Unforgettable, page 35
“Wait,” Ralph shouted at his hotheaded cousins. “There has to be more going on here.” He took her hands into his own. “What happened, cuz?”
“What difference does it make?” She snatched her hands away. “Why aren’t you guys celebrating? It’s what you all have been hoping would happen. Gavin is out of my life for good.” Anna brushed at the tears that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hold back.
“No one is celebrating, especially since you’ve been hurt,” Wesley said softly. “What happened, little sis?”
“It’s obvious that some sports groupie got in the way. You know how some of them act,” Devin sneered “We’ve all had to deal with them.”
Ralph pulled her over to the sofa and sat her down. “Anna? Was that it?” His concern was as evident as her brothers’.
“If you need me to hurt him the way he hurt you, I will,” Devin offered, his temper getting the best of him. “No one hurts my baby sister.”
“Will all of you stop it? This is not about anyone else, just Gavin and me.” She jumped to her feet, hands clenched at her sides. “We couldn’t make it work. There was just too much in the way, including the three of you. You didn’t even want him here for Christmas.”
“Wait a minute.” Wesley followed. “Dad went to see you and Gavin. He said he smoothed things over. He and Mama both wanted him here. And we all accepted that, even if we didn’t like it. We planned to keep our mouths shut.”
“That’s right,” Devin growled impatiently. None of them wanted to see Donna and Lester upset, and that was exactly what would have happened if Anna hadn’t come home for Christmas.
Anna nodded. “Daddy came by. And yes, he did have a talk with us. He let Gavin know he wasn’t happy with our living arrangement.” She hesitated, studying the tops of her boots.
“Daddy came right out and told Gavin that if he wanted me he should marry me. Well, you know how much Gavin respects Daddy. He’s been more like a father to him than his own father.”
She was silent so long that Ralph prompted, “What?”
“Evidently this time it made an impression on Gavin. Last night after the party, he asked me to marry him. He even bought me a ring.” Anna began crying in earnest.
Wesley pulled her against his chest. Devin handed her a handkerchief. They waited until she calmed down somewhat.
Wesley asked, “So why aren’t we celebrating your engagement?”
“Yeah, sis.” Devin was clearly upset, unable to bear her tears. “I thought you were in love with him.”
“That’s obvious,” Ralph insisted. “She wouldn’t have let him touch her in the first place, if she didn’t love him.”
“Shut up, all of you. You’re only making her cry harder.” Wesley was doing his best to calm her.
It took her a few moments to calm down enough to even think straight, let alone explain. They soon had her settled on the sofa cradling a glass of brandy she didn’t want.
“Drink some of it,” Devin persisted gently.
Anna took a sip to shut him up, then wiped at the stubborn tear that ran down her cheek.
It was Ralph who asked, “Why aren’t we planning a wedding, darlin’?”
“Because I turned him down.”
Devin was the only who said what the others were thinking, “Why in the hell did you go and do that?”
“What do you mean, why did I do that?” Anna was on her feet, shaking and furious. “What woman in her right mind wants to marry a man who doesn’t love her? Not me.”
All three men looked at one another, clearly bewildered.
“Who says he doesn’t love you?” Wesley asked.
She looked at them through watery eyes. “Believe me, as hard as this may be for you knuckleheads to understand, every man on this earth isn’t in love with me. Gavin happens to be one of them. He only asked me because he believed it was the right thing to do.”
“He does love you,” Devin said, as if anything else was preposterous.
“He doesn’t,” she yelled back.
“Wait a minute.” Wesley demanded, “Did you ask him how he felt about you?”
“No. I’m not that desperate.” She took another sip of the brandy, then shuddered at the taste. She put it down before she said, as evenly as she could manage, “I know Gavin cares about me. I also know, as Kyle’s guardian, he’s determined to provide a stable home for his brother. None of that has anything to do with loving me.”
Wesley cupped her shoulders, gently turning her to face him. “I repeat, did you ask the man how he feels about you? I know Gavin. Yes, he loves Dad, but he isn’t about to marry to please someone else, not considering his family history.”
Wesley paused for emphasis. “If the man asked you to marry him, he did so because he wants you. One thing the guy has always been is his own man. Just because he hasn’t said he loves you, doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel it.”
“Wes is right.” Devin was thoughtful before he said, “Gavin wouldn’t ask you to marry him to please Dad. There has to be more.”
“Gavin tossed out an ‘of course I love you,’ as if it were an afterthought. And there is no doubt in my mind that he loves me, but he’s not in love with me the way I am with him.”
Frustrated, Devin snapped. “If he said it at all, he meant it. You’d never hear me saying it if I wasn’t dead serious, that’s for damn sure.”
“When you say those words, hell will no doubt have frozen solid.” Ralph laughed.
“And you would say them? Mr. New Woman Every Half Hour? Every time I come home, you’ve got some new babe on your arm. Give me a break,” Devin snapped.
“At least I bring them home. What is your excuse?” Ralph shot back. “You got women in two states trying to run you to ground.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Devin smiled.
Wesley shook his head. “Will you both shut up? Neither one of you knows a thing about being in love. You’d both run like hell if a woman even looked like she wanted to get serious with one of you.”
“The way I see it, that’s not a bad thing.” Devin laughed.
Anna snapped. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m leaving. This conversation is over.”
“We aren’t done,” Wesley said. “Anna, what more do you want from the guy? He gave you a ring.”
“I want him to mean it.”
“He does,” her brothers shouted.
Anna looked from one brother to the other before she turned to her cousin. “You think they’re right?” Her heart raced from just the possibility.
Ralph nodded. “Sure I do. Ask him. How else will you know? Cuz, don’t throw away the chance to have a future with the man you love. You can’t walk away just because the man wants to make a family for himself and his brother.”
Anna recalled the words Gavin used when he asked her to be his wife. There wasn’t so much as a hint that he truly loved her.
“As much as I want to believe you’re right, I can’t.” She bit her lip to hold back the tremors. She’d already cried an ocean of tears, more would change nothing. “If Gavin was in love with me, why didn’t he come right out and say it?”
Devin groaned as if he were in pain. “Don’t go all female on us, sis. The guy asked you to marry him. Believe me, he wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t in love with you. No man would.”
“That’s for sure,” his equally single cousin agreed.
Wesley shook his head. “Don’t listen to those jocks. Neither one of them knows a blasted thing about being in love.”
The other two swore at him.
“Sorry, sis,” Devin apologized and Ralph nodded his agreement.
Wesley asked pointedly, “Does he know how you feel about him?”
“She slept with him. He ought to know,” Devin put in.
“Please. How many women have you slept with that you didn’t love or could care less if they loved you?” Ralph asked.
“Yeah, but that’s different,” Devin said sheepishly.
Ignoring the others, Wesley quizzed, “Did you even once tell him that you’re in love with him?”
Anna wrung her hands. “I couldn’t. I didn’t want him to feel as if he were taking advantage of my feelings for him.”
“The way I see it, you have a choice,” Wesley surmised. “You can find out how he feels, or you can turn tail and run like a coward. Which is it going to be?” When she didn’t respond quickly enough, Wesley urged, “Sis, Gavin has the means to hire a million chefs, but there is only one of you. No one can take your place.”
“Just ask him,” both Ralph and Devin said at the same time.
“It’s a whole lot easier to say than do,” she confessed unhappily. “You all could be wrong.”
Wesley advised, “Not likely. But you’re a Prescott. If he says no, then sock him.”
29
Was she making a huge mistake by taking their advice, she wondered, as she followed the drive to the side entrance. She slowed the car to a stop beside Gavin’s SUV, knowing that it didn’t necessarily mean anything. He could just as easily have taken one of the other cars or a limousine.
She couldn’t stop thinking about how angry and withdrawn he’d been that morning. The memory did nothing to ease her anxiety. All he wanted was to have her as far away from him as possible. And she couldn’t blame him. He had gone so far as to sacrifice spending the holiday with his brother in order to see the back of her.
Wesley seemed so sure that Gavin was in love with her. The chances were just as good that he was wrong. The two men hadn’t exactly been close in the last few weeks. One thing was certain. She had to find out the truth. How could she walk away if there was even the smallest bit of doubt in her mind?
Her entire future depended on his response to that one question. If that meant making a fool of herself, then she was willing to take the risk, because she just couldn’t think of another option.
She got out of the car, automatically locking the door without thinking. Unfortunately, her excuse for returning early and without his brother sounded weak even to her own ears. When Kyle and Wayne asked if Kyle could stay overnight, she’d agreed and even offered to pack his bag, promising to drop it by later.
She considered going to the cottage first to freshen up, hoping to boost her spirits, but decided against it. Instead she let herself into the dark house. How she looked didn’t matter. Another application of powder or lipstick wouldn’t change how Gavin felt about her.
It was barely dusk, but although the outside lamps were lit, the house was dark. It was also silent, not a good sign. It looked as if no one was at home. Her stomach felt as if it were tied up in knots as she walked through the kitchen. It was a large house. He could be anywhere.
“Gavin?” Anna called, turning on lamps as she went. She checked the rooms on the first floor before she slowly mounted the stairs and walked down the long hall. She paused at the door to his suite before she knocked.
When there was no response, she tried again. Eventually she had to force herself to go inside. His sitting room was dark and empty. She crossed on unsteady legs to his bedroom. It was also empty, as was his bathroom. Anna sighed wearily. Unless he was hiding in the laundry hamper, he wasn’t at home.
Disappointed, Anna stopped in Kyle’s room long enough to pack an overnight bag, and then she hurried down to the main floor. She hesitated at the back staircase and flicked on the light before she went down. The gym, the indoor swimming pool, the sauna, the basketball, and the racketball courts were all empty.
Dejected and sad, Anna locked the house. When she got in her car, she realized she was not quite ready to face her family. She needed some time alone…time to think about what she was going to say to Gavin. She left the bag on the passenger seat and then followed the walkway to the guest cottage she’d been calling home the last few weeks. That might all end tomorrow. She wasn’t quite ready to face the inevitability of the move. She’d been so happy when she moved in, so filled with dreams.
Anna’s steps slowed as she approached the cottage. It too was bathed in darkness. She’d left earlier without a single thought of leaving on a light. Her heart had been too heavy with grief to think beyond getting through this one day.
She was facing another night alone and was unsure if she could bear spending it in the cottage, in the bed she had shared with Gavin. Maybe she should just go home tonight? Nothing could be worse than spending Christmas Day without him.
How could she bear it if he didn’t love her? There would be no more nights of listening for his footsteps or long talks with the moonlight shining through the French doors. No more nights of sleeping in his arms or stolen moments and kisses.
How many times had she reminded herself that one unspoken word shouldn’t matter? Could it be true that the sizzling hot kisses and the incredible love making were a thing of the past?
Had all her love been wasted on a man who could not or would not offer love in return? She was no closer to knowing the answer to that question than she had been when she left her folks’.
“No closer,” Anna whispered to herself as she unlocked the cottage door and went inside. She moved absently to the nearby lamp. Turning it on, she jumped when she saw Gavin sprawled on the sofa. She hadn’t noticed the fire that was burning in the grate.
He held a beer bottle in his hand. Judging by the two other bottles on the side table, he’d been there awhile.
Shielding his eyes from the light, he asked, “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after seven.”
“I didn’t expect you back so soon.” He swung his legs down to the carpet. His gaze slowly moved over her before he looked away. “Where is Kyle? At the house?”
“He asked to stay overnight with Wayne,” she answered, her stomach fluttering with nerves. “Just for tonight. Is that okay?”
“It’s a little late to refuse,” he said dryly.
“I didn’t think you would mind. I packed an overnight bag for him. I left it in the car while I came in to—” Recognizing that she was babbling she stopped. “Should I apologize?”
“No, Kyle is entitled to enjoy the holiday,” he said tightly.
Realizing that she’d left the door open, she went back to close it. Leaning against it, she quizzed, “Gavin, why are you here?”
He rested his forearms on his thighs before he pushed himself up to his feet. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get out of your way.”
“No.” she said quickly, then added, “Please don’t go.” Swallowing with difficulty, she took off her ivory wool coat, black velvet hat and scarf, and tossed them into the nearby armchair.
His dark eyes were devoid of emotions. “Why?”
“I’d like to talk.”
“We’ve both said all that needed saying last night.”
“Maybe you did, but I haven’t.” She walked right up to him, even though her legs weren’t as steady as she would like. “I can’t leave things as they are between us. I have to know.”
He carefully placed the unfinished bottle with the others. He quirked a brow, a hand braced on one lean hip. “What?”
“I had a talk with my brothers and Ralph before I—”
He interrupted sarcastically, “I just bet they were thrilled when you told them we’ve broken up. Something to celebrate.”
“No one was celebrating.” She bit her lip to hold back the tremors.
He grated harshly, “Look, say what you have to say, so I can get the hell out of here.”
“Too many memories, Gavin?” she taunted.
He stiffened but he didn’t bother to respond.
“Were they all bad?” she whispered unhappily.
“You know they aren’t.” He didn’t look at her but over her left shoulder. Impatient to leave, he demanded to know, “Anna, what is this about? You wanted out, you got it. What more is there?”
Blinking back tears, she confessed, “I never wanted what we had to end…not ever.”
“I was there when you gave back my ring.” His eyes mirrored the bitterness in his voice.
“That was different.”
“Pardon me for being dense, but what in the hell are you talking about? From where I’m standing N-O means just that.”
He ran an unsteady hand over his unshaven jaw. Moving to the fireplace, he leaned a shoulder against the mantel, staring into the depths of the log-filled grate.
His voice was gruff when he accused, “The way I heard it, you didn’t want a damn thing I was offering.”
“That’s not true.”
Gavin’s eyes moved from her cottony-soft hair to linger on her red-tinted full lips. He caressed her mouth with his dark hungry eyes. He sighed tiredly.
“Why are we even discussing this? Damn it, don’t play with me like this, Anna, just say what you have to say, so I can get the hell away from you.”
The tears she’d tried to hold back spilled from her dark gray eyes. She hastily wiped them away. “You don’t even want to be in the same room with me anymore.”
“What do you expect, Anna?” He gestured wildly. “You were the one who turned me down, not the other way around. I’ll be damned, if I’m going to beg you to stay with me.”
“You don’t have to beg. You never had to do that. All I’ve ever wanted was your love.”
Gavin’s eyes collided with hers. He stood there studying her. Eventually he said, “I told you how I feel.”
“You told me that I was special to you. And that if I wanted you to say you loved me then you would. It was an afterthought, and that hurt.”
“I asked you to marry me.”
“Why, Gavin? I came back early looking for you because I have to know…” She stopped, then forced herself to continue. “…if you’re in love with me. Is that why you asked me to be your wife? Because that’s my reason for refusing. I don’t believe you’re in love with me.”
Her arms were wrapped around her waist as if she were protecting herself from even more hurt as she silently prayed. If he didn’t love her, then they had zero chance of making it work.
A frown creased his brow, his hands hung loosely at his sides. “How can you not know how I feel about you?”
