Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #4)(74)

“Grandma’s?” He seemed bewildered; clearly it had never occurred to him to call his own grandmother.

Colette felt like an unwanted third party and would gladly have left the room if Jordan hadn’t blocked the entrance.

“That’s where you went?” Jordan shook his head. “Why?”

“I love your grandmother,” Alix said.

“I love you,” Jordan told her. “Alix, I can’t let you walk out of my life. I’d be the biggest fool who ever lived if I did. You tried to tell me how unhappy you were, only I wasn’t listening. I thought…Oh, I don’t know what I thought. The wedding’s nothing,” he said. “Nothing. You’re all that matters. You don’t want the big wedding, then it’s out. Done with, canceled, forgotten. If you want a small ceremony with family and a few friends, that’s what we’ll have. But please marry me. I need you.”

Alix remained rigid, frowning as if she didn’t believe him.

Colette wanted to give her a shove in Jordan’s direction. But Alix stood exactly where she was.

Jordan removed the diamond ring from his pocket and held it out to her. “Let me put this back where it belongs—on your finger. Just like you belong with me, and I belong with you.”

Colette could feel Alix weakening as she looked down at her left hand. “You need to listen to me,” she said in a low voice.

“I will, as God is my witness,” he vowed.

“Then I’d like to be married by the lake on your grandmother’s poperty.”

“That can be arranged,” Jordan said immediately.

“With your family and a few of our friends.”

“Done.”

Alix frowned again, as though she felt he’d given in too easily and she wasn’t sure she could trust him.

“Nothing’s more important to me than being with you,” Jordan whispered.

Tears flowed down Alix’s cheeks then, and she moved slowly toward Jordan. A second later they were locked in a fervent embrace.

Colette wanted to give them some privacy. Making her way past Jordan and Alix, she tiptoed out of the office, closing the door. She felt happier just knowing they were back together. However, Colette didn’t envy them the task of breaking the news to Jacqueline and Susan Turner. She was certain they’d be delighted the wedding was on, but less pleased about the kind of event it was going to be.

That morning’s encounter left Colette in a melancholy mood for the rest of the day. The satisfaction she felt for them seemed to emphasize the bleakness of her own life. She was eager to see Elizabeth—and to be with Christian, although there was virtually no chance of a happy resolution there.

The dinner invitation said she should arrive at six. Colette was ready much earlier than that, but she trotted down the stairs to her car with only ten minutes to spare. She drove to the house on Capitol Hill and was struck again by the beauty of the stately home with its white pillars and sweeping grounds. She noticed immediately that Christian’s car was nowhere in sight. She’d hoped to time her arrival so he’d already be there.

The same woman, Doris, who’d answered the door previously did so this evening. “Miss Elizabeth is waiting in the library,” she told Colette.

It all sounded very formal. Colette was led to the other room and sure enough, Christian’s aunt was sipping tea by the fireplace. “I’m so glad you decided to accept my invitation,” Elizabeth Sasser said, rising awkwardly to her feet.

“You also invited Christian,” Colette said in a gently chiding voice.

“I did,” his aunt agreed. Her eyebrows rose in an expression Colette couldn’t quite decipher.

“You decided to play the role of matchmaker.”

“Yes, I’d thought…Well, it’s neither here nor there. Christian declined.”

He’d said he would but Colette had hoped he’d change his mind. She was overcome by a deep sense of disappointment, which she tried to conceal. She assumed she’d succeeded until she caught a look in the old woman’s clear blue eyes.

“I’ll try again on another occasion,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. “And next time I’ll be more clever about it.”

Colette laughed and slipped her arm through the other woman’s. Together they walked slowly into the formal dining room, where the table was set with the finest china and crystal. Everything looked flawless and yet to Colette it seemed incomplete without Christian.

“Sit down, my dear,” Elizabeth said.

Colette took her seat.

“I brought out some photographs you might like to see.”

“Of your travels?” Colette asked.

Elizabeth smiled as Doris came into the room, carrying two lovely salads, heaped with fresh scallops, shrimp and large chunks of Dungeness crab. “No, not my travels, although Charles and I did enjoy seeing the world. We had wonderful adventures….” Her face softened for a moment, as if she’d forgotten where she was. Then she roused herself. “These pictures are of Christian as a youngster.”

Colette rested her hands in her lap and it took her pulse a moment to return to normal. Even then, she couldn’t entirely trust her voice. “I’d enjoy that very much.”

Elizabeth raised her eyes to Colette’s. “I thought you would.” With a mischievous smile, she continued. “Now, tell me a bit more about yourself. You said your family lived in Colorado?”