Conflict of Interest (The McClouds of Mississippi 2)
Page 77
His own smile was a bit shaky. “No. Just scared to my toenails.”
That little slice of honesty affected her almost more than anything else he’d said yet. It told her exactly how hard it had been for him to reach out to her. Just how difficult it was for him to change the safe, solitary life he’d created for himself. And exactly how much he loved her, that he was willing to do so despite the fear.
She moved around the desk and put her arms around his neck. “You’d better not change your mind, Gideon McCloud, because I plan to have you sign a contract for life.”
“That contract binds both ways, you know,” he reminded her as his arms closed around her.
She lifted her mouth to his to seal the deal.
Epilogue
“Your father looked kind of shell-shocked during the wedding,” Gideon mused a month later as he poured champagne into two crystal flutes. “Do you think he really believed you would change your mind at the last minute?”
She laughed as she accepted one of the flutes and sank to the side of the hotel bed with it. She still wore the tailored white suit she had worn for their simple but absolutely beautiful wedding, though she’d kicked off the toe-cramping white heels. “As much as I hate to defend him, we can’t really blame him for feeling as though his head is spinning. In only four weeks I’ve announced my engagement, restructured my entire career, moved to Mississippi and gotten married. E
ven your family is still having a little trouble processing the changes.”
“My family is stunned but delighted,” he assured her, sitting beside her. The light from the bedside lamp glittered off the plain gold ring on his left hand.
“To family—” she said, holding up her glass with a smile “—problems and all.”
“Speaking of which—” Setting his flute on the nightstand, Gideon reached into his suit coat and removed something from the inside pocket. “I thought you’d want to know that I read this today.”
She glanced at the folded sheet of paper, then felt her eyes widen. “Is that…?”
“My father’s letter. I thought I should finally read it, so you can stop fretting about it. Today seemed like a good time, since nothing he could have said would have put me in a bad mood.”
She searched his face, finding nothing but a calm contentment there. “Was there anything important in it?”
“It must have been written just before he left for the vacation in which he had his fatal accident. He said he was sorry that he and I had never been able to resolve our differences. He had just finished reading my latest book, and he thought he should tell me that he had read and enjoyed all of them. He thought I would be very successful as a writer, especially if I would take his advice about a few things he saw as weaknesses in my style.”
She winced. “At least he was trying to reach out to you.”
“He was trying to take charge of my writing career, since he finally realized I was going to make a go of it. As far as he was concerned, he had given me enough time to get over being mad at him for betraying Mom, and it was time for him to get involved in my life again.”
“How did that make you feel?”
He shrugged. “Annoyed that he never understood exactly how much he hurt the family with his actions. Incredulous that he thought we all just needed a little time to get over it and accept what he’d done. And…”
“And?” she urged when he paused as if in search of words.
“Maybe a little pleased that he read the books,” he admitted finally. “I never knew whether he’d read them or not. I guess it shouldn’t matter to me that he did, but…”
“But he was your father, and it does matter, no matter how many times he let you down,” she concluded. “Trust me, I understand.”
“I guess you do.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. “No one has ever understood me better than you do. No one ever will.”
She laid her head on her husband’s shoulder. “I love you, Gideon.”
“I love you, too.”
It was getting easier for him to say it, she thought in satisfaction, lifting her mouth to his.
It would get even easier with a lifetime of practice.