He didn’t say anything until Hallie handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon and sat down across from him with a cup of coffee.
“I took the slow ferry to the island, the one that brings cars over,” Braden said. “I wanted time to do some thinking.”
“Did you?” She sipped her coffee. “About you and Zara? Or your job?” She wasn’t going to remind him that he’d told her last night what the partner at his law firm had said about getting a wife and kids.
“Neither. I was thinking about that old adage of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That’s what I do. I fall for these knockout, gorgeous women who care only about my future prospects. Not about me but about what they can get from me. The minute they find someone who seems to be moving up the ladder faster, they leave me behind like a snake shedding its skin.”
“That’s some comparison.”
“Am I shocking you? I guess since I’ve always seen you as a little girl, I used to dull down my conversation. But you don’t look like that now. You are one hot babe.”
Hallie laughed. “Thanks.”
“Anyway, all the way over on the ferry I was thinking about you and me. I’d like for us to get to know each other better—but in a different way. Do you think that’s possible?”
What he was saying was wonderful, a dream come true. But at the same time, something about it bothered her, though she couldn’t put her finger on what, exactly. Maybe it was the word “gorgeous.” He said he usually liked “knockout” women, but now he wanted to go another route—and that seemed to mean Hallie. It looked like she was a woman he was sure wouldn’t dump him.
“Did you know I took those papers out of the trunk of your car?” he asked.
Hallie was so deep in her thoughts that at first she didn’t know what he meant. But then her eyes widened. If the papers she was to deliver to her boss had been in the trunk where she’d put them, she wouldn’t have gone back to the house to get them. If she hadn’t returned, she wouldn’t have found out that Shelly was trying to steal a house that had been willed to Hallie.
“I knew Shelly was up to something,” Braden said. “She borrowed a fancy tea set from Mom. I couldn’t imagine any of Shelly’s boyfriends drinking tea out of a porcelain cup. I thought you should look into what was going on, so I ran across the street and took what looked to be an important package out of your car and put it inside the front door. I watched and saw Shelly pick it up.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me what you suspected?”
Braden shook his head. “Hallie, dear, if I’d told you Shelly was up to something, you would have stayed away until midnight. Both you and your dad always ran away from Shelly. You still do.”
That was news to Hallie. “Do I? I always thought I stood up to her.”
“Sometimes, I guess.” He didn’t meet her eyes. “Now that I’ve been on the receiving end of her selfish little tricks, I better understand what you endured.” Braden reached across the table and took Hallie’s hand in his. “I wish I’d helped more when you were a kid.”
“You couldn’t have done anything, and you helped me a lot.” She smiled. “Don’t forget that if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have gone to college. And now I owe you for all this.” She gestured toward the house. And I wouldn’t have met Jamie, she thought but didn’t say.
She pulled her hand from Braden’s. “I’m going to a wedding that starts in about an hour and a half. You can stay here or come along. Did you bring any nice clothes?”
“I’m a lawyer, so of course I brought suits. I just have no idea where they are.”
“I’ll go look,” she said, but Braden caught her arm.
“Hallie, I’m making a mess of what I’m trying to say, but I want you to think about you and me. We could have a good life together. I’ve thought about nothing else for the last few days and I think it could work. You’re already part of my family.”
“Braden, this is all so sudden and unexpected. I don’t know what to say.”
“I know, and that’s my fault. I should have had sense enough to see what was right in front of me. But I didn’t. Will you promise to think about this? And later we can talk. I won’t leave until we do.”
“All right,” she said. “I promise. But I have to get ready now.”
“Sure. I look forward to spending time with the new you. I think we could work something out.”
He sounded like he was negotiating a contract. She gave him a bit of a smile, then hurried from the room. Right now she couldn’t think about what Braden was saying. All she could think about was seeing Jamie. Their fight had upset her. How was he feeling?
She went up the stairs, but Jamie wasn’t there. The bed had been made and a big leather hanging bag was spread out on it. She knew without asking that it was Braden’s. She could almost hear him saying that the expensive piece of luggage looked like something a lawyer on his way up would carry. Braden had always valued image.
Jamie wasn’t anywhere upstairs. It looked as though he’d gone to the wedding without her. Ahead of her, she corrected herself. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to be with his family.
It was only when she went back to her bedroom and opened her closet door that she saw the dress. No, actually it was The Dress. She’d only seen garments like it on movie stars. It was short, with a scoop neck, sleeveless, simple really. But it was far from simple. It was made of an unusual pale pink lace, kind of crocheted, kind of embroidered, all under a very fine net.
Hallie’d said she didn’t want to wear anything from Jamie’s family, but that was before she saw this dress. She knew without trying it on that it would fit. It wouldn’t have before she came to Nantucket—too many late night doughnuts and not enough exercise—but now it would.