An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [76]
“Of course.” He took the empty bowl and set it aside. Then he brought her back against him. His roving hands distracted Julia from her intention and she gasped at the sensation that shot through her.
“I keep up with current events as much as I can,” she said, trying to get her mind off the subject at hand. “I missed the earlier newscast because I had a doctor’s appointment.”
Alek’s eyes widened with concern.
“It was the dentist, don’t worry.” She leaned forward to pick up the remote control. The screen flared to life just as the sportscaster began the latest update on the Mariners. It was heavenly to sit quietly with Alek’s arms around her.
“I will take our son to baseball games,” Alek announced, “and the library.”
“I hope you intend to take your daughter and your wife while you’re at it.”
“Whoever wishes to go,” he said, as though their family was already complete and they were making ordinary, everyday plans.
Julia smiled to herself.
After the sports news, they watched the five-day weather forecast. “I hope it rains every day,” Alek whispered close to her ear. “That way I can keep you in the apartment, or better yet, in our bed.”
“I’ve got news for you,” Julia whispered, kissing his lips, still cold from the ice cream. “You don’t need an excuse to take me to bed. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m crazy about you.”
“I noticed,” he said with a satisfied smile. “And I approve.”
Soon they were kissing again. They would have continued, Julia was certain, if the newscaster hadn’t returned to announce the breaking news stories of the day.
“Ideal Paints, a national paint manufacturer based here in Seattle, has declared bankruptcy. As many as three hundred jobs have been lost.”
Julia was stunned. “I knew they were having financial difficulties,” she said, breaking away from Alek. “But I didn’t realize it was that serious.”
“They couldn’t hope to compete with Conrad Industries any longer,” Alek told her. “Stanhope hurt them, but it took them three years to feel the effects. Their whole developmental program came to a halt after he sold them the formula for guaranteed twenty-five-year paint. They had the latest advance without having gone through the learning process, without the trial and error that comes with any major progress. It set them back.”
Julia had never thought of it in those terms. What she did remember was something Ruth had told her years earlier, when revenge and justice had ranked high on her list. Her grandmother had insisted time had a way of correcting injustices, and she’d been right.
“I wonder what’ll happen to Roger,” she said absently, almost feeling sorry for him.
“He’s finished in the business world,” Alek said calmly. “It’s a well-known fact he sold out Conrad Industries. No company’s going to risk hiring an employee with questionable loyalty and ethics. He’ll be lucky to find any kind of job.”
“Everything’s come full circle,” Julia said, leaning into her husband’s strength. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she pressed her hands over his. “Everything I lost has been returned to me a hundredfold.”
Alek kissed her neck. “Same for me.”
“I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy. Only a few years ago I felt as if my whole life was over, and now it seems to get better every day.” Leaning back, she reached upward for her husband’s kiss.
BRIDE WANTED
For Eric, Kurt, Neal and Clay Macomber—the other Macombers. Love, Aunt Debbie.
Prologue
“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” the man behind the desk asked Chase Goodman. He spoke around the cigar in his mouth. “You want to rent a billboard and advertise for a wife.”
Chase wasn’t about to let a potbellied cynic talk him out of the idea. He had exactly three weeks to find himself a bride before he returned to Alaska, and that didn’t leave time for a lot of romantic nonsense. This was the most direct route he could think of for getting himself a wife. He was thirty-three, relatively good-looking and lonesome as heck. He’d spent his last winter alone.
Okay, he was willing to admit, his idea was