An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [114]
He gave her no reassurances nor did he discourage her. She seemed nervous, understandably so. “Those are the only reasons?” he pressed.
“No.” She was irritated with him now and he felt relieved. The more emotion she revealed the better. “I don’t want to live in Seattle any longer.”
She’d disappointed him. “If that’s all you want, isn’t marrying a man you don’t love a little drastic? All you need to do is apply for a teaching position elsewhere. I’m not up on these things, but I seem to remember hearing that teachers were in high demand in a number of states. Try Montana. That’s where your mother’s living, isn’t it?”
“I don’t want to move to Montana. I’d rather be in Alaska with you.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? You’d like to see me humiliate myself, but I’m not going to. Now, do you want to marry me or not?”
There’d never been a single doubt in Chase’s mind. He knew exactly what he wanted and he had from the beginning. He wanted Lesley. He’d always wanted Lesley, and that wasn’t going to change.
“It’s Tony, isn’t it?” he said, as unemotionally as he could. Funny, he’d never met the man but he despised him for what he’d done to Lesley and for the way he was treating his wife. “You’re afraid he has the power to reduce you to something you find abhorrent. He wants you, doesn’t he? But he’s married and that means you’d be his mistress and you’re scared out of your wits that you’ll do it because you love him.”
“Yes. Yes!” Angry tears glistened in her eyes and her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides.
“You think marrying me and moving to Alaska is the answer to all your problems.”
“Yes,” she cried again. “I’ve never lied to you, Chase, not even when it would’ve been convenient. You know exactly what you’re getting with me.”
“Yes, I do,” he answered softly.
“Well?” she asked with an indignant tilt of her chin. “Are you going to marry me or not?”
“Is this a take-it-or-leave-it proposition?”
“Yes.”
“All right,” he said, walking away from her. “We’ll be married Wednesday evening.”
“Next week!” She sounded as if that was impossible. Unthinkable. “I can’t put together a wedding in that amount of time. My mother and Ken are traveling in their trailer this summer and—”
“Do you want them at the ceremony?” he interrupted.
“Yes, but…not if it means ruining their vacation.”
“Then we won’t tell them until they’re home.” If Lesley was looking for solutions, he’d willingly supply them.
“I’d like to try calling them. And I want to invite a few friends and have a small reception.”
“Fine with me. The hotel can arrange whatever you want with twenty-four hours’ notice. We’ll talk to them on Monday.” Chase didn’t intend to give her any more time than that or she might well talk herself out of it.
“What about the invitations?”
“Well, there’s always email.”
“No, I want real invitations.”
“I’ll have a messenger service hand-deliver them.”
“But they’ll need to be printed, and…oh, Chase, there are so many things to do. I have a dress, but I don’t know if you’d want me to wear it since I bought it for another man, but it’s so beautiful and—no, I couldn’t possibly wear it, and that means I’ll have to buy another one. But it took me weeks to find the first one.”
Chase held his breath until his chest ached with the effort. “It seems to me you’re looking for excuses.”
“I’m not! I swear I’m not. It’s just that…”
“Be very sure, Lesley, because once we say those vows we’re married, and I take that very seriously. I assume you do, too.”
She nodded slowly. “What about all my things? What will I do with them? I can’t cram everything I own in a couple of suitcases.”
“Pack what you want and I’ll have the rest shipped. You won’t need the furniture, so either sell it or give it away—whatever you want.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“We’ll need to apply for the wedding license tomorrow morning. I’ll be here by ten