A Convenient Proposal(67)



“Better safe than sorry.” The doctor waved as he left. “Enjoy the reunion.”

The argument over where he would spend the night might have lasted until dawn if his mother hadn’t spoken up.

“Griff has a very capable woman to look after him tonight. He doesn’t need his sisters—”

“Though he loves them,” Griff interjected.

“—or his parents. Arden will make sure he’s alive and kicking tomorrow morning.”

Jake was still protesting as Rosalie pushed him out of the room. “You’re the one who sent him to the woods at age fifteen to live off the land for two days. Don’t try to coddle him now.”

She came back to the bed and bent over to kiss Griff’s cheek. “I’m glad to see you’ve learned so much in these last six months,” she said quietly. “I’m proud of you.”

And she stopped by Arden as she left. Griff couldn’t hear what she whispered, but saw Arden nod.

Then, finally, they were alone. “Come here,” he said, sitting up on the side of the bed and holding out his arms.

After hesitating a moment, she walked over to wrap her arms around his waist.

Griff sighed. A truce, of sorts.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” She rubbed her forehead against his shoulder. “I can’t believe Al pushed you like that. Isn’t that dirty fighting?”

“I think it’s mostly called drunk and disorderly.” Griff took a deep breath, drawing in crisp, floral perfume, creamy shampoo, almond lotion and lavender sachets, plus the unique essence of the woman herself. “Let’s go home.”

At the cottage, he insisted on taking Igor for a walk while Arden got ready for bed. “Fresh air cures everything,” he said, when she argued with him.

“Except frostbite,” she retorted.

Griff found himself grinning at her. “I won’t be gone that long.”

When he returned to the bedroom, the lights were already off—not Arden’s usual style. The bed was empty, but a crack of light showed under the bathroom door. Not sure what message he was supposed to be getting, he donned his sweatpants and a T-shirt before climbing between the sheets.

She turned the bathroom light off before opening the door, and crossed the room in darkness. When he reached for her, she didn’t turn away.

“Arden,” he whispered, tracing the contours of her waist, her hips and thighs with his palms. “We don’t have to be so angry.”

“No.” Her lips played with his earlobe. “We don’t.”

Saying “I love you,” though, was simply too hard. Using the words, even in a pitch-dark room, required more pride than he could risk.

And so they spent another wordless night together, connected in every way…except the one that mattered most.





Chapter Thirteen





Arden spent the two weeks before Zelda and Al’s wedding playing her part as Griff’s devoted fiancée—it was, she knew, all she would ever have of him.

They went to church together, to the movies and to the local flea market on Saturday morning. They rode Dorsey and Cowboy on Sunday afternoons. Frequent invitations for dinner with some of his friends and their wives filled their evenings, until they could return to the cottage and spend the dark hours making love. Those nights might have been why Griff was so tired most days at work. Neither of them would have traded sex for sleep.

They were getting along better, on the surface, at least. They could laugh together, and share jokes. Of course, Arden was all too aware of the secrets she continued to keep from him. And despite his efforts, Griff obviously couldn’t forget the secrets she’d revealed. With such distrust between them, Arden sensed she wouldn’t be staying in Georgia much longer.

Her last lunch with the Campbell sisters took place on the Wednesday, before Zelda’s wedding, again at Pirouette. No slippery asphalt marred the occasion—the sun shone and a temperature above sixty degrees allowed them to sit at a table on the terrace.

Arden did her best not to think of this as a farewell luncheon, though she didn’t expect to see any of them in private again. The four of them laughed throughout the meal, and she thought she’d been keeping up appearances quite well.

Once Lauren and Dana had left to return to work, however, Kathy leaned her elbows on the table and propped her chin on her fists. “I’ve been dying to talk to you for days. I’m so glad I finally got the chance.”

Lynnette Kent's Books