“It is.” She didn’t know exactly what her plans were, only that she’d be okay and that this child would be loved beyond belief. “Oh, Grandmother called.”
Hugh looked surprised. “Really? Even after the scene you told me about at the funeral?”
“She said she respects my choices-”
“She actually said that?”
Mary laughed. “I know. I was shocked, too. She even apologized and said my friends are my own business. Even after I told her who the father was. She wants me to move in with her, have the baby there.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Bet she wasn’t too happy to hear that.”
“No, but she said she understood and asked me to visit as much as I could.”
Hugh munched on a carrot. “Boy, she’s certainly changed her tune since her daughter married me.”
“I guess so. She wants to be a part of my life and the baby’s, and she said she was willing to let go of this feud with Ethan.” Mary shrugged. “I’ll believe it when I see it, but people have been known to change every once in a while, right? Even in small ways?”
“It’s been known to happen,” Hugh said, tossing aside his carrot and regarding her with serious eyes. “Did I say I’m not all that happy about the daddy myself?”
“You did.” The sun was high in the sky, must be around one o’clock, she thought, reclining back on the blanket. “He made some mistakes, Pop. Some big ones, but then again so have I. So have you.”
“Well, if sending that back to me was any indication of change, than perhaps you’re right, lass.”
Mary looked in the direction that her father was pointing. At the far end of the garden, where her mother had planted a circle of yellow roses, was the sculpture of mother and child that Hugh had risked so much in trying to get back.
“He gave that to you,” she asked, stunned.
Hugh nodded. “Brought it by himself. We didn’t say much to each other, but it was pretty decent of him.”
Mary smiled to herself, knowing that for Ethan, coming to her father’s house with that sculpture couldn’t have been easy. He’d made a grand gesture.
When she looked up, her father was watching her. “You love him.”
“Yes. I just hope that’s enough. He’s got some demons to exorcise, some new ideas to come to terms with and a life waiting for him. But I’m anxious to see what his next step will be.”
Hugh lifted one grayish-blond brow. “And if he doesn’t take a next step?”
“Then I’ll be very sorry-” she lifted her chin, trying to ignore the ache in her heart “-but I’ll survive.”
It was Saturday morning around ten-thirty, and all three of the women of No Ring Required were working, sans receptionist. Business was crazy right now, and Mary, Olivia and Tess were all working overtime to accommodate their clients.
Tess stuck her head in Mary’s office. She looked slightly anxious, unsure of how she wanted to say what she had come in there to say. “Mary, it’s Mr. Curtis.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. “Here?”
“No, he was on the phone.”
“What line?” she asked, breathless.
“He’s already hung up,” Tess explained awkwardly. “But there’s a message.” She handed a slip of paper to Mary. “He asked if you’d meet him there.”
“Asked?” Mary repeated.
Grinning, Tess nodded. “Good luck.”
After Tess went back to her office, Mary stared at the address on the paper, her pulse pounding in her blood. After all they’d been through, she didn’t want to go back to that place, especially now, but more than anything, she wanted to hear what Ethan had to say, so she stood up, grabbed her purse and headed out.
Ethan was actually nervous. Like a damn teenager asking out a girl he knew he was not even close to being good enough for. Thank God the baby shop wasn’t packed with customers or he’d probably have to pay the owner to shut the place down for a while so he could really talk with Mary in private.
The bell over the door jingled, and he turned to see Mary walk in, looking so beautiful Ethan almost couldn’t speak. Her blond hair fell in waves around her shoulders and she wore a cream linen pantsuit with sexy sandals and pale-pink toes.
He picked up a baby blanket from the railing of a nearby crib. “I think we should stay away from anything blue. Even if it is a boy.”
With wary eyes she regarded him. “What am I doing here?”
“Sit.” Grinning at the command that came so easily to him, he amended quickly, “Please.”
She sat in the rocker next to him and waited.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Fine. Curious.”
He nodded, knowing he needed to get to the point if he wanted to keep her attention. “Look, Mary, I get it now.”
Her brows lifted. “Get what?”
“My hang-ups. All seven hundred of them. I get it. I forced you into a situation that was impossible, all for the sake of feeling like I was worth something. You have every right to be angry with me. But you have no right to be ashamed of yourself.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m glad.”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “But thank you for saying that.”
“Oh, honey,” he said, dropping to his knees in front of her. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as confessions go.”
Mary felt her pulse pick up speed as hope surged through her for the first time in weeks. Ethan’s heart was open to her, completely. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice.
He took her hand in his and kissed the palm. “I know after all I’ve done that asking you to love me again is asking a helluva a lot, but I’m asking anyway.”
Her stomach flipped. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “You don’t have to do this. If it’s about the baby, you can be a part-”
“Mary, I love you. Finding out about the baby didn’t change that fact, but it did force me to face what I’ve done, what I thought I needed and a past I just couldn’t let go of.”
Completely overwhelmed, Mary shook her head at him.
“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked, kissing her hand again so tenderly, so reverently it brought tears to her eyes.
“I just never thought we’d get here.”
“But we did.”
“I know and I’m so thankful.”
“You wanted to know what gift I can give this child?” he said, reaching out to touch her belly.
Mary nodded, too emotional to speak.
“I can give the same gift our child’s mother gave to me-love.”
In that moment all Mary wanted to do was wrap her arms around Ethan and never let go. “I do love you, Ethan. So much.”
He kissed her neck, her cheek, her eyelids. “I love you, too. Marry me?”
She laughed, insanely happy and so sure of her future. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Ethan kissed her, a hungry, possessive kiss that she never wanted to end.
“Hi, there,” came a feminine voice from behind them.
Still clinging to each other, Ethan and Mary glanced up and smiled sheepishly at the saleswoman.
“Are we shopping for ourselves or for someone else?” she asked.
Ethan reached in his pocket and took out the most beautiful yellow-diamond ring. He grinned at Mary as he slipped it on her finger. “What do you think, my soon-to-be Mrs. Curtis? Shall we do a little shopping?”
Mary kissed him squarely on the mouth and said happily, “I think it’s about time.”
