Love Like You've Never Been Hurt (35 page)

“Jack’s gone to get it.”

Gramps smile vanished. “He’s gone? And you didn’t
go with him?”

She shook her head.

“Oh, Sunshine.” Gramps looked on the verge of tears
himself.

“What, Gramps?”

“It’s OK, Em. I thought, well, I hoped...”

“What?”

“I thought you’d at least go and talk to him.”

She hung her head.

“Em, go talk to him.”

“I can’t! It’s your party, I can’t leave.”

“Course you can. Especially since I’m asking you to.
Please, Em?”

How could she tell him no? She checked her watch: three forty, she
could still get there in time. “If you’re sure?”

The twinkle returned to his eyes. “I’m damned sure,
little Mouse. Now git!”

She hugged him and ran for her car.

Jack paced the beach. Four o’clock was approaching way too
fast. Was she really not coming? He couldn’t imagine what he’d
do if she didn’t. No, there was still time. She’d come.
He had to believe it. He touched the two little boxes in his pocket.
This was the beginning, not the end. He strained his ears, hoping he
could hear a car out on the road. He checked, five till four, please
God, let it be her? A huge smile spread across his face as her car
appeared. As she pulled up next to the truck he ran up the beach and
was there by the time she got out.

“You came!”

“I came.”

She was keeping her distance, but she was here!

“Jack, I don’t think I can do this, but you’re
right. I do owe it to you to hear you out.”

He stopped himself from taking her in arms and kissing her as he
so wanted to. He had to get this right. His whole future depended on
him doing so.

“Thanks, Em. I need to explain. I’m so, so sorry that
my having Laura out here caused you so much pain. I know what it
must’ve done to you.”

He was surprised to see a small smile play on her lips.

“What, Baby?”

She gave a sad little shrug. “You’re the only one who
really does understand.”

“That’s because I know you, and I love you.” He
took her hand. “Come walk with me?” His heart filled with
hope as she let him lead her down to the beach.

“Baby, I know how hard it is for you to trust and I know the
pain you’ve lived through. Whenever you’ve let yourself
love someone, you’ve suffered so badly. I think I can
understand. You see, I loved my Dad so much. All I ever wanted was
for him to love me back, but instead he beat me. He beat Dan and my
mom too, till I got big enough to get in the way. It’s not the
same as losing your folks, I know. And it’s not the same as
your horrible marriage. But I do know something about what it’s
like to love someone, to want and need their love in return, only to
find that you don’t get it. That all you do get is pain. What
you went through taught you that it’s better not to love or
trust at all. What I went through taught me that love and trust
should be earned, not given blindly. Some people will never be worthy
of them, but when you find the ones who are, you let yourself love
them with all that you are, you cherish them and protect them.”

She was looking up at him, tears in her eyes.

He stepped closer. “I love you and trust you. I love you
with all that I am and I want to cherish you and protect you. I’ve
tried so hard to earn your love and trust. Can you really tell me you
don’t love me?”

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes. She
shook her head and threw herself into his arms. He closed his eyes
and held her tight as she clung to him sobbing. Eventually he lifted
her chin and found green eyes.

“I can’t tell you that, because I do love you, Jack.”

That was all he needed to hear. His lips found hers in a long
tender kiss. Her arms came up around his neck as she kissed him back.
Feeling her soft and warm in his arms he swore he’d never let
her go.

Emma clung to him as she kissed him. She wanted to melt into him
and the safety she felt in his arms. He’d never said too much
about his Dad before, but now she understood. He’d known pain
too. He’d just found a different way to deal with it. A better
way. It was a long time before that kiss ended.

She finally looked up at him, “I’ve been so afraid of
you hurting me, I didn’t feel safe. But now you are the only
place I do feel safe.” His smile and the love in his eyes told
her everything.

“I’ll keep you safe, Em. As long as you’ll let
me. There’s something I need to ask you.”

She nodded, feeling at this moment, she’d do anything, tell
him anything he asked. He went down on knee and smiled up at her.

Oh no! Her heart was in her mouth. Anything but this! She thought
he understood her!

“Jack, I ...” she began, feeling herself starting to
shake all over.

“Please, Em,” he took her hand. “Trust me?”
Hear me out?”

She swallowed hard and nodded, still trembling. She loved him with
all her heart, but this? She couldn’t.

He squeezed her hand. “Baby, I’m not asking you to
marry me.” Her panic subsided a little. “Yet.” He
held up a little box, “But I am asking you to wear my ring. He
gave her the box. Inside it was the most unusual and beautiful ring
she’d ever seen. A beautiful rose quartz shone as the
centerpiece of a flower, surrounded by petals of marquise cut
diamonds. The gold band was inlaid with tiny pave diamonds.

“Jack,” she gasped. “It’s beautiful! It’s
a daisy!”

“I know,” he smiled. “It’s our pebble at
the center too.”

She looked at him in wonder, “Really?”

“Yes, Baby, really. It’s why Laura’s here. She
made it.”

She was amazed, admiring the perfect craftsmanship. Then she
remembered. “But, Jack. What...?”

“Don’t panic, I do know you and I do understand. It’s
not an engagement ring. It’s a good old fashioned promise ring.
All I’m asking of you is that you will promise to think about
marrying me.”

Tears filled her eyes once more.

“Don’t say no yet, Em.”

“I wasn’t about to. I’m just so amazed by you.”

“So you will think about it?”

She nodded.

With a huge grin he took the ring out the box. “It comes
with a couple of conditions though. Once I put this ring on your
finger, you have to promise me that any time you get scared you will
talk to me before you run. Remember that I might be the best place
for you to run to. You think you can do that?”

“I’ll try.”

“No, not try, Em. It’s crucial. I have and I will work
my ass off to earn your trust, but you’ve got to give me a
chance, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And the other condition is that you really will think about
marrying me. I know that’s a stretch for you right now. But I
think that deep down you still believe in forever as much as I do,
and that means marriage.”

She nodded again. He really did know her. A tiny voice in the back
of her mind was shouting for joy, doing cartwheels. Maybe, just
maybe, she really would get married and find it to be the wonderful
union she used to believe in. How could it be anything else with
Jack?

“So, knowing what this proposal means, do you accept?”

“Yes, Jack. Yes I do!”

He slid the ring onto her wedding finger and stood up. She jumped
on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He kissed her then put
her back down. She held out her hand to admire the ring, it was so
beautiful.

“You like?”

“I more than like. I love it. And I love you! That’s
really our pebble?”

He looked so pleased with himself. “Didn’t I tell you
it was precious treasure?”

She laughed. “You certainly did!”

“And you were so adamant about engagement rings and flashy
diamonds, I knew had to come up with something unique. Every time you
look at it, Em, I want you to remember what you told me about
daisies.”

She looked at him. Did he remember every little detail? He grinned
as if he’d read her mind once more.

“Em, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened
to me. I intend to spend the rest of my life with you and I’m a
detail guy, so you may as well get used to it.”

He was unbelievable. She really did feel like the luckiest woman
on earth. “What did I tell you about daisies, Jack, that
inspired this beautiful ring?”

He came to stand behind her and she relaxed against him, loving
the feel of him.

“
You said,” he
dropped a kiss on her shoulder, “that daisies always make you
happy. I wanted the ring to make you happy, but more importantly to
remind you that I can make you happy, if you give me the chance.”

She looked down at the ring sparkling on her finger. “I
believe it will do that, Jack.”

“Good,” he held her closer. “You also said that
daisies always look like they’re nodding and smiling. When you
look at your daisy ring I want you to think of me and everyone else
who loves you – Gramps, Pete, Missy, Ben, Holly, all of us
smiling and nodding at you in encouragement. You can do this Emma.
Don’t be scared. It’ll be OK, just trust, love.”

This time her tears were happy ones as she twisted around and held
him tight. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“You suffered too much too soon, so life sent you a big old
Texan with a big old heart whose mission is to ensure that you know
only happiness for the rest of your days.”

“I love you, Mr. Big Old Texan.”

“And I love you, my purdy little lady, with all of my heart
and soul. But I’m not done yet. There’s one more thing
that you told me about daisies. You said all that other stuff may
sound goofy, but you have to take your happiness where you find it.
The ring is a reminder that you’ve found it if you want it.”

“I really have found happiness with you.”

“And now it’s my job to make sure that you don’t
get scared and run away from it.”

“I would never have believed that a ring could say so much.”

He gave her a mysterious smile. “Rings can say all sort of
things, you taught me that with your lecture about them. There is
another ring involved in this proposal, Em.”

He took a second box from his pocket. She couldn’t gauge the
look on his face, was he nervous? He held out the box to her.

“This may be presumptuous of me, but go ahead and open it
and I’ll explain.”

She popped the box open and saw a broad, plain gold man’s
wedding band. Her eyebrows knit together.

“I don’t understand.”

“Remember you said men don’t wear engagement rings, or
even wedding bands in most cases? But that women check for them and
respect them if they’re there?”

She nodded, starting to understand.

“Well, if you want me, if you’ll have me, I want to
wear one. I want to tell the world that my heart is spoken for, and
that I’m off the market! I want to wear your ring.”

She laughed, “But it’s not my ring.”

“But it is, Em. I could hardly ask you to pick me one up
while you were in the city, could I?”

She laughed again.

“But maybe it’s a dumb idea”

“Oh, Jack no, it’s a lovely idea. I love it, I really
do. It’s just, well, are you sure?”

“Never been more sure of anything in my life, Babe.”

She took the ring from the box then hesitated.

“Please, Em. I want to.”

She slid the ring onto his finger and he held it up for them both
to admire.

“That feels good, it feels right. Of course, if it doesn’t
feel like ‘your’ ring you could always get me one
yourself. But please can it be a big one like this, so it’s
noticeable?”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“I am not! I’m deadly serious. I have big hands. I
don’t want some skinny little piece of wire you can’t
notice. I want a big heavy duty band that shouts out loud, ‘I
am very married’!”

“Spoken for. Not married.”

“Not yet, but when you do marry me, I’ll be the most
married man ever.”

“OK, but can we drop the ‘M’ word for now and
enjoy this part?”

“Nope.” He held her close. “Married. That’s
what we’re going to be, as soon as you get your head around it.
And I’m going to campaign shamelessly.”

She smiled, thrilled by his exuberance, even if she really did
need more time to get past her views on marriage. He held his hand up
again, showing off his ring.

“You’d better get used to the idea, Em, because you
are going to marry me.”

“Enough ‘M’ word for now, OK?” she
laughed. “Anyway, weren’t you saying something about
having big hands?” She knew the perfect way to distract him. “I
may have a used for those.”

She faced him and taking both his hands she placed them on her
backside. He cupped her and pulled her against him. She reached up
around his neck and molded herself to him as he kissed her hungrily.
Holding her in those big hands he lifted her so he could better push
his desire against her. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around
his waist as he started walking with her back to the RV.

Jack didn’t put her down until they reached the bedroom. He
was deeply aroused; every step of the way he’d been pressing
into her as she clung to him with her legs wrapped around his waist.
He felt himself grow even harder at the desire in her eyes as he lay
her on the bed. He soon had them both out of their clothes. Once he
did he stood and held out his hand, pulling her to her feet to join
him.

“These big hands haven’t quite finished yet.”

She gasped as he cupped her butt cheeks again and lifted her. Her
legs came back around him opening herself up to him, this time with
nothing between them. She nibbled at his neck as he pressed her back
against the wall and spread her wider with his hands. Her eyes flew
open as he nudged into her.

“Jack!”

“Is this OK, Baby?”

She nodded, her skin flushed, nipples erect.

Unable to wait any longer he slid deep inside. She let out a long
low moan and he felt her tighten around him.