“Ready to come to California with me next week?” she asked, but she didn't need to. He was ready to leave that night. For weeks now, it was all he could think of. And then as she signed her log, he noticed her ring, and stared down at it in amazement.
“What's
“More or less.” She grinned up at him, feeling awkward suddenly. But she'd have to tell him sooner or later. “Actually, it's my engagement ring. Desmond and I got engaged last night”
“You
“What about Nick?” she asked coolly.
“Okay… sorry I asked… but does he know? Did you tell him?” She shook her head in answer. “Are you going to? Did you write him?”
“He doesn't write to me,” she said unhappily. Why was Billy trying to make her feel guilty? “He'll find out sooner or later.”
“Yeah I guess,” Billy said, confused by what she'd done. Ever since he'd met them, he had known how much she and Nick loved each other. “He's going to be very upset, isn't he?” Billy said quietly and she nodded, fighting back tears. But she had made her decision, and she couldn't let Desmond down now. He wanted her to be his wife. Nick didn't. He had said so. But still, being back home made Nick all the more real, which only made it harder for her.
“I can't help Nick's being upset,” she told Billy quietly. “He didn't want any ties to me when he left. He said he wanted me to marry someone else.” She looked at him sadly.
“I hope he meant it,” Billy said softly, and drove her home to her parents. Everyone was there waiting for her, and it was only a matter of moments before one of her sisters let out a scream, pointing at her finger.
“Oh, my God, what is it?” Megan asked, and Glynnis and Colleen pointed it out to their mother, who was playing with the children.
“I think it's a light bulb,” Colleen's husband explained.
“I think it must be,” Megan teased, as her parents exchanged a look. Cassie hadn't said anything when she called them.
“It's my engagement ring,” Cassie said calmly.
“I figured that much out,” Glynnis said. “Who's the lucky guy? Alfred Vanderbilt? Who is it?”
“Desmond Williams.” Almost as soon as she said his name, as though on cue, the phone rang. It was Desmond. “I just told them,” she explained. “My sisters went into shock when they saw my ring.”
“What did your parents say?”
“They haven't had a chance to say anything yet.”
“May I speak to your father, Cassie?” Desmond asked gently, and she passed the phone to him, and after that, Desmond talked to her mother. Her sisters were all going wild by then, and her brothers-in-law were teasing her. She had just told them she was getting married in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day, and Desmond was going to fly her patents out for the wedding.
Her parents had come back from the phone by then. Her mother was crying softly, which she did a lot these days, and she hugged Cassie close to her. “He sounds like such a nice man. He promised me he'd always take care of you like a little girl,” She kissed Cassie then, and Pat seemed pleased as well. The man had said all the right things to him. But when he was alone with his daughter that night, he asked her some questions, and he wanted to hear her answers.
“What about Nick, Cass? God willing, he's going to come back eventually. You can't stay mad at him forever, and you can't marry another man because you're angry at him. That's a childish thing to do and Mr. Williams doesn't deserve it.” He had liked him on the phone that night, but he wanted to know that his daughter was being honest with him, and herself.
“I swear I'm not marrying him out of revenge. He just asked me last night, and he took me by surprise… but he's so alone… he's had such a rotten life. He's a decent person and he wants to marry me. And in a funny way I do love him, though not like Nick. We're friends and I owe him so much for all he's done for me.”
“You don't owe anyone that much, Cassie O'Malley. He pays you a salary and you earn it.”
“I know that. But he's been so good to me, Dad. I want to be there for him. And he knows about Nick. He says he understands. I think in time, Daddy, I could really come to love him.”
“And Nick? What about him?” He looked her straight in the eye. “Can you tell me you don't love him?”.
“I still love him, Dad,” she sighed. “But nothing's going to change. He's going to come back and tell me why he can't marry me. He's too old, he's too poor. Maybe the truth is he doesn't love me. He hasn't written to me since he left. And before he left, he kept saying no strings, no ties, no future. He doesn't want me, Dad. Desmond does. He really needs me.”
“And you can live with that? Knowing you love another man?”
“I think I can, Daddy,” she said softly, but just thinking of Nick turned her knees to water. Being back here now made him all the more real to her. But she knew she had to put him out of her mind now. For Desmond.
“You'd better be rock sure before you marry this man, Cassie O'Malley.”
“I know. I am. I'll be fair to him. I promise.”
“I'll not have you running around here, cheating on him, and going off somewhere with Nick, when he comes back. A married woman is just that in this house.”
“Yes, sir.” She was impressed by what he said to her and the way he said it.
“Marriage is a sacred vow, no matter where you get married.”
“I know, Daddy.”
“See that you don't forget it, and that you bring honor to this man. He seems to love you.”
“I won't let him down… or you… I promise.”
Her father nodded, satisfied with her answers. But there was another thing he wanted to ask her now. Maybe it was unfair, but he had to ask the question. “Do you remember what Nick said before he left, about how Williams would try and marry you before the world tour, to publicize it? Do you think he's doing that now, or that he's sincere? I don't know the man, Cassie. But I want you to think about it for a minute and tell me.” Nick's words had rung in his ears that night, the moment Cassie said she was getting married to Desmond Williams.
She was only twenty-one after all, and still naive. Williams was thirty-five and a man of the world. It would have been child's play for him to fool her. But she shook her head as she thought of it. This time Nick was wrong. She was sure of it.
“I don't believe he'd do that to me. I think it's just coincidence. We've worked so closely ever since I said I'd do the tour… and he's so solitary, I think it just happened by accident. And I think it's only coincidence that Nick said it would. It was a mean thing for him to say. I think he was jealous.”
Pat nodded, anxious to believe her, and relieved, and then he had to smile at her in spite of himself. ‘That's nothing to the fit he's going to have when he comes home and finds you married. I warned him of that.”
“I know you did. I don't think he wants to be tied to anyone… and certainly not me…” she said, but she seemed to accept her fate now. It was certainly a lucky one, and her father was pleased with what she'd told him.
He looked down at her tenderly on Christmas Eve, and held her hand in his own, and then he kissed her cheek. There were tears in his eyes when he spoke to her. And in hers when she heard him.
“Cassandra Maureen, you have my blessing.”
16
Cassie stayed at home until the morning of December 31, and then she and Billy flew back to Los Angeles together. It was emotional for everyone when they left. And this time, most of the family came to the airport, even little Annabelle and Humphrey. Cassie wanted to spend New Year's Eve with Desmond. And when she got back, he was waiting for her on the runway. He was wearing a navy blue coat, flapping in the breeze, and the sun was setting just behind him. He looked handsome, and tall, and very distinguished. He was an extremely aristocratic man, and together they made a striking couple.
Desmond climbed into the cockpit easily, and he startled her by kissing her on the lips, and smiling down at her
