, then stopped himself. Instead he put it back in the first box and opened the second. A small diamond solitaire engagement ring winked up at him. There was a matching gold band tucked into the box as well. Josie’s rings. She’d returned them to him after she’d left him.

He remembered his pain and shock when he’d opened the envelope. Along with a quitclaim deed, she’d sent back the wedding rings and a check for half their savings account. Right to the bitter end, she’d been more than fair. Although Scott Construction had been in the family for years, his divorce lawyer had warned him that Josie could have requested a portion of profits for the time they were married. He didn’t doubt that her lawyer had told her the same. But she’d never once mentioned that. Nor had she asked for anything other than her half of the profit on their house.

He placed her wedding rings into the palm of his hand and squeezed his fingers around the gold and diamonds. A few days before, they’d talked about wanting to get to know each other. Now, holding a piece of their past in his hand, he knew he’d been stalling. He didn’t need any more time to know what he wanted. He was in love with her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted them to get married and this time figure out how to make it work.

He was hopeful, more hopeful than he’d been in a long time. They’d both changed. They had the hard-learned lessons from the past and a second chance. But he also knew the price of what they were doing. There was a whole lot more on the line.

The first time Josie had walked out of his life, he’d been hurt, but he hadn’t been destroyed. This time was different. Josie today was an irresistible combination of old and new. Everything he’d adored about her before remained. It blended perfectly with her new traits. Things like patience and honesty. She’d stolen his heart in a whole new way, which meant he was even more at risk. This time if she walked out on him, he wouldn’t recover.

The realization didn’t change his mind. He needed her in his life. Whatever the risk, he was willing to take it. But not with these.

He put the old rings back into their velvet containers so he could return them to the safety deposit box. He didn’t want to start over with these talismans of the past. He was going to propose, and if she accepted, they would wear new rings. Rings that symbolized their future not their past.

Two hours later Del walked into his house. He’d gone to a local jewelry store to look at engagement rings. He’d only planned on window shopping but instead he’d bought a glittering two-carat solitaire that he hoped would leave her breathless. Well, not so breathless that she couldn’t say yes.

He was nervous, he admitted to himself. He didn’t question that he was doing the right thing. Instead he found himself wondering if Josie would say yes. After all she-

He paused in the center of the living room, noticing for the first time that a pounding beat came from the kitchen. He followed the loud music, not sure what it meant. As he rounded the corner, he saw Josie standing in the center of the kitchen. She was moving in time with the rock music, shifting her weight from hip to hip, singing along.

Dancing!

Walking!

He couldn’t believe it. She wasn’t in her wheelchair and she didn’t look as if she’d just hopped up for the moment. There was a confidence in her movements, a sureness that indicated not only practice, but lack of pain. He remembered the doctor’s visit the week before. Had she been given the all-clear to walk? Why the hell hadn’t she told him?

Rage filled him. Once again Josie was playing him for a fool. All this time he’d been planning their future together while she’d been…been…Hell, he didn’t know what she’d been doing but it was wrong, damn her. This whole thing had been a game. She hadn’t changed at all.

He walked over to the radio. She still hadn’t seen him. With one violent movement, he turned the knob, shutting off the machine. There was instant silence.

Josie nearly stumbled in surprise. She spun to see what had happened and saw Del standing in the kitchen. He was glaring at her. Something dark and ugly tightened his face. If he’d been any other kind of man she might have worried for her physical safety. Obviously he’d figured out that she was back on her feet, and he wasn’t happy about the news. Or rather her silence on the subject.

She felt her legs start to give way. Sudden shock robbed her strength. She made it to one of the kitchen chairs and collapsed. Her chest felt tight, as if she couldn’t possibly draw in enough air. Passing out would be a nice touch, she thought, trying to find humor in the situation. Unfortunately Del would probably leave her gasping on the floor. Not that she could blame him. Annie May had warned her, but she hadn’t listened. She’d been a coward and now she was paying the price.

“I kept the truth from you before,” she said with a shrug. “One would think I would learn. But I haven’t. Not about this. The thing is, my motivation is the same. I was afraid.”

It was as if he hadn’t heard her. “How long?”

His voice was a low growl. She shivered, but not from pleasure. She understood what he was asking. How long had she been walking?

“Since my last doctor’s visit. She told me to start with a couple of hours a day and work up from there.”

“And you didn’t think I would be interested in that particular piece of information?”

Josie drew in a deep breath. This would be what Annie May liked to call a defining moment in one’s life. Fear or no fear, she was going to have to tell him the exact truth, regardless of the consequences. She didn’t want to. What if he rejected her? She knew that she would physically survive without Del, but her heart would be small and shattered. Like her legs, it would never fully recover.

What if she’d misunderstood what they were doing? What if-

She shook her head to clear out the doubt. It didn’t matter. She had to speak the truth from the very depths of her being and hope Del believed her.

Slowly she forced herself to her feet. She moved so that she was behind the chair and could press her hands on the back for support.

“I may not get much better than this,” she told him. “I’ll have two more surgeries in the next couple of years. They should help, but there’s a chance they won’t do more than eliminate some of the pain. I might get more mobile, but I might not.”

His dark eyes flashed with contempt. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“I want you to be very clear on my condition.”

He started to dismiss her with a wave, but she stopped him.

“No,” she said forcefully. “Don’t brush me off. This is important.”

“What’s important is why you lied to me. I thought we were making a fresh start. I thought I mattered.”

“You do,” she said desperately. “Please, Del. Just listen. I’m not who I was three years ago. In some ways that’s good, but in others it’s not. I haven’t fully come to terms with my limitations. I don’t think you have, either.” She squared her shoulders. “The reason I didn’t tell you I was walking was because I didn’t want to leave your house. I thought if you knew I was better, you might ask me to go. I didn’t know if I would survive that.”

“Why would leaving matter?”

He sounded hostile and suspicious. Nothing about his expression told her what he was thinking. It was very possible she was about to make a huge fool of herself, but it was too late for her to stop now.

“I love you, Del. I have for a long time. Maybe I never stopped loving you. Three years ago I was an idiot who walked out on something wonderful. We’ve been over everything that went wrong between us and this isn’t the time to do that again. My point is, I’m sorry for my part in the failure of our marriage.”

She was shaking. She shuffled around the chair and sank onto the seat. He was silent, not helping her at all. Still, Josie was determined to get it all out.

“When that truck hit me, I had a couple of seconds before I blacked out. I knew it had been a bad accident, and I really thought I was going to die. I didn’t think about my family or my childhood. What I thought about was you. The loss of you and our marriage was my greatest regret. For the past year I’ve continued thinking about you. That’s why I came back. At first I thought it was for closure, but I quickly figured out that I returned because I’m still in love with you.”