Uh-oh, Thomas thought. “I couldn’t stand myself anymore. I took a shower and shaved right before you got here. I actually feel pretty good. I should be able to get back to work tomorrow. In fact, I was thinking I could run over to the office this afternoon until you showed up.”
“Have you eaten anything?”
“I was just debating whether to chance it,” he told her.
“Okay, then, I’ll get busy. I brought some ginger ale. You can drink that while I cook.”
“Somehow in the past few weeks I’ve missed the fact that you are incredibly bossy,” he said, taking a couple of steps in her direction until she was backed into the counter.
For the first time, she looked vaguely wary. “Thomas?”
“Yes, Connie.”
“What are you doing?”
“I think I know what the best medicine is,” he said. “I was planning to test my theory. And, in case you’re worried, I’m long past being contagious.”
Before she could scoot away, he leaned down and kissed her, lingering over the kiss until he heard her sigh and felt her hands clinging to his shoulders.
When she finally pushed him away, the sparks were back in her eyes. “If you’re feeling that frisky, mister, then we can get straight to that conversation about what people in a relationship are supposed to do in a crisis.”
He smiled, poured himself a glass of ginger ale and took a seat at the kitchen table, then regarded her attentively. “Do tell.”
She frowned at him. “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously. I was worried about what had happened to you.”
“You thought I’d had second thoughts,” he guessed. She nodded. “I hated myself for it, but yes.”
He gestured toward the chair next to his. “Sit.”
“I need to get that soup started.”
“I can eat soup from a can,” he said. “This is more important.”
Though she looked appalled by the suggestion of canned soup, she did sit down, though it was fairly gingerly and on the edge of the seat.
“What?”
“I’ve had some time to think the past few days, at least when I wasn’t zonked out or praying for death.”
She winced at the description. For a moment Thomas thought she might reach for his hand, maybe even give it a sympathetic squeeze. That’s what she would have done if she weren’t currently so annoyed with him. Instead, she just sat there, waiting.
“Okay, here it is,” he said. “I’d planned to take care of a few details first, go out and buy a ring, pick some romantic setting, things like that.”
Her eyes widened as the words registered.
“But now seems like the right moment,” he added. “I don’t want you to ever have these doubts again about where we stand. So, Connie Collins, will you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?”
Since she looked a little shell-shocked, he rushed on, making his case. “I know this is fast, but we’ve both been on this earth long enough to know when something’s right. And we also know how short and capricious life can be. I don’t want us to waste a single minute.”
He looked into her eyes, which seemed to be shimmering with unshed tears. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he pressed his point. “Will you marry me?”
The muscles in her throat worked, and it seemed to him she was struggling to get air. He frowned. “Are you choking or something?”
She shook her head. “I’m just trying to find the right words,” she said.
“It only takes one,” he reminded her quietly. “Yes…” He hesitated, almost afraid to mention the alternative. He sucked in a deep breath finally and added, “Or no.”
Once more she opened her mouth, but no sound emerged. Instead, she nodded.
Thomas felt the tension in his shoulders relax. “Was that a yes?”
A smile broke across her face then, even as tears streamed down her cheeks. “It’s a yes! I think we may both be a little crazy, but yes, Thomas O’Brien, I will marry you.”
“Come here,” he said, gathering her into his arms and holding her. “I will do this all over again, if you want the romantic setting and the whole nine yards.”
She rested a hand against his cheek. “This will do,” she said. “As proposals go, I think it was pretty memorable.”
“Do you still want to get into that lecture you had on the tip of your tongue?” he asked.
“Maybe later,” she told him. “For now, you’ve done a pretty good job of redeeming yourself.”
“Pretty good?”
“Okay, an amazing job.”
“Did I happen to mention that I love you?” Thomas asked. “It should have been the very first thing I said.”
“I’ll forgive you,” she said with a slow smile, “as long as you keep saying it for the rest of our lives.”
“Done,” he said, then kissed her again.
Even as she melted in his arms, he asked himself yet again how he’d managed to find such an incredible woman at this stage of his life. Maybe it was some of that luck o’ the Irish Ma was always talking about.
Will thought he and Jess had done a fine job of making up once he’d joined her just outside of Ocean City. They’d needed a weekend away together more than either of them had probably realized, but when they got back to Chesapeake Shores on Sunday night and dropped Jess’s car off on their way to grab dinner, Will called his answering service and discovered they’d been deluged with calls. The news about the dating service’s client had leaked out around town, if not in the media.
“All hell broke loose while you were gone. We have stacks and stacks of messages for you,” he was told. “We’ve separated them into pro, con and certifiably crazy.”
“I’ll be by to pick them up,” Will promised, then turned to Jess. “I’m sorry
