And Then Came You (35 page)

Getting back to business, Sam concentrated on
work. She painted a small section of the plywood board with black glaze. Then she ripped off a big piece of Saran Wrap and laid it over the glaze. Laying her palms over the plastic wrap, she gathered the thin film and pushed out the air bubbles. When she was finished, she peeled off the plastic wrap and left behind a section of paint that looked as if it were actually suede fabric wallpaper.

“Wonderful. Just what I’m looking for in my family room,” the woman cooed. “You may not know jack about men, but you’re great on the painting end of things.”

Sam absently handed over one of their business cards as she thanked the woman and said good-bye. The instant she was alone again, though, Sam’s mind returned to Jeff. She looked across the crowd, and told herself she was an idiot to think he’d hang around. She’d sent him on his way. Told him thanks but no thanks. Of course he’d leave. Jeff had never been a man to make a scene. He wouldn’t want to have it out with her here.

Hell, she was surprised he’d even shown up at the Home Show. Too many people. Too much risk of embarrassment. Too
public
for a Hendricks.

“Excuse me!”

A deep, familiar voice shouted over the loudspeaker and Sam’s heart leaped up to lodge in her throat.

“Hello?” Jeff’s voice came again, even louder this time, and the crowd began to quiet instinctively. Low murmurs of conversation rippled, but mostly the sounds of “Shhhh . . .” could be heard.

“Thanks,” he called out as the silence deepened.

“Oh God,” Sam whispered, moving out of her booth
to stand at the end of the aisle, where, over the heads of the people in front of her, she could see him standing center stage. His dark blue shirt looked a little rumpled, his jeans carried Emma’s green paint like a badge of honor, and his gaze swept the crowd, searching, she knew, for
her
.

“Hate to interrupt everything,” Jeff was saying, clutching the microphone and stalking back and forth across the front of the stage like a demented emcee, “but I need to talk to my wife and this is the only way I can think of to make her listen.”

“Hey,” a man from the crowd shouted, “if it works for you, I’ll give it a try!”

His wife slapped his arm and laughed along with everyone else.

Sam just shook her head and tried to disappear into the throng. But suddenly, her family was standing right behind her and she had nowhere to go.

“No use hiding,” Jeff shouted, as he spotted her. Pointing one finger at her, he said, “Sam Marconi, I
love
you.”

She sucked in a gulp of air and ducked her head. Eagles soared in her stomach and her knees wobbled hard enough to make her reach out and grab hold of a display table bearing samples of lawn mulch.

“Yeah,” Jeff said, keeping his gaze locked on the only woman who’d ever mattered in his life. “I love you, Sam. Always have. Should have told you before—”

“Yes,” a woman in the crowd called out. “You should have!”

Everyone laughed again and the sound rolled back
and across the sea of people like a tidal wave, picking up speed and power as it moved.

“But I’m saying it now,” Jeff went on, words racing out of his mouth in his effort to make her hear. Make her believe. “And if you’ll let me, I’ll say it every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Atta boy,” someone shouted.

“Gotta give it to the weasel-dog,” Mike murmured. She let go of Emma’s hand and the little girl scampered through the crowd toward the stage. “He gets an A for effort on this one.”

Jo said, “Looks like he means it.”

“Maybe,” Sam whispered, not paying any attention at all to the faces turned toward her. All she could see was Jeff. His eyes. The love on his face. Oh, she wanted to believe. But still, stubbornness kept her in place. A wary sense of disbelief glued her feet to the floor.

“Sam,” Jeff said, his voice deepening into a rough whisper that bounced off the walls and reverberated deep inside her. “I was wrong.” He paused and let that last word sink in. “I was wrong about everything.”

Sam’s breath hitched.

His gaze locked with hers. “Wrong not to trust you. Not to believe in us. I was wrong to walk away. And I’ve
paid
. For nine years, I’ve lived without you—and I don’t want to go another day without seeing you, holding you, loving you.”

“Oh God.” Sam’s voice came on a sigh.

“Wow,” Mike said. “Color me impressed.”

“He loves you.” Papa’s voice. Right behind her. Gently, he pushed her forward, and as she started walking, she heard Grace say, “It’s about time.”

Sam’s heart felt full enough to break through the wall of her chest. Every step was slow, tentative, but she was drawn on by the sound of Jeff’s voice.

“I can’t stand to wake up one more morning without you, Sam,” he said, his voice thick, rough with emotion. “I can’t live without you.”

Tears blurred her vision, but she kept walking as the crowd parted to let her pass. Her gaze locked with Jeff’s, she watched him smile.

Still holding the microphone tightly, and speaking only to her, he said, “I love Emma more than anything in the world, Sam. But even if we’d never had her, I would still want to be with you.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Still
need
to be with you.”

Sam believed.

She really believed. Tears erupted in her eyes just as the crowd’s muttered approval began to swell and grow.

When she reached the edge of the stage, Jeff dropped the mike and jumped down to stand beside her. Cupping her face in his hands, he whispered, “Marry me again. Love me. Let me love you. God, I love you so much, Sam. Only you.
Always
you.”

“What’d he say?” someone in the back of the crowd shouted.

Sam laughed through her tears and smiled up at him.

Jeff wiped those tears away gently. “You never cry.”

“Happy crying,” she assured him.

“So I can take this as a yes?”

She reached up and cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. Finally, she was sure. No more doubts. No more worries. No more haunted memories or lonely dreams. Here was everything she’d ever wanted.

Here was love.

And so much more.

Nodding, she stared at him through teary eyes and said, “I love
you
, Jeff. Always have. Always will.”

He grinned and her heart jumped into life.

“Just what I wanted to hear.” Drawing her close, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard and long.

Over the cheers of the crowd, someone shouted, “What’d she say?”

Emma grinned at her parents, picked up the microphone and said softly, “She said
yes
.”

Watch for

Mike’s Story:
A Crazy
Kind of Love

Coming in January 2005 from St. Martin’s
Paperbacks

Watch for

Lost In
          Sensation

by
Maureen Child

Coming from Silhouette Desire in October 2004

LIS 03/04

#1
BESTSELLING AUTHOR
M
AUREEN
C
HILD

FINDING
YOU

Carla candellano has faced a tragedy she’d like to put behind her, but no one has been able to penetrate the wall she has built around herself—until she meets six-year-old Reese Wyatt. Reese hasn’t spoken since her mother died last year, and it’s friendship at first sight for Carla and little Reese. But it’s the girl’s worried father, Jackson, who arouses Carla’s curiosity, and passion, in ways she never imagined . . .

“An absolutely wonderful contemporary romance. A delightful blend of humour and emotion, this sexy love story will definitely keep readers turning the pages.”

—Kristin Hannah, author of
Distant Shores

“Heartwarming, sexy, and impossible to put down . . . Maureen Child always writes a guaranteed winner, and this is no exception.”

—Susan Mallery, author of
Married for a Mouth

ISBN: 0-312-98920-2

AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD FROM
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#1
BESTSELLING AUTHOR
M
AUREEN
C
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KNOWING
YOU

Ever since Stevie Ryan was a young girl, she was in love with her best friend Carla’s older brother Nick Candellano. But Nick had to complicate things by growing up gorgeous—and breaking Stevie’s heart. Now she’s convinced that forgetting him is the way to go. And it’s working out fine . . . until she and Nick’s brother, Paul, spend one sultry night together. Has the right brother been under Stevie’s nose all along?

“Maureen Child infuses her writing with the perfect blend of laughter, tears and romance. Her well-crafted characters, humour, and understanding of what it means to be part of a family makes each of her novels a treat to be savored.”

—Jill Marie Landis, auothor of
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ISBN: 0-312-98920-2

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KY 2/03