I need some time for the rest. I just don't take something like marriage lightly. If I do it, I'll mean it, and I won't change my mind. But I think you'd do it right now for all the wrong reasons." "Does this have anything to do with the guy you didn't let stay last night?" he asked. "My boyfriend?" she asked, smiling. She knew it was naughty to taunt him like that; she wasn't thinking of T.J. as a boyfriend at the moment. "It would be nice of me to tell him if things change in my personal life. But until I have matters settled…" "No, Franci, tell him matters are settled. You won't be dating him!" "And the woman who keeps calling you?" "What woman?" he asked. "Your phone keeps picking up text messages and voice mails. That has to be a woman." He took a deep breath. This didn't seem like a good time to lie, just as he was trying to close a deal. "I dated this girl a few times back at Beale and I told her I wasn't getting into a steady thing. When I went on leave, I told her we had to cool it because it wasn't working for me, but she's deaf. I thought when I left town for a couple of months she'd let it go, but she's hounding me. I'm going to call her, Franci, and tell her I'm off the market. That I'm getting married. She won't call anymore. Now, come on." "Poor thing," Franci said. "She might be as sick in love with you as I was." "As you were?" he asked, a little frightened of the answer. "And I said I'm not marrying you." "Okay, let me get this right-I suggested marriage and you said no?" "How about that? What a shocker, huh?" "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do? I thought that's what I should do!" "Okay, you still don't get it. We don't want to because you're doing what you should. Listen carefully, Sean. I want you to be absolutely sure you want to commit to a life with me and Rosie, because you don't have to marry me to have time with your daughter. She's your daughter-I won't get in the way of that. Though I have to admit, the way you suggested marriage really just knocked me off my feet." He would never admit it to anyone, but her refusal gave him an instant feeling of relief. He wasn't ready to take it all on. But it would sure make things tidier if they could just do it the way it probably should be done. He slid close to her and, before she could protest, pulled her right up against him. "You wanna get knocked off your feet, sweetheart? Because we both know we do that to each other." He put a big hand around the back of her neck and ran his thumb from her earlobe to the hollow of her throat. Then he kissed that spot. "I want you with me, Franci. Tonight, and from now on." "Sean," she said gravely, "when you rejected me four years ago, there were times I wondered if I'd lost my mind and my heart. The things we said to each other-I don't want to risk a marriage like that. After we split and I moved to Santa Rosa, sometimes I grieved so badly I worried that I was hurting the baby with endless crying, sleepless nights, loss of appetite. I just can't face something like that again." He ran a knuckle across her soft cheek. "Baby, I didn't reject you. I wanted to be with you-I just had a hang-up with marriage." "Well, now the shoe's on the other foot. Suck it up." Life
( Robyn Carr )
[ Angel's Peak ]
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