For the Love of Pete (24 page)

"Enough," he said, lifting her and setting her aside just as he heard a faint whisper of sound and a gasp. He whirled around just in time to see Jo's horrified expression before she took off at a run.

"Dammit to hell," he muttered, tearing after her, Kelsey and her ridiculous request forgotten. He would deal with her later. He wasn't going to allow her to ruin his one chance at happiness for a second time.

He caught up with Jo as she made the turn onto the main road. She was on foot, which must be why he hadn't heard her arrival. He fell into step beside her, but that only made her pick up her pace. She obviously wasn't going to make this easy, wasn't going to wait for explanations.

Finally he latched on to her arm. "Whoa, sweetheart, where are you going?"

Tears were streaking down her cheeks. "Home," she said fiercely. "Back to Boston." She frowned at him, then added bitterly, "Again."

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"Why?" he asked, though he knew perfectly well that she was running because of what she'd heard Kel-sey saying back at his house, what she'd seen. He couldn't be sure how much she'd heard, but it had evidently been enough. Too much, in fact.

"Because I won't stand between you and your family," she said, her voice cracking on a sob. She gave him a look tilled with heartbreak. "We were so close this time, Pete, but I don't blame you for choosing them. It's what you have to do. They obviously need you."

He wanted to shake her gently, make her listen, but first he had to find the right words. Filled with desperation, he searched his heart.

Holding tight to her shoulders so she couldn't break away and run again, he said, "Look at me, Jo."

When she continued staring at the ground, he repeated, "Look at me. Please."

She finally lifted her gaze.

"Now listen to me," he pleaded. "Really listen, Jo."

He waited until she nodded, then said, "What I need is you," he said quietly, his gaze locked on hers. He couldn't get this wrong. He had to find the words to convince her to ignore whatever she'd seen and heard and listen to his heart. "It's you I need, Jo. Not Kelsey. It's always been you. I thought I was doing the honorable thing seven years ago, but all I did was make a bunch of people miserable. I won't do that again."

"But your son," she protested. "I know how much you love him. Kelsey's right. You should be a family, if at all possible."

"Davey will always be important to me. I'll never

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abandon him, not for anyone, but it's over between me and Kelsey. Hell, it was over before it really began."

He brushed a wayward tear from her too-pale cheek. "You're the family I need, Jo. And we'll make a place for Davey, too, on whatever terms I can work out with Kelsey, but I won't give in to her emotional blackmail. I want to do things right this time. I want to marry you, if you'll have me. Maybe, depending on how things work out, Davey can spend more time with us, if you're willing, but Kelsey's out of the picture. She's my son's mother, but she is not the woman I love. Please," he whispered, "you have to listen to me. You have to hear me. Nothing I've ever said to you before was this important."

She was silent for so long, he thought he'd lost, but then a sigh shuddered through her and her eyes shimmered with a fresh batch of tears.

"Don't cry," he pleaded.

"Happy tears," she said, swiping at them impatiently. "Are you sure? Really sure?"

"That I want to marry you?"

She nodded.

He dug in his pocket and came out with several crumpled pieces of notepaper and a small velvet box. He tossed the notes on the ground, then flipped open the box to reveal a simple diamond set in platinum. "I bought this after I left your place earlier today. I'd planned on asking you in the morning, and I'd hoped to do it someplace a bit more romantic man a ditch by the highway," he said.

A smile trembled on her lips. "This is the most romantic place ever," she insisted. "The stars and moon are out, and I can hear the waves on the bay. What could be more amazing than that?"

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He smiled. "I'm glad it's working for you. Do I get an answer?"

"I should make you wait," she said thoughtfully. Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "But I can't. I've been waiting way too long to hear those words cross your lips. Yes, Pete. Yes, I'll marry you."

He whooped, then spun her around until they were both half-dizzy. "You know, years ago, I thought maybe Rose Cottage was enchanted and that what happened with us there was some kind of dream, but it wasn't, was it?"

Jo shook her head and looked at the winking diamond on her finger. "No, the feelings were as real and lasting as it gets. It was only the humans who got it wrong for just a little while. Maybe we didn't believe hard enough. Something tells me, though, that the magic will be waiting when the next generation comes along."

"Darlin', there's no magic involved," Pete insisted. "I'm sure of that now. It's all about love. That old house has always been filled to bursting with it. A little bit was bound to rub off on anyone who passed through."

She gave him a sly grin. "Maybe I should loan it to Kelsey for a while. She needs to find a man of her own."

Pete laughed. "Something tells me she won't welcome any help from us."

Jo's expression sobered. "You need to go back and tell her, Pete."

He sighed. "I know, but can't I stay here for a couple more minutes and hold you?"

"A few more minutes," she agreed. "That's it. Then you have to go inside and make things right for your son. After that, you and I will have the rest of our lives to hold on to each other."

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"That won't be nearly long enough for me," he said. "I'm holding out for eternity." He pressed a kiss against her lips. "Did you walk over here?"

"At this time of night? No way." She regarded him with chagrin. "I got so upset, I forgot all about my car."

"I'll walk you back to your car. Then I want you to go home and start a fire. Give me an hour and I'll join you. We have a lot to celebrate and we have a wedding to plan."

"Is it too much to hope that there will be more?" she asked wistfully.

Pete glanced at the house and knew the conversation awaiting him wouldn't be as easy as he wished it would be. "I hope so. She's not a bad person. She's just a little lost."

"Then show her the way," Jo said. She touched his cheek, her eyes shining. "And then come home to me."

"Ah, so you're thinking of Rose Cottage as home?"

Jo laughed and this time the sound was filled with mischief and joy. "Only till that house of yours is finished. And then I'm moving in before you change your mind and sell it to someone else."

"Never happen," Pete promised. "It was meant for you from the day I nailed the first boards into place."

"No," she said. "It was meant for us."

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Jo's mother finally had time to plan a proper wedding. Jo and Pete had set the date for June in Boston and, to her mother's delight, in church, as Pete had gotten a religious annulment of his first marriage along with the divorce. Colleen D'Angelo was in her element making all the details come together. Jo hardly had to lift a finger, which was just as well since she was swamped with work in her new partnership with Mike. She'd been lucky to squeeze out a three-day weekend for the wedding and one night for a honeymoon. The real thing was going to have to be postponed for a while till things slowed down in both their lives.

She looked around the table at her family, all of whom had gathered for the rehearsal dinner, and felt contentment steal through her. Maybe it had always

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been meant to be this way. Maybe she and Pete had needed to endure a separation in order to know just how important this moment was.

She felt a tug on her arm and looked down at Davey. "What's up, sweet pea?" she asked.

He made a face. "Don't call me that."

She regarded him with exaggerated dismay. "Something's wrong with calling my new stepson sweet pea?"

"It's dumb," he said emphatically. "It's what you'd call a girl."

"Oh?" she said, giving that serious thought. "Okay, then, want me to call you macho man?"

Davey's eyes lit up. "That's a good one. Yeah, you can call me that, but what do I call you?"

She heard genuine concern in his voice, which told her to take the question very seriously. "You've been calling me Jo. Do you think that should change?"

"I don't know. You're sort of going to be my mom now, so it seems like it should."

"I'm only going to be your mom some of the time," she reminded him. "Nothing changes between you and your real mom. She will always be the most important mom you have, and you're going to be living with her, same as always, just spending a little more time with your dad and me."

In fact, the visitation arrangements were only slightly more liberal than they had been before. Pete and Kel-sey had worked out a revised plan, but at least Kelsey was sticking to them. Once she had finally accepted that Pete was going to marry Jo, she'd grasped the positive benefits of having a few more weekends to herself so she could make a new life, hopefully with a new

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man. Right now, though, she was using the extra time to take some college classes. She'd finally made peace with Pete's decision and started to think about what she could have, if only she worked for it. Maybe she'd eventually find that exciting life she'd always longed for.

"Still, you need a special name," Davey insisted, then grinned impishly.

That expression reminded Jo why she'd fallen in love widi his father and with him. With the two of them there would always be unexpected surprises.

Davey gave her a triumphant look. "Maybe I'll call you sweet pea."

"I don't think so," she said, laughing. "Try again."

"But I can't think of anything," he complained, but then his expression brightened. 'fHow about Mama Jo? Could I call you that?"

Tears stung Jo's eyes. "Nothing would make me happier," she told him, giving him a squeeze. "I love you, kiddo. I can't wait for tomorrow to marry your dad."

"Me, either," Pete said, leaning in to steal a kiss. "It's going to be the best wedding ever."

Jo met his gaze. "It's going to be my only wedding ever."

He stroked a finger down her cheek and regarded her solemnly. "Guaranteed, darlin'. Guaranteed."

The wedding was everything Jo had always dreamed about, everydiing she and Pete had talked about all those years ago. They were surrounded by her family and even Pete's uncle, who'd insisted on coming despite the arthritis that made it increasingly difficult for him to get around.

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"Glad to see the two of you together finally," he told Jo right before the ceremony, when she paused to give him a kiss on her way to the altar. "It was too long coming. I knew way back that you were the best thing that could happen to this boy."

"I knew it, too," Pete said, giving him a wink right before he turned to stand by Jo's side in front of the priest.

When it came Jo's turn to say her vows, she looked deep into Pete's eyes and saw all the love that had been shining there when she'd first met him years ago. It had only deepened and matured thanks to everything they'd been through.

She touched his cheek. "I promise in front of our families and friends and in the sight of God to love you all the days of my life. I know that my Grandmother Lindsay is looking down on us today, and like your uncle, she's saying, 'It's about time.'"

"Past time," Pete said. He glanced heavenward. "I promise you that I will never let Jo down the way I did before." His gaze sought Jo's. "I make that same vow to you, to love you the way you deserve for all the rest of our days, to make a home with you, to share the joy of my son with you and to create a family of our own. I love you, Jo. Always have. Always will."

Jo's eyes stung with tears. There it was, the promise of eternity. And this time, she knew they wouldn't let anything tear them apart.

"Keep your eyes closed," Pete commanded. "I've had 'em closed for what seems like hours. You blindfolded me in the car for the last two hours of the

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drive, which, I might add, you'll never get away with again. Where are we?" Jo grumbled.

"In a minute," he said. "Hold your horses."

She grinned. "Is that the way it's going to be now that we're married? You're going to be all bossy?"

He laughed. "Exactly how long do you think I'd get away with that?"

"Not long," she confirmed. "So when can I open my eyes?"

"When everything's ready."

"It's a hotel room. How much has to be done?"

To her increasing frustration, he ignored the question. She stood right where he'd set her down after carrying her across some threshold or another and waited, tapping her foot with mounting impatience.

"There," Pete said at last. "You can open your eyes now."

She scowled at him before she did. "It's a real tribute to my love for you that I have not peeked even once."

"It's a tribute to my faith in you that I knew you wouldn't," he retorted. "Do you want to discuss trust issues right now?"

"No," she said, then slowly opened her eyes to a room lit with candles and filled with bouquets of white flowers. French doors were opened to a sea breeze and the familiar sound of the bay gently splashing on the sandy beach. Delight washed over her. "It's our house. You brought us home. I had no idea it was ready."

"Didn't you wonder why I had you working so hard all over town? Mike and I taxed ourselves to come up with enough assignments that would keep you away from here. I didn't want you to know about this."

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"I just thought Mike had made too many commitments and was really, really swamped," she said, moving slowly around the room in disbelief. He'd accomplished so much, and it was all exactly right. "It's beautiful, Pete. It's exactly the way I imagined it."

"I know you're not supposed to do a honeymoon quite like this, but I figured our first night togetfier ought to be the place we were going to spend the rest of our lives. We'll make this house ours tonight."