Promoted to Wife (Destiny Bay) (25 page)

“Oh darling.” Terry hugged her again. “I don’t hate anybody. I’ve loved living with you and…”

“You make it so much better,” Erica said between sobs. “I can’t stay if you don’t come back. We…we need you.”

There was a clumping sound coming from the stairs and then a banging on the door.

Terry felt stricken. What now? Putting Erica into Rick’s vacant chair at the table, she hurried to look out the peep hole and found Aunt Julia staring back at her. She turned to look at Charles.
 

“It’s Aunt Julia,” she whispered. “Did she come with you, too?”

Charles shook his head, his eyes wide. “No way. We came on our own. Nobody knew I took her. They all think she’s crying in her bed.” Now he looked stricken. “You can’t let her know I brought Erica down here. They’ll fire me for sure.”

Terry looked about wildly. Rick was already in the bathroom. “Go quickly,” she told them. “Stay in the bedroom until I get rid of her.”

They did as she told them and once they were out of the room, she turned to the front door again and opened it. It felt as though a small, furry animal had launched itself into her arms, but very quickly she realized it was Jeremy.
 

“What…?”

“Oh my dear,” Aunt Julia began, bustling in. “We hired a car and came racing down to get you. The house is in turmoil. Everyone wants you back. You must come back right away. We just don’t know what we’re doing without you. It’s no good pretending. Rick is a mess. Erica is hysterical. And Jeremy… .”

“But Aunt Julia, wait,” she said without realizing she was already acting like a part of the family by calling her that. She cuddled Jeremy close and kissed the top of his head, then looked up again. “How can I come back? I ruined everything. What did your brother have to say about the crazy things that happened at the ball?”

She waved that away. “Calvin is so happy to be back, he hardly mentioned it. And he’s got your father there, his old pal. The two of them are sipping drinks on the veranda and reminiscing like the oldsters they are.” She tugged on Terry’s arm. “Now hurry, dear. Grab something to wear. We’ll take you back and surprise Rick.”

“Too late,” Rick said, bursting out of the bathroom like a dancer emerging from a birthday cake. “I was here first. I get the credit for talking her into coming back. The rest of you are johnny-come-latelys.”

Terry was glad to see he’d put on his jeans at least, and was shrugging into his shirt.
 

“Daddy!” Jeremy cried, releasing Terry and running to his father. Rick swung him up in his arms as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do.
 

“Daddy!” Erica cried, coming out of the bedroom with Charles behind her. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at them all and grinned. “I came down to ask Terry to marry me, of course,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Erica laughed, suddenly dancing on her tiptoes. “Me too,” she said.
 

“Me too,” Jeremy chimed in, jumping up and down beside his sister.
 

“You might as well count me in as well,” Julia said, laughing. “Come on Charles. What do you think?”

“I think there must be a streak of insanity in the Carrington family,” he said, pretending to scowl. “But what the heck. I’m probably crazy too.”

They all looked at each other and laughed. All except for Terry. Her eyes were swimming with tears—the sweetest tears she’d ever had. The kind you got when family love reached out and took you in its arms. She was going home.
 

Looking at Rick over the heads of his children, she smiled, realizing she was about to get the chance to play the best role of her life.
 

EPILOGUE~ Johnny’s Final Birthday Present
 

“I know it's around here somewhere. I'd just like to find it before we go to bed and it pounces on us in the dark.”

Rick had a harried look about him. He was standing in the middle of the ranch-house living room looking slowly around the room, frowning.

They'd been married a little over six months, but it felt like forever. When she thought about it Terry couldn't imagine what she'd ever done when she'd been alone.

Today was her birthday and they'd had the whole family, Calvin and Julia and Johnny and her own father included, to a barbecue. Everyone had gone home now, and the children were in bed. But they hadn't found Johnny's birthday present.

“What do you mean 'pounce on us?' Do you think it's some kind of cat?” Terry asked skeptically.

He threw up his hands. “I don't have any idea what it is. All I know is, he said he'd left your present somewhere you were sure to find it. And I don't trust him.”

She chuckled, remembering how they'd first met in his
closet. “What would a birthday be without Johnny and his tricks?” she said.

“A damn sight less worrying,” he grumbled, taking her in his arms. “If he's given you an inflatable male doll, I'll kill him.”

She laughed, snuggling into an embrace that still ex
cited her as much as ever it had. “In a way,” she said softly, “he gave me you. No other present could ever
come close to that.”

He buried his face in her hair. “Terry,” he murmured huskily, and she could feel desire stirring in him, as it did
so easily. “Let's get to bed.”

She smiled, returning his kiss. “What about Johnny's
present?” she teased.

“We'll worry about that later.” His arms slid under her knees and he lifted her in his arms. “Right now I've got
more important things on my mind.”

He placed her on the bedspread and smiled down at
her. The best thing he'd ever done in his life was marry her. She'd destroyed his cynicism and made him look at
the world with hope again. Every time they made love he
tried to show her what words couldn't—how much she
meant to him. And every time he never quite made it
clear enough. Which only meant he had to try that much
harder next time,

“I love you,” he said, his heart in his eyes.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

He undressed her quickly, and she did the same for
him. Naked, they lay together on the bed, slowly building
the renewal of the bond between them.

“Terry, Terry,” Rick groaned, coming down on top of her softness. “I can never get enough of you.”

Closing her eyes, she smiled drowsily and wrapped her
arms around his neck. Then she opened her eyes-and
stared at the ceiling,

“What's the matter?” He felt the change in her mood
immediately.

“I think I found Johnny's present,” she said in a choked voice.

He looked up. On the ceiling just above their beds was
a small box. Encrusted in hearts and flowers, it read,
“The truly loved don't need jokes.”

“Oh,” Terry said, laughing softly. “Isn't that sweet?”

“Sweet,” Rick agreed, frowning. “And not like Johnny at all.”

“I think it's nice,” she said. “After all, he couldn't very well give me the risque sort of things he always gives
you.” She quickly amended that.
“Used
to give you.”

“Maybe not,” he admitted. “Are we going to leave the
thing up there?”

She shrugged, sitting beside him and staring up. “I
guess so. At least for tonight.”

They stared at it for a few more moments.

“Let's get it down,” Rick said at last. “It makes me feel funny seeing it up there. There's a string hanging
from it. Maybe if you just pull it...”

Terry bounced to her feet and pulled the string. A
buzzer loud enough to do a job in a fire station went off,
and at the same time a streamer unfurled and golden
glitter began to fly around the room, getting all over ev
erything.

Terry slid back down to sit by Rick, laughing as
glitter fell all around them, covering their bodies with
gold. The streamer read, “The truly loved may not need
jokes, but that doesn't mean they don't want them!
Happy Birthday, Terry. Glad to have you in the fam
ily.”

“I think I'm beginning to appreciate inflatable dolls,”
Rick said as the scream from the buzzer died away.
 

Terry grinned up at him. “Now I've had my present
from everyone but you,” she told him.

“I gave you a new car,” he grumbled. “What more do
you want?”

“You,” she said simply. “I want to make love with you.” Her eyes darkened. “Tonight is special. I can feel it.”

He put his large hand on her stomach. “Do you think... ?”

She nodded happily. “Tonight,” she whispered. “Tonight we'll not only make love. We'll make our future together.”

And, wrapping her arms around him, she got ready to do just that.

Also in the Destiny Bay series

Destiny Bay-Forever Yours
 

Book 1-My Little Runaway

Book 2-Wife For a Night

Book 3-Too Scared to Breathe

Book 4-Make Believe Wife

Book 5-Promoted to Wife

Book 6-Not the Marrying Kind
 

Available on Kindle

COMING SOON
:
 

DESTINY BAY~BABY DREAMS-6 books

DESTINY BAY~ISLANDS IN THE SUN-6 books

Available soon from
 

DoorKnock Publishing

NOT THE MARRYING KIND

Destiny Bay: Forever Yours: Book 6

by Helen Conrad

Okay, that did it.
 
She couldn’t ignore this guy any longer.
 
Something had to be done.
 
Call the cops?
 
Or the department store manager?
 

Shelley Carrington stared at the handsome man in the unseasonable trench coat who had just picked up a very expensive watch and dropped it into his pocket.
 
Despite the tray of shiny gold chains flashing on the rack between them, she'd seen him do it. And when her dark eyes, wide with shock, met his across the long glass counter, he winked at her.

What?

She pushed back a heavy curtain of thick blond hair and glared at him, her hands clenched into fists.
 
She couldn't let him get away with it. He was stealing—and from her favorite department store! She had to stop him.

Drawing breath deep into her lungs, she raised her head with pure determination and began to march toward where the man still stood eyeing the watch display.
 
It looked like he might pocket another if it caught his fancy.

She'd seen him earlier in other parts of the store. In fact, she'd begun to wonder if he was following her. He seemed to turn up everywhere she went.

Now here he was in the jewelry department, stealing watches.

At first glance, he certainly didn't seem like a thief. Tall and slender, he had the look of wealth and privilege about him—just the sort of man she despised.
 
She had a quick image of him casually strolling off his yacht, or mounting his polo pony at the green.
 
Cultured, sophisticated, urbane—and yet just below the surface, a sense of suppressed strength and vitality, a barely leashed danger like that waiting in the shiny coils of a well-balanced bullwhip.

Wow.
 

She blinked at him as she came near.
 
She didn’t usually get such a vivid picture in her mind by just looking at someone.
 
What was there about this man that seemed to be so…so wickedly appealing?

She stared for a moment, then shook herself.
 
What was the matter with her?
 
He was a thief, darn it all!
 
She tapped him firmly on the shoulder to get his attention.
 

“I think you'd better put that watch back, mister,” she whispered loudly, trying to look stern.
 
“If you don't, I'm going to have to notify the floor manager.”

He turned and looked down at her, his eyes an electrifying blue that seemed to cut the air between them like lasers. She didn't know exactly what she'd expected. Anger? Resentment? The need to flee? In her psychology practice she'd dealt with all those very human emotions, and many more besides. But his reaction surprised her.

He chuckled. No mistake about it. She heard the low, rumbling sound distinctly. As she stood staring up into his face, her mouth agape with outrage, his hand shot out and the long fingers circled her wrist.

“Hold on, sweetheart,” he told her in a low voice laced with some strange sense of urgency. “Just give it one more minute.” He winked again, and the slight traces of a smile edged his full, well-defined lips, but his eyes were busy glancing about the store as though he were looking for someone, searching for something.

She stood frozen, not sure what to do.
 
Her heart was beating wildly now.
 
What the heck was he up to? His fingers were warm and strong and his hold on her was steel-trap unyielding. As he turned his head she caught a slight scent of aftershave mixed with a less identifiable masculine fragrance that sent shivers down her spine and made her gasp softly.
 

He was so awfully handsome with those blue eyes gleaming between thick black lashes, his straight, dark hair combed casually, his collar crisp and white. His silk tie was stuck with a gold tiepin. The trench coat looked as smooth as if someone had ironed it just that morning.