Page 37 of The Summer House

She shifted until she was looking at him again. “No. I’m runningtosomething. I’m driving down to L.A. and filling out the paperwork so that I can become Eva’s foster mother. Then I’m going to start the adoption proceedings. Then I’ll bring her back to the beach house and we’ll start our new life together. I still love you and want us to be together. But I can’t make you pick me.”

Her heart ached as she looked at him. Letting him go again would be the hardest thing she’d ever done. She hoped it didn’t come to that.

“You know where I’ll be,” she said, and left.

Rick watched her go, because he couldn’t seem to move his feet. He heard the sound of her car engine starting. Then she drove away.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood in the foyer of his house, listening to the silence. He wasn’t sure of anything.

Now what? The question echoed in his head. He told himself he would get on with his life. That things would be as they were before. This…interlude with Mandy had been interesting, but nothing more. They could never have made it. As for her loving him, she had demonstrated her feelings by walking away as soon as she declared them. Nothing had changed—certainly not her.

But he didn’t believe those words. Not completely. He remembered her statement that this time she wasn’t running from something but to something. To Eva.

Then he closed his eyes and imagined a blond little girl laughing as she played, and her redheaded mother watching over her. He thought of how right they looked together. How full their lives would be. How much they would love each other. And he ached.

* * *

“Why are you crying?” Eva asked from her place under the umbrella.

Mandy quickly wiped her face and smiled. “I’m not. Well, not very much.”

“Are you sad?”

“No. I’ll be fine.” She smiled at Eva, then adjusted the girl’s sun hat.

They sat on the sand in front of the beach house. Cassie was finally due to arrive in the next day or so. Mandy had officially become Eva’s foster parent and she’d nearly finished filling out the reams of adoption paperwork the caseworker had given her. Everything was going really, really well. Everything except for the fact that it had been four days and she hadn’t heard a word from Rick.

Just thinking about him made her eyes tear, so she forced herself to think about something else. About the bedroom furniture she was going to get for Eva, and how her father had called from France and been delighted at the thought of having a granddaughter to spoil. She’d had to make him promise there would be no surprise ponies showing up at her front door.

So she would be fine. Even if Rick didn’t come to his senses. If he didn’t know what he had in her, then he was an idiot and she was better off without him.

She knew she was right, but all the logic in her heart didn’t heal the ache inside.

“Mandy, look!” Eva called, sitting up and pointing.

Mandy turned and saw a man with a puppy. The sun was in her eyes, so she couldn’t see more than his silhouette. She wanted to believe there was something familiar about him, but she’d already tricked herself about a hundred times. She was getting tired of the disappointment.

Then Eva squealed and jumped to her feet.

“Rick, Rick,” she called as she ran. “Have you got a puppy?”

Rick?

Mandy stood slowly, unable to believe, not sure what it meant. The man walked close enough for her to see his face. Her heart stood still for a second before thundering into double-time. Eva raced closer and he caught her up in his arms. They spoke for a few seconds, then she crowed with delight. He put her down and she and the puppy tumbled together.

Rick crossed the sand to stand in front of her. He reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, bent low and kissed her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he said when he straightened. “About a lot of things.”

She couldn’t speak; she could barely breathe. Instead she stared at him and waited for him to go on.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. I’ve finally figured it all out.” He touched her face. “You were right about a lot of it. You were wrong some, too.”

Despite the fear, and the hope, she couldn’t help smiling. “That’s so like you.”

“Isn’t it?” He touched her cheek. “The thing is, I love you. I’m beginning to think I never stopped loving you. I couldn’t seem to fall for anyone else, and I never knew why. It wasn’t about needing closure. The problem was I’d given my heart away and had yet to get it back. Now I don’t want it back. I want you to keep it.”

She felt more tears in her eyes, but these were tears of happiness.

“I know there’s no sure thing,” he continued. “I’ve needed it in the past, but now I’m okay with letting that go. What I want now is you and me together. I want us to adopt Eva and have some kids of our own. I want our lives to intertwine until we can’t figure out where one ends and the other begins. The sure thing I want is knowing you’ll always be there for me, and that you expect the same from me. Sometimes it will be easy and sometimes it will be hard. I want us to accept that, because we only make sense when we’re together.”

She threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Rick. I love you so much.”

“I’m glad.” He cupped her face. “Marry me, Mandy. Marry me again. This time, I swear I’ll get it right.”

“Me, too.” She wiped away her tears and smiled at him. “I’ll never run away again. I’ve finally figured out my place is with you.”

They embraced, then he kissed her. Eva and her new puppy ran over and bumped into them. Rick bent down and gathered the little girl in his arms. Nothing had ever felt as right as this moment. They were all where they belonged.

* * * * *

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