Always Be True (26 page)

“Brace yourself, Natalie, because I feel like I'm jumping out of a plane and praying my parachute will open.” He offered her a crooked grin as he dropped down to one knee. “You being the 'chute, you see, because none of the plans I've made mean a damn thing if you're not part of them.”

By this point, her heart was in her throat, and her hands shook so hard that she grabbed onto the sofa cushion for support. Tino kept talking.

“I have been plotting with your grandfather this past week. Right after the last time I saw you, I gathered up every scrap of courage I could muster and asked for his permission to propose to you. He not only approved, but he also gave me your grandmother's engagement ring so I could have the diamond put in a new setting. He thought you'd like that connection with her.”

He pulled a small box out of the gift bag and held it out. It was a relief to see that his hands were as twitchy as hers were as he lifted the lid. “Natalie Kennigan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Tino drew a ragged breath and continued. “I think I've loved you since that first day when you smiled at me with that streak of green paint on your pretty face. I may never be rich, but I will love you every day of our life together.”

He paused one more time, his smile so achingly hopeful. “So, what do you say? Want to take a chance on an ex-soldier who shares your dream of making the world a better place?”

There was so much she should say to this amazing man who understood her so well. When she couldn't manage to string all those words together, she settled for the ones he most needed to hear.

Holding out her finger so he could slip the ring in place, she said, “Yes, Tino Gianelli. And for the record, I love you, too.”

Tino immediately surged to his feet and lifted her high against his chest as he kissed her hard and fast to seal the deal. The familiar heat and hunger she'd been missing for so long flashed hot. But before things got too far out of hand, the door to the library slammed open, and her grandfather rolled in with Esther hot on his heels carrying a tray full of champagne glasses.

Natalie gasped when her parents and Marlene Lukash filed in right behind them. A second later, Jack McShane followed his mother into the room along with a teenage boy and a woman who had to be Jack's wife.

“Took you long enough, boy.” Her grandfather's grin went from ear to ear. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep this bunch quiet while you dillydallied around? Hell, I was afraid this champagne would turn into vinegar before you finally got around to proposing.”

Then he popped the cork and sent a spray of the bubbly wine flying through the air. “Esther, drinks all around!”

Tino was relieved that his brand-new fiancée looked as shell-shocked by the sudden appearance of their families as he felt.

She blinked up at him. “I take it you weren't expecting this kind of turnout.”

He slowly lowered her back down to the floor. “Not at all. I had planned to pick up the ring and then head over to your place to surprise you. Your grandfather is quite the schemer.”

“Yes, he is. It's too bad your younger brother couldn't make it.”

No sooner had she said the words, when Mikhail appeared in the doorway. “Damn it, Jack, couldn't you have held them back long enough for me to get out of the bathroom? I came straight from the airport and hadn't had a chance to make a pit stop along the way.”

Jack grinned. “You snooze, you lose, little brother.”

The teenager joined in. “Yeah, Uncle Mikhail, next time plan ahead.”

They all laughed when Mikhail responded by cuffing his nephew on the back of the head. For Tino, listening to his brothers and nephew squabble was pure heaven. He leaned down to whisper, “Are you sure you want to throw your lot in with that bunch?”

“As long as you are part of the deal, you bet.”

Then she nodded toward the far corner of the room where her mother and his were in deep conversation. “I don't want to scare you, but I'm betting they're planning our wedding for us.”

“No doubt about it. Want to elope? Like maybe tonight before they can figure out what we're up to?”

“And deny my mother the chance to play mother of the bride for her only daughter? Good luck with that, not to mention your mother is looking pretty excited, too. If you're brave enough to disappoint them both, I'm all for it.”

Yeah, that wasn't happening. “Okay, a big wedding it is. Next question—preferably starting tonight, where do you want to live? There's the annex, which unfortunately includes my brother Mikhail. If you'd rather, I'll pack up and move into your place. Or we could live here with your grandfather. He strongly hinted he'd like that.”

The woman who had captured his heart and given his life new meaning frowned as if it was a hard decision. Then she grinned at him. “There's only one answer to that question, Tino. I don't care where we are as long as I'm with you.”

“Good answer, Blondie. Good answer.”

For the second time in just over a year, Marlene Lukash slipped away from the wedding reception to share good news with her late husband. Tino and Natalie had ended up holding their wedding in Cyrus Waines's home, taking advantage of the beautiful rose garden as a backdrop. Right now, everyone was inside enjoying the catered dinner and waiting for the dancing to begin.

“Joe, you should see how happy Tino is right now. You'd really love his wife. Natalie is this little bit of a thing, so bright and so pretty. I swear, I can't imagine any other woman more perfect for our son. I hope the world is ready for what the two of them want to accomplish.”

She'd give anything to hear her husband's voice and for him to be there to share this special moment in their son's life. It hurt knowing that wasn't going to happen, and she suspected the man who had just joined her out on the patio knew just how she felt.

Cyrus Waines wheeled himself over to where she stood staring up at the night sky. “Don't stop talking to Joe just because I'm here, Marlene. I talk to my wife out here all the time. Makes me feel closer to her and not so damn alone.”

She smiled down at Natalie's beloved grandfather. “My boys probably think it's crazy, but they don't say anything. I was telling him how perfect your granddaughter is for our son.”

“I think pretty highly of Tino, too, and not just because he makes her happy. He's a good man, one I would be proud to call my friend even if he wasn't marrying into the family.”

Before she could respond, the doors to the library opened again. Tino smiled at them both. “There you two are. The photographer is waiting to take a few more million pictures, and the deejay is ready to start the music. I hope you wore your dancing shoes, Mom, because all three of your sons and your grandson are jockeying for position on your dance card. As the groom, I've claimed the first dance with you while Natalie and her father do their thing.”

Cyrus shooed him away. “We'll both be along shortly. I'm not sure your mother is finished talking with Joe.”

Tino's dark eyes gleamed with understanding. “Tell Dad hi for me, Mom, and that his letter…well, tell him I read it. Message received and understood.”

“I will. That will mean a lot to him.”

Tino retreated, allowing her to spend a few more minutes with Joe, even if only in her mind. Cyrus followed him back inside, leaving her alone again.

“I miss you, big guy, but don't worry about me. Our boys do their best to make sure I don't get too lonely, and our family has grown so much.”

A star overhead seemed to twinkle extra bright for a few seconds. Maybe Joe really was up there listening to her. “I'm so happy that two of our boys are happily married and getting on with their lives.”

The first notes of music floated on the night air. She twirled slowly once, twice, three times, pretending for a few seconds that she was back in her husband's arms as he sent them both spinning across the dance floor.

It was time to head back inside, but she stopped just short of the door to offer one more smile to that sparkling star. “Two down, one to go, Joe. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to meet the woman who makes our Mikhail smile like our two daughters-in-law do his brothers. Until then, good night, big guy. I've got some more dancing to do.”

To Sharon and Bob…Here's to friendships that bridge both decades and distance! Thank you for all the laughter and great memories.

My sincere appreciation to everyone at Loveswept who has had a hand in the creation of this book. Thank you for sharing your amazing talents with me. It means a lot to me to have such fabulous support.

Always for You: Jack

Always Be True: Tino

Love, Always and Forever:
Mikhail
(coming soon)

A Soldier's Heart

A Time for Home

The Christmas Gift
(
Christmas on Main Street
anthology)

More Than a Touch

A Reason to Love

PHOTO: LUMINA PHOTOGRAPHY

A
LEXIS
M
ORGAN
has a BA in English from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She and her husband make their home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Alexis shares her office with two parakeets, who rock out to her favorite music and keep her company while she's writing.

A lifelong avid reader, Alexis loves spending her days creating worlds filled with sexy warriors and the strong women who love them. She has been nominated for numerous industry awards, including the RITA from the Romance Writers of America, the top award in the romance genre.

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by Alexis Morgan

Available from Loveswept

Mikhail Wanjek was awake. The only question was why? For damn sure he didn't want to be. After two failed attempts, he finally located his cellphone on the bedside table and pried one eye open long enough to check the time.

Ten o'clock. Really? It was less than two hours since he'd crawled into bed after working the shift from hell. On their last call, the house had already been fully engulfed in flames by the time his crew had arrived on scene. The only positive outcome was that the family had made it out before the fire reduced their home to little more than a blackened skeleton. The stunned grief in their eyes as the hungry flames destroyed everything they owned would haunt him for days to come. Just one more nightmare in his already extensive collection.

When he'd finally gotten home, he'd been too tired to do more than strip naked and fall facedown on the mattress. Sleep had overtaken him seconds after his head hit the pillow. No way he should be conscious yet.

After tossing the phone on the table, he burrowed back under the covers. But before he could dive deep into blessed oblivion, the same racket that had jarred him awake in the first place started up again, this time with a vengeance. Okay, he was going to kill somebody just as soon as he figured out who was responsible.

Well, not really, even if the idea was tempting.

He rolled over to the far side of the bed and lifted the blinds just far enough to peek out the window. Even that small slice of sunshine stabbed his eyes like a jagged knife, which set off a throbbing pain in his head and added to his anger.

Just as he feared, someone was standing off to the side of his front porch. He couldn't see who it was, but Mikhail wanted nothing more than to ignore his uninvited guest and stay right where he was. Unfortunately, the intruder had other ideas. This time the chime of the doorbell was followed by the sound of a fist knocking on his front door.

Mikhail surrendered to the inevitable and crawled out of bed. Pausing only long enough to yank on yesterday's jeans, he stumbled down the hall toward the front door. His two brothers were the only people who ever dropped by without calling first, and they both knew he'd pulled a long shift at the fire department and would be sleeping. If they had decided to bother him anyway, he would take great pleasure in kicking their inconsiderate asses for them.

Even half-dead and this damn tired, he could still lay them out flat. They knew it, too.

The doorbell chimed again just as Mikhail unfastened the deadbolt. He yanked the door open, already rehearsing the stream of curse words he planned to unleash on his favorite relatives. Except that it wasn't Jack or Tino standing on his front porch. Instead, it was a leggy brunette he knew for damn sure he'd never seen before. Despite the fatigue fogging up his head, he knew that much was true. He wouldn't have forgotten a face like that.

At least he managed to cut off the obscenity that had been his planned greeting and substituted a mumbled, “What?”

Judging from the way the woman retreated half a step, the single word had come out a lot more unfriendly than he'd intended. Before he could fall back and regroup, the woman started talking a mile a minute.

“Hi, I'm your new neighbor, Amy Short. I hope you like brownies.” She offered him a bright smile as she shoved a plate into his hands. “I've been meaning to introduce myself since I moved in early last week, but this is the first time I've caught you at home.”

She paused and gave him an expectant look.

His brain finally caught up with her rapid-fire words. “I do. Like brownies, that is.”

She evidently expected more in the way of a response, because she continued to stare at him. Her gaze briefly dropped down to his bare chest before her dark eyes once again locked onto his. He replayed her last words in his head. Oh, right. Introductions were in order.

“Mikhail Wanjek. I just got off work.”

What else? When nothing brilliant came to mind, he added, “Welcome to my neighborhood.”

He hadn't meant it to be funny, but evidently he'd come off sounding like Mister Rogers. Amy's laughter rang out brighter than the sunshine beating down from overhead. Ordinarily, he would have enjoyed listening to her slightly husky voice, but right now it was all he could do to stay vertical. He leaned against the doorjamb for support. “Was there something you needed? Otherwise, I'd like to go back to bed.”

It was a testament to how tired he was that he wasn't even tempted to try to take her there with him. Her smile dimmed. “I'm sorry I woke you up. It didn't occur to me that you might work nights.”

“It's okay. Thanks again for the brownies.”

Mikhail started to close the door, hoping they were done. But even if he was, she clearly wasn't. Amy put her hand on the door to keep it from closing completely. “Look, I won't keep you, but I need to talk to you about our common boundary line.”

As she spoke, Amy pointed toward the rickety cedar fence that separated his yard from hers. Mikhail gave it a brief glance. “What about it?”

“I'm getting a dog soon. Which means I need to fence my backyard. Since the stretch between our houses is in such poor shape, I would like to replace it at the same time as I do the back and the far side of my yard. I wanted to make sure it was okay with you.”

He was well aware that his fence was in poor condition, but so far it had ranked pretty low on his own to-do list. Since moving in three months back, he'd been concentrating on making the interior more livable. “Can't this discussion wait a bit? I can't think straight right now.”

At least until he had a few more hours of sleep under his belt. He realized that she was talking again, and he'd missed half of what she'd said.

“…the cost since I'd like to get it done soon. I just thought I should let you know first. Now, I'd better let you get back to sleep.”

Considering the other repairs that he'd already started on his own place, he'd have to crunch some numbers before committing to the project. But before Mikhail could ask again if they could talk about it more later in the day, she'd already walked away. Damn, he had a feeling that hadn't gone well.

Holding the door open just a crack, he stared at her retreating back, enjoying the view. Those jeans fit her slim hips like a second skin, and he liked the way her ponytail bounced as she moved. He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure Amy was the most attractive woman he'd met in a long time. Certainly since he'd left the Marine Corps behind to move back home to the Pacific Northwest. It would be a damn shame if his fried brain had screwed up any chance of friendship with his pretty new neighbor.

He'd have to try to make a better impression the next time their paths crossed. Meanwhile, it was long past time to hit the rack again. He carried the brownies into the kitchen for later, but at the last second he snagged a couple to eat on his way back into bed. Mmmm, extra fudgy with big chunks of walnuts, just the way he liked them. They ranked right up there with his mother's, which was saying something.

Later, he'd return Amy's plate as an excuse to talk to her again and let her know how much he'd enjoyed her thoughtful gesture. Maybe a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers from his mother's garden would go a long way toward smoothing any ruffled feathers. Something else to think about later. For now, he followed the siren call of his bed.

He tossed his jeans back on the floor and sighed contentedly as the soft cotton sheets settled against his bare skin. For the second time that morning, he was asleep within seconds.

Amy wandered around the backyard, letting her imagination run wild about how the place would look six months or even a year from now. She'd been living in the house for only a week, so there was a lot left to do just to get settled in. But when she tired of unpacking her extensive book collection or arranging the kitchen cabinets, she came out here to enjoy both the fresh air and the possibilities.

She couldn't wait to start marking out flower beds and haunting the local nurseries for just the right plants. All of that would have to wait until she could get the fence situation taken care of. She'd gotten two estimates for the cost of installing a six-foot-high cedar fence around the entire yard. A third contractor said he could come out next week, but he'd already told her that the two estimates she'd gotten weren't out of line with the current costs of materials and labor.

She had no reason to doubt his word, but she'd really been hoping that he would come up with a bottom line that wouldn't give her sticker shock. At least all three contractors had told her that she could save a little bit if she tore down the old fence herself. With only the one side of the yard that was fenced right now, how hard could it be? That's why she'd approached her neighbor about the matter.

She found her gaze drawn toward Mikhail Wanjek's house for about the twentieth time since leaving his front porch three hours ago. The real estate agent who'd sold her the house hadn't been able to tell her much about her new neighbors, only that the house on that side had sold a few months before to someone moving into the area from out of state. Amy wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but Mikhail wasn't it.

Thanks to her four older brothers, she was used to being around tall men who made her feel petite even at five foot eight. However, she was sure Mikhail had a couple of inches on even Will, the tallest of the lot. Add in the rumpled blond hair, icy blue eyes, a well-sculpted bare chest, and those low-slung, faded jeans with the snap unfastened, the man was sex on a stick.

Too bad he'd been a bit of a grump. To be fair, she'd obviously dragged him out of a sound sleep. Besides, after growing up with four older brothers, it would take more than a fierce frown to scare her off.

At least he'd agreed that the fence needed to come down, a job she was about to tackle. After talking to Mikhail, she'd gone grocery shopping and then made a quick stop at the neighborhood hardware store to pick up leather gloves to protect her hands from splinters and a crowbar to pull the boards apart.

These days, her energy level had vastly improved, but she didn't want to risk overdoing things. It wasn't as if she was on a specific timetable. If she did one eight-foot section a day, she'd have the fence down within the week.

She spread a plastic tarp, figuring cleanup would be easier if she kept all the debris corralled in one spot. One last trip back inside to get a bottle of cold water, and she was all set. Getting started was harder than she'd expected, but she finally managed to work the end of the pry bar between the railing on her side of the fence and the first board. She threw all of her weight and strength into it and finally succeeded in opening up a gap. One more try resulted in success, even if the nails made an awful sound as they pulled free of the wood.

The second board came off with far less effort, but the third one split down the middle with a loud crack. She winced, for the first time thinking about the man next door who might still be sleeping. No one had ever told her that demolishing a fence would be such a noisy proposition. After she finished removing this one last board, she would abandon her efforts until later in the day.

Using a pair of pliers, she tried to work the nail free from the railing, but it had to be all stubborn about staying right where it was. She released her grip on the pliers long enough to flex her hand before trying again. Still no luck. Frustrated, she tossed the pliers on the ground and squeezed through the hole she'd opened up in the fence. Maybe pulling on the board from the other side might loosen it up a bit.

She got a good grip on both sides of the wood and gave it a hard yank. When it immediately broke free, Amy went stumbling backward, fighting hard to regain her balance. To her surprise, instead of hitting the ground, she landed hard against a solid wall of irate male. She had years of experience dealing with that particular species, the only difference being that the ones she was most familiar with were all related to her.

At least Mikhail made sure she was steady on her feet before ripping into her. “Want to tell me what the hell you think you're doing?”

She would have thought the answer to that question was obvious, but maybe he was still suffering from lack of sleep. “I'm tearing down the fence.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I can see that. Let me rephrase my question. Why are you out here trying your best to hurt yourself?”

Okay, enough was enough. “I can handle tearing down a few boards.”

Those piercing blue eyes made it abundantly clear that he seriously doubted the truth of that statement, but at least he didn't say it out loud. “Have you ever done any demolition work before?”

“Well, no.”

He bent down to pick up the board she'd dropped and handed it to her. “Then why are you doing it now?”

She tossed the broken piece of wood back through the gap in the fence with a little more effort than was really needed. “Because the contractors both said I could save a little money by tearing out the old fence myself.”

Mikhail folded his arms across his broad chest and stared down at her. “I thought we'd agreed that we'd talk more about the fence later. You never said that you were going ahead without us discussing the cost or a specific time frame.”

“That's not how I remember it. I said that I wanted to replace this section at the same time I fenced the rest of my yard. I distinctly remember saying I'd pick up the entire cost because I was the one getting a dog and needed the fence done soon.”

When he started to shake his head, she wanted to stomp her foot in frustration. However, she'd also learned from dealing with her brothers that he'd likely see that as a sign of feminine weakness on her part. “Look, I'm sorry if you misunderstood the situation, but I really do need to get started on the fence. And as I said, I'm paying for it.”