Storybook Dad (Harlequin American Romance) (16 page)

Mark watched as Emily peered around the room.

“He’s not here anymore, unfortunately.”

“Oh? Did he pack up and leave when he realized how much work
she was going to be?”

“He died just before Seth was born. Mom cared for him right up
until the end.”

Emily’s face turned crimson. “Mark, I’m sorry. That was out of
line.”

He shrugged. “I imagine a first glance at the two of them would
have had lots of people assuming he cared for her. But by the second glance,
anyone with half a brain in their head would realize they were as much a
partnership as any other marriage out there. The only difference was the fact
that Mom did most everything from a seated position.”

“But she has all those awards and degrees,” Emily mused.

“You’re right, she does.” Mark knew it was premature to get his
hopes up, but things were looking good. Emily was getting a taste of a reality
she needed to see. “And knowing Mom, she’s likely to add a few more to her
collection before she gets around to admitting she’s old. Heck, she’d probably
remarry one day if she could find someone to keep up with her.”

Even as he spoke, he could tell Emily wasn’t absorbing what he
said. Instead, her eyes were focused to the side, as if she was trying to
remember something.

“Wait. One of those degrees we passed was for…” Her words
trailed off as she headed along the hallway, with Mark on her heels. When she
reached the row of framed certificates, she stopped in front of the one that was
dead center. Tapping her hand on the glass, she looked from the official
document to Mark and back again, the confusion in her face making him chuckle.
“This says she’s scuba qualified.”

“Because she is.”

“But how?”

“When she and Dad were in Australia on vacation fifteen years
ago, she came across a place that offered scuba classes to people like her.”

“But you can’t scuba dive in a chair, Mark,” Emily
protested.

“And she didn’t. They removed her artificial leg, attached an
extra-big flipper to her good foot and away she went, compliments of—”

“The water’s buoyancy,” Emily finished. “Wow. I had no
idea.”

“It’s been like that with my mom for as long as I can remember.
Everything she’s done in life, everything she’s ever accomplished, she’s done
in
spite
of her chair.” Seeing in Emily’s eyes the
emotion he’d hoped to stimulate, he took her hand and led her back to the living
room. Then, with determination, he pulled her close, his shoulder quickly
growing damp from her quiet tears. “Which is how I’ve always loved her. And how
Seth has always loved her, too. Why I didn’t look at things that way from the
start is beyond me, but I guess I just needed to step back and take in the big
picture. And you do, too.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Emily whispered.

“Neither can I. Not about that kind of stuff, anyway. But there
is one promise I know I can make if you’ll let me.”

“What’s that?” She stepped back and peered up at him.

“Seth? Can you come here a second?” Mark called. “I need your
help with something.”

“Sure, Daddy.” The boy rode across the kitchen on his
grandmother’s lap, then climbed down carefully with the water glass in his hand.
“Here you go, Emily. I hope it’s really yummy.”

Taking his son by the hand, Mark knelt on the floor at Emily’s
feet and whispered to Seth to do the same. Then, looking up, he met and held her
gaze. “I promise, from this day forward, to sweep you off your feet and carry
you in my arms only if you ask. With one caveat, of course.”

The smile he’d grown to love in such a short period of time
slowly made its way across her face in spite of the tears that streamed down her
cheeks. “What’s that?” she asked quietly.

“That I don’t have to ask permission to carry you over the
threshold of our home on our wedding night.”

Epilogue

Thirteen months later

Trish looked up from her desk the second they walked
in, the smile on her face surely a reflection of the one Emily felt spreading
across her own.

“Hey, boss. Hey, Seth. Ready for the big day?” Spinning around
in her desk chair, Emily’s assistant yanked open her top drawer, pulled out a
bouquet of lollipops and held it out for Seth to see. “They taste just like
vanilla ice cream, only not so cold.”

Emily shook her head and laughed, releasing Seth’s hand as she
did. “Now, wait a minute, Trish. Are you
my
assistant or
Seth’s?
”

“I got a cherry one for you, boss.”

“Good answer,” she joked before reaching for the series of pink
sticky notes lined up across the desk. “So everything’s all set for noon?”

“Everything is all set. I even gave a call to that reporter
from
Winoka Magazine
who did that article on you
last spring. Told her what’s going on, and she said she’d send a photographer by
to snap some pictures of the ribbon cutting for the next issue.”

“Outstanding.” Emily flipped through the messages that had come
into the office while she’d been away for her appointment. When she got to the
fourth in the pile, she stole a peek in Trish’s direction. “Kate called?”

Pulling an orange lollipop from her mouth, her assistant
nodded, her expression giving nothing away where Kate’s call was concerned.

“And? What did she say?”

“She’s on her way over.”

“Did she say why?” Emily prompted.

Trish made a face. “We’re talking about Kate, aren’t we?
Everyone around her is supposed to be an open book. But her? Not unless she’s in
your face.”

“True.” Emily smiled at Seth as he hopped across the main
office and down the hall, a lollipop held tightly in his hand.

Trish watched him go and then turned back with a questioning
look. “Have I missed the memo about our little prince turning into a frog?
Because if I did, might I remind you it usually happens the other way around.
You know, first the frog, then the prince.”

Glancing at the note containing nothing but Kate’s name, Emily
shrugged. “He’s still a prince. He’s just a prince who’s learning about the
letter
B
in his kindergarten class this week.
Bunnies start with
B,
so there’s going to be a lot
of hopping going on.”

“Ah-h-h… I see.” Trish lowered her voice. “Everything go okay
with your neurologist this morning?”

“Nothing I didn’t anticipate.”

At the sudden shift in her tone, Trish’s eyebrow shot upward
once again. “You okay?’

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just found myself marveling once again at the
psychic ability I appeared to have had when I was ten.”

When she didn’t elaborate, Trish waved her down the hall. “And
apparently you and Kate both excelled in whatever class you guys took on the art
of being cryptic.”

Emily made a face at her young friend before heading off to her
office. She wasn’t trying to be cryptic. It just didn’t make much sense to talk
about something that simply wasn’t going to happen. It was like strapping on her
climbing gear, only to find herself standing in the middle of a flat desert.
There was no point. Not in her eyes, anyway.

Besides, if she shared the reason for her appointment aloud, it
would seem as if she wasn’t happy with the life she had, and that couldn’t be
further from the truth. She already had so much more than she’d thought she’d
ever have.

“Hiya, Memmy.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the nickname the little boy had
bestowed on her after the wedding, his creative merging of her name with the
role she’d be playing in his life resulting in a moniker they both
treasured.

“Your
bunny
hop was very good,
sweetheart.”

Seth beamed around his lollipop. “Really?”

She crossed the room to perch on the edge of her desk.
“Actually, I’d say it was
beautiful, brave
and very
believable.
”

His closed his lips around the sucker for a quick taste and
then popped it out of his mouth. “That’s very good, Memmy. Miss Olson would be
proud of how well you know your
B
s.”

“I’m pretty proud of Memmy, too. But for lots of other reasons,
little man.”

Hearing her husband’s voice coming down the hall, Emily turned
toward the door, the sight of her real live prince making all her petty worries
disappear. This man, whom she adored with everything she had, had given her back
her dream. Life didn’t get much better, in her opinion.

He opened his arms wide enough for both of them, his first kiss
finding the top of Seth’s head and the second one lingering on Emily’s lips.
“How’d it go today?” he whispered in her ear.

“I asked those last few questions we discussed, and I think
it’s best if we just stay the course.”

When Seth wiggled free and returned to the reading corner Emily
had set up for him behind her desk, she allowed Mark to pull her close, the
comfort she found in his arms making her decision a little easier.

“You know I’ll support whatever you decide.”

She gestured over her shoulder at the fifth drawing, now framed
and hung on the wall beside all the others, and lowered her voice to a near
whisper. “I drew all of those because they represented my fondest dreams. And
one by one, they’ve all come true. There are no other drawings to be framed,
because I already have everything I ever wanted, Mark. To risk jeopardizing my
ability to care for Seth just so I can complete a picture I never drew in the
first place just isn’t worth it to me.”

“I love you, Emily.”

“I love—”

The buzz of the intercom cut her off midsentence. “Boss? Are
you ready?”

She glanced from the clock over the door to Mark and then
Seth’s face. All her life she’d been a go-getter, determined to make her dreams
and the dreams of everyone around her come true. Ninteen months ago, an obstacle
had been erected in her quest to reach her greatest dream of all. Thirteen
months ago, Mark and Seth had stood beside her as she made the choice to see
that obstacle as an opportunity to grow.

Now it was her turn to do the same for a man she’d only met
over the phone.

“We’re ready.” Holding her hands out to her two greatest gifts,
Emily made her way back down the hallway with her big prince on one side and her
little prince on the other. When she reached the end, she turned right instead
of left, bypassing the front door in favor of the new, wider one that had been
installed by the Folks Helping Folks Foundation.

Pushing it open, she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the
late August sun. “Mmm…”

“Mrs. Reynolds?”

Her lashes parted to reveal the man who, in many ways, was
responsible for leading her back to Mark. A man who knew what it was to dream,
and embodied the very spirit needed to make those dreams come true. She started
to walk down the ramp to shake his hand, but stopped when he shook his head and
wheeled himself up to her instead, the smile on his rugged face making her blink
back tears.

“Mr. Walker, I am honored to finally meet you. Our time on the
phone together so many months ago made such a difference in my life. All I can
do now is hope that what we’ve added here today will make a difference in yours,
too.”

“It’s a start, that’s for sure. At least now I can come here
and learn about some of the things I put off doing until I wasn’t able to do
them anymore.”

Emily glanced up at Mark, saw him nod, and knew the moment
she’d been researching and working toward was finally here. At least the first
part, anyway.

Pointing toward the door she’d just come through, she addressed
Mr. Walker with what she hoped was a semidecent poker face. “Before we get
started with the foundation’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, would you mind coming
inside with me for a second? I’d like to show you something.”

“Sure.” Jed rested his hands on the wheels of his chair and
spun them forward, through the door Mark held open. Room by room, Emily guided
him through the building, pausing to explain about the various on-site classes
they held throughout the year, as well as a few details about the adventures
that took them to various locations throughout Winoka and beyond.

When they reached the last classroom before the hallway that
led to her office, she stepped inside and took a seat, gesturing for him to
follow in his chair. “Mr. Walker, you already know it was that initial phone
call you made to Trish last year that set the ball rolling to get our doors
widened and that ramp put in place. And for that, we’re grateful. You see, I’m a
big believer in helping people realize their dreams, and making our building
accessible got us a little closer to doing that.”

At Jed’s nod, she continued, motioning for a teary-eyed Trish
in the doorway to join them for the rest of the surprise. “Anyway, I know you’d
like to be able to do more than just wheel your way through a door and sit in on
a few classes. And you should be able to, as should anyone else who’s confined
to a wheelchair. So I sent out a call a few months ago to find an adventure
instructor who is familiar with physical challenges.”

Jed’s mouth gaped ever so slightly as he looked from Emily to
Trish and back again. “And?”

“When the ribbon-cutting ceremony is done, I’d like to
introduce you to Peter Cummings. He’s a dynamite kid with some really great
ideas and the know-how to implement them.”

Her eyes began to burn at Jed’s obvious struggle for words.
Unable to contain herself anymore, she took both his hands in hers and smiled.
“And as for you, Mr. Walker? You’re the first name on my list for a scuba trip
to Saint John this winter.”

“Scuba?” he repeated in a voice thick with emotion.

“That’s right.
Scuba
.” She looked
toward the door once again and cleared her throat. Less than thirty seconds
later, she was reengaging eye contact with Jed as Mark piloted Rose into the
room. “And my mother-in-law, right here, will be on that trip, too. Seems the
first five times she went diving weren’t enough.”

Jed’s hands trembled in Emily’s, though his focus was on no one
but Rose. “You’ve done it? You’ve been under the ocean like that?”

The older woman’s smile lit up the room. “You bet I have. And
in a few months, you’ll be able to say the very same thing.”

Grateful and deeply moved, Emily released one of Jed’s hands in
order to grab one of Rose’s. “Jed, you made me realize my vision for Bucket List
101 was lacking in one very important way. The changes you see here today have
hopefully altered that. But I’ve learned something else, too. I’ve learned that
doing things on my own is very different than doing them alone. And while you
may have been right on the phone all those months ago when you reminded me that
I came into this world alone and will leave it the same way, I have to tell you
that all the time in between is so much better when you have someone you love
and respect by your side. The key is finding someone who really sees you,
regardless of whether you’re sitting, standing or somewhere in between.”

* * *

S
HE
WAS
ROUNDING
UP
the last of the paper plates when
Kate came bursting through the door with her four-month-old daughter, Lizzie,
fast asleep in her carrier. “Oh, thank God. I was hoping the two of you would
still be here.”

Mark popped his head up from the corner where he was
dismantling the PA system they’d rented for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and
laughed. “Was that your car that just came screeching into the parking lot a
second ago?”

“Nope. That was Miss Trish heading out. Which works perfectly,
since I need to talk to the two of you alone.” Kate scanned the room and then
poked her head into the hall. “Where’s Seth?”

“He’s in my office drawing a picture.” Emily dumped the stack
of dirty plates into the trash and made a beeline for Lizzie. “Am I ever going
to get to see her when she’s awake?”

“Come by around dinner or anytime during the night and you’ll
see her wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.” At Mark’s snicker, Kate rolled her eyes.
“You think I’m kidding?”

“No. Actually, I don’t. Seth was like that, too, when he was
that age.”

Emily ran a gentle hand down her goddaughter’s leg as Mark and
Kate swapped the kind of stories she’d never experienced. Not firsthand, anyway.
And knowing what she now knew about the risk to her health if she became
pregnant, they weren’t the kind of stories she’d ever be able to relate to. But
that was okay. She’d come into Seth’s life at such an early age that she hadn’t
missed too much.

“Woo hoo? Earth to Emily! Come in, Emily.”

At the sound of her name, she looked up to find both Mark and
Kate gazing at her curiously. “I’m sorry, I guess I zoned out there for a
minute.”

Mark pulled up a chair next to her and draped his arm over her
shoulders. “That’s okay, Em. You’ve more than earned yourself a little
zone-out.”

Kate sat on the table next to Lizzie’s carrier and got straight
to the point. “So, have you made a decision?”

From anyone else, the question would have been too much. But
from Kate, it was okay. Normal, even. Taking a deep breath, Emily willed herself
to choose her words wisely.

“Having MS doesn’t mean I can’t have a child. We can. But in
order to try, I’d have to stop my injections. If it worked, and we became
pregnant, I’d have to stay off them throughout the duration of the pregnancy.
Lots of women with my condition do it all the time. But a large percentage of
them experience an acceleration of the disease within six months of giving
birth.”

Mark whispered a kiss across the side of her head as she
continued. “If we didn’t already have Seth, I might be tempted to take the
chance. But we do. And I want to be healthy for him and for Mark for as long as
possible.”