1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [95]
She looked up, struggling to hide how hurt she was. “Waiting?”
“You said you’d come to me when you were ready to forgive and forget.”
“Didn’t I say the same thing to you? It doesn’t do any good for me to forgive and forget if you can’t, does it?”
“No, I don’t suppose it does.”
He didn’t say anything else for another lengthy moment. Christie almost wished Christopher would wake up and wail to distract her from this anguish—and to give voice to her own discontent.
“Where do we stand, then?” he finally asked.
“I…don’t know. I…I’d give anything to be able to wipe the slate clean and be the woman you deserve.” Her mouth was so dry she could hardly speak. “I can’t do that, but I can’t live with the threat of you throwing it in my face every time we disagree, either.”
“And I can’t live with you constantly bringing up the fact that I let you down when I…left.”
“I…”
“Yes?” James urged when she hesitated.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Polgar World?” she blurted out.
The question seemed to hang in the air. Before he answered, James exhaled deeply. “I feel that I’ve failed at almost everything I’ve tried to do in my life. The idea for the game came to me two years ago. I’ve been developing it for the past year and a half. I didn’t even tell Bobby until six months ago. I could live with failing, but I couldn’t live with disappointing you.”
“Oh.” An inadequate response, but the best she could manage.
“I figured if and when it was a success, I’d come to you.”
“You didn’t, though.”
“I’m here now. I didn’t just happen to stop by the house. I saw your car outside and I couldn’t stay away.”
Christie stared up at him, eyes wide.
“The thing is, I thought I’d be the happiest man alive when this game sold.”
“Aren’t you?” He had every reason to celebrate.
“Not if I can’t share it with you.” A tentative smile came and went.
She smiled back.
“I love you, Christie. I’m tired of being alone, tired of my pride.”
“Pride doesn’t really keep you warm at night, does it?” She was speaking for herself as well as him.
He stood then and moved toward her with his usual long strides, taking the seat beside her. “I want us to get married.”
“Okay.” Not the most elegant answer, perhaps, but it got the point across.
“It’s not like we’re kids who don’t know what they want.”
“I want you,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Bobby and Teri were married in Vegas….”
“We could make it a family tradition,” she suggested.
James grinned. “I couldn’t agree with you more. Hey, are you doing anything this weekend?” he asked.
“Yeah, I am,” she said, then sent him a huge smile. “I’m getting married.”
“Good, because so am I.”
He reached for her and she went willingly into his arms, almost forgetting Christopher.
Between kisses James murmured, “No more arguments.”
“Well, that’s unlikely, but at least we know we can get past them.” Her lips lingered on his. “Oh, James, I’m so happy for you.”
He gave her a loving kiss. “I’m marrying you and that makes me happier than anything.”
“Should we tell Teri and Bobby?” she asked.
“We heard,” Bobby said from the kitchen.
James straightened and looked over at them. “I’m going to need a best man.”
“He’ll be there and so will I,” Teri said, standing next to her husband. Bobby had his arm around Teri’s shoulders. “I’ll be the matron of honor,” Teri added.
Christie wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Twenty-Seven
Gloria needed to tell Chad that their night together had consequences. She was pregnant. He had a right to know. It’d been more than a month since he’d moved away. When she’d called his old phone number, she was given a number with a Tacoma area code. So she’d guessed correctly. Chad had taken the job with Tacoma General to work in their E.R.
What surprised Gloria was how much she missed him since he’d left. That wasn’t even logical. They weren’t a couple; in fact, she’d refused to see him again. The only thing to which she could attribute this sense of loss was the comfort she’d found in knowing he was close at hand. If she’d wished to, she could’ve sought him