Come Lie With Me - Linda Howard [91]
“Some guy,” Francine teased when Dione walked into the kitchen. Then she saw Dione’s white face and quickly pushed a chair at her, then poured a cup of coffee. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Dazed, she drank the coffee, then raised stunned golden eyes to the other woman. “He wants to marry me.”
“So I gathered. What’s so surprising about that? I imagine a lot of men have wanted to marry you.”
“He won’t take no for an answer,” she said abstractedly.
“If he looks as great as he sounds, why would you want him to take no for an answer?” Francine asked practically. “Unless he’s a bum.”
“No, he’s not a bum. He’s…even greater than he sounds.”
“Do you love him?”
Dione buried her face in her hands. “So much that I’ve been about to die without him.”
“Then marry him!” Francine sat down beside her. “Marry him, and whatever problem is keeping you apart will be settled later. You’d be surprised how many problems people can settle when they’re sleeping in the same bed every night and they wake up to the same face every morning. Don’t be afraid to take the chance; every marriage is a gamble, but then so is walking across the street. If you didn’t take the chance you’d never get to the other side.”
Words tumbled around in Dione’s mind that night as she lay sleeplessly in bed. Blake had said that she was afraid of getting hurt again, and it was the truth. But was she so afraid of getting hurt that she had deliberately turned her back on a man who loved her?
No one had ever loved her before. No one had worried about her, held her when she cried, comforted her when she was upset….
Except Blake. He had done all those things. Even Richard had thought she was strong and confident, but Blake had seen beneath the act, had realized how vulnerable she was, how easily hurt. Blake had replaced the memories of violence with the memories of love. When she dreamed of a man’s touch now it was his touch she dreamed of, and it filled her with aching need.
Blake loved her! It was incredible, but she had to believe it. She had set him free, expecting him to forget her, but it hadn’t happened like that. It wasn’t a case of “out of sight, out of mind.” He had gone to the trouble of finding out where she was, and he had given her time to think about a life without him before he called. He hadn’t given up.
As the days passed she went through her routine with Kevin with a smile on her face, humming constantly. He was so willing to do anything she asked that it was a pleasure to work with him, and she knew that soon he wouldn’t need her any longer. That automobile accident that had injured him was long forgotten, and all he was concerned with now was if he would be able to play ball by the time summer came.
“How’s your patient doing?” Blake asked the next time he called, and Dione smiled at the sound of his voice.
“He’s doing great. I’m about ready to graduate him to a walker.”
“That’s good news, and not just for him. That means you’ll be able to take a long honeymoon.”
She didn’t say anything, just stood there smiling. No, Blake Remington didn’t give up. Any other man would have thrown up his hands in disgust, but when Blake decided that he wanted something, he went after it.
“Have you fainted?” he asked warily.
“No,” she said, and burst into tears. “It’s just that I love you so much, and I miss you.”
He drew a long, shuddering breath. “Well, thank God,” he muttered. “I was beginning to think I really would have to kidnap you. Lady, it’s going to take a lifetime of massages to make up for what you’ve put me through.”
“I’ll even sign a contract, if you want,” she said, swiping at the tears.
“Oh, I want, all right. An ironclad contract. What day can I fetch you? If I know you, you have Kevin’s schedule mapped out to the very day you kiss him good-bye and walk away, and I’m going to be there to meet you when you walk out the door. You’re not getting out of my sight until you’re Mrs. Remington.”
“April twelfth,