A Convenient Proposal(74)

“Dear God.” The wicker bench fell over as Jake straightened to his full height. “You let her leave when she was carrying your child?”

A jangle of pain in his dad’s voice connected Griff to that moment, six weeks ago, when he’d glimpsed a vital repercussion of his plan but failed to follow through. Now he could see the detail he’d ignored all too clearly.

He’d brought Arden to his family, thinking she might take away a baby they would love. That careless intent was bad enough. But he’d also given them the woman herself, asked them to accept her as a member of the family. To love her, worry about her, plan a future with her. And then just let her go.

He had fallen in love with Arden Burke. Why wouldn’t his family do the same?

“I’m sorry,” he said, for the first time looking his dad in the face. “I was drunk that night and scared to come home. Arden seemed like the answer to a prayer—I wanted her the moment I saw her.” He shrugged. “Maybe I fell in love with her at first sight. Maybe I thought I deserved some payback for what Zelda put me through.

“But she’s not pregnant.” He answered his dad’s skeptical glare with a nod. “She changed her mind and started using birth control. I guess she didn’t want any ties to me at all.”

“Well, that’s something to be grateful for.” Jake’s shoulders relaxed. “Now all you have to do is face your mother.”

Rosalie cried, once the whole family was back at home and sitting in the den, but not for the reason Griff expected.

“Poor Arden,” his mother said, wiping tears and her makeup onto the tissues her husband offered. “No wonder she’s been so unhappy these last few weeks.”

When Jake snorted, she fixed him with a fiery stare. “Don’t be so harsh. Arden has never had a family or people to love her. I can only imagine how hard it must be for her to give that up.”

“She didn’t have to go,” Griff pointed out. “All she had to do was tell the truth. I would have accepted anything she’d done to keep her.”

“Evidently not,” Kathy said. “You couldn’t accept that she hadn’t told you everything.” When he frowned, she only shrugged. “That’s just logic.”

“She hasn’t had much experience with forgiveness,” Jim pointed out. “Maybe she didn’t know how to ask.”

“And you didn’t offer.” Dana’s icy stare rivaled Jake’s for its paralyzing effect. “Did you?”

The discussion proceeded with a thorough dissection of Arden’s emotions, motivations and needs, a comparable analysis of Griff’s psyche and enough tears to drown a dinghy.

But he removed himself mentally and emotionally from the process. They were his family, and they’d forgive him eventually. Whatever punishment they inflicted in the meantime would be no less than he deserved.

Finally, with various gestures of sympathy or displays of disappointment, his sisters and their husbands went to their own homes. His parents went to bed without saying much at all, which meant more deliberation to come.

Griff sat on alone, staring at the fire. His thoughts had dwindled to a mix of sadness, longing and, yes, some anger.

Mostly, though, he simply missed her. She couldn’t be more than a hundred miles away, but it might as well be a thousand. What could he do to bridge the distance?

Arden’s last words came back to him. “If there’s anything else you want to know, send me a letter. I’ll answer whatever you ask.”

He was at the secretary desk before he realized he’d moved, with a sheet of thick note paper in front of him and a black pen poised and ready.

“Dear Arden…”



A MARCH VISIT WITH her audiologist documented the continued decline in Arden’s hearing.

At the front desk, a woman who reminded her of Rosalie Campbell wanted to set up the next appointment.

“I’ll call,” Arden told her. “When I’m ready.”

“But—but…” Distress wrinkled the secretary’s forehead and widened her eyes. “You should maintain a regular schedule of examinations. The doctor says so.”

Arden smiled. “I don’t need the numbers to know my deafness is getting worse. I’ll come back if I have doubts. Thank you.” Waving away the continued protests, she left the office and stepped out into bright Miami sunshine.

Her mother waited nearby on a bench under a palm tree. She looked up from her newspaper crossword puzzle as Arden sat down. “How did it go?”