Hasty Wedding by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2013-05-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Jack was serious, Clare realized. How often she’d dreamed of him coming to her, his eyes filled with gentle love, as he asked her to share his life. For three years she’d longed for this moment, and now she’d give anything if Jack could quietly disappear from her life.

“Well, say something,” Jack said, holding open the jeweler’s case for her to examine the solitary diamond. “I know you’re surprised.”

“Jack…I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. Not once did she doubt her answer. It amazed her that only a few weeks earlier she would have been overwhelmed, delirious with joy that she would have burst into happy tears. Now she experienced a regretful, embarrassed sadness, knowing his proposal had come far too late, and being so grateful that it had.

“That diamond’s big enough to take your breath away, isn’t it?” Jack reached for her hand, intending to place the engagement ring on her finger.

Clare lamely allowed him to hold her hand.

“What’s this?” he asked, gazing down at the large turquoise ring Reed had given her on their wedding day. Clare hadn’t removed it, not even to have it sized. Instead she’d wrapped tape around the thick band until it was snug enough to stay on her finger.

“It looks like a man’s ring,” Jack commented.

Clare closed her hand and removed it from his grasp. “Come inside, we need to talk.”

“I’ll say. There’s a lot to do in the next few weeks. You might want to involve your mother and have her help you with the necessary arrangements. I imagine you’d like the wedding fairly soon, which is fine by me. You’d better snatch me up before I change my mind.” He laughed lightly, finding humor in his own weak joke.

Clare led the way into her home, set her purse and the totem pole Reed had given her on the kitchen countertop. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked, standing in front of the open refrigerator. Her thoughts whirled like the giant blades of a helicopter, stirring up doubt and misgivings. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Jack. “I’ve got iced tea made.”

“What I want,” Jack said, sneaking up behind her, “is a little appreciation.” He grabbed her about the waist and hauled her against him, kissing her neck.

Finding his touch repugnant, Clare pushed away. “Not now,” she pleaded.

For the first time Jack seemed to realize something was awry. “What do you mean ‘not now’? You’re beginning to sound like we’re already married. You know, Clare, that’s always been a problem with us. You’ve never liked me to touch you much, but sweetheart, that’s about to change, right?”

Clare recognized the truth of his words, and in the same heartbeat realized the same didn’t hold true for Reed. She was anything but standoffish with him. The deep physical longing she experienced whenever they were together had been the cause of much consternation on her part.

“Jack, sit down,” she instructed. From somewhere she had to dredge up the courage and the wisdom to explain she wouldn’t marry him—and at the same time leave his pride intact.

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