Sunny's Love (9 page)

“I see,” Sunny said, shock not quite a strong enough word to describe her feelings.

“Sunny, did you think about what I’d asked you to? Did you think about what you wanted to do in your future?”

“Yes, I did, and I came up with nothing. The past few years were tough. I lost my dad, Scott broke up with me, he married someone else, and Dr. Rose retired. I was lost as to what to do next, when you showed up out of the blue and offered me a dream job. I accepted on the spot and have not regretted it for one minute. I love taking care of your children and I had no plans to move on anytime soon, but if you’re planning to get married, I guess I need to start thinking about what comes next.”

“Sunny, I don’t think you understand.
” Chase set down his glass and took her hands in his.

“
I want to marry you.”

“What?”

“It would be a marriage-of-convenience, so to speak, a business arrangement. I trust you, Sunny. I trust you with my children, with my business, and with my life. I can’t think of anyone more suited. Your name would immediately be added to the business, no one could get it away from you, should something ever happen to me. You and the children would be protected. I’ve drawn up all the paperwork and added you to my will, that’s what I was doing in Des Moines this week. You would want for nothing, Sunny. You would enjoy all the privileges of being Mrs. Chase Dupont. All the privileges you want, of course, I’m not expecting you to jump in my bed the first night. Over time, who knows? You would be protected and well taken care of for the rest of your life. But that’s the catch. It would be for the rest of your life, Sunny. I won’t put my children through a divorce after they’ve lost their natural mother. You’d have to agree to stay with me. You would be my wife and their mother. And in the eyes of the world, no matter what goes on behind closed doors, we would be the perfect newlywed couple, madly in love with each other. I will be faithful to you, no matter what and I would expect the same from you.”

“Wow…I never imagined this was the plan. How will this save your company?”

“For starters, Lindy won’t be able to continue with her plan. She’ll have to come up with a new one. And with your name on the company and with you on the Board of Directors, she and her father won’t only be fighting me, they’ll be fighting both of us. I want to share it all with you, Sunny. Do you think there’s any way you can consider it? I know I’m asking a lot, but I think we could make it work. I respect you, Sunny, and we get along well. The children love you. I’ll give you time to think about it, of course, but time is of the essence.” He looked into her eyes, once more, his gaze deeply penetrating.

“I don’t need to think about it. I
’ll do it. I’ll marry you, Chase.” Her eyes met his and she smiled.
If he only knew how much I wish this was a real proposal. At least I won’t have to worry about his ever being with another woman. He said he’d be faithful
.
And the pretending to the
rest of the world certainly won’t be hard for me to do.

“Are you absolutely certain this is what you want? You do understand you
’re making a lifelong commitment to me, Sunny.”

“I understand, Chase.”

“In that case, I picked up something for you in Des Moines before I left today. I hope you like it.” He took a small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing an exquisite diamond engagement ring. It was set in white-gold. The center diamond was large, with two smaller diamonds on either side of it. He removed it, took her left hand, and slipped it on her third finger. He got down on one knee and said, “Sunny Drake, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you consent to be mine for the rest of your life?”

“I will, Chase.”
Am I dreaming?

He kissed her, a short kiss, but still a kiss to seal the deal.
It was better than a handshake anyway.

“We need to make plans, Sunny. I want to announce our engagement as soon as possible. We’ll need to tell the children, our mothers
, and the staff first, of course. Then we need to talk about the ceremony. It needs to be small and soon.”

“That’s
all fine, but one thing I will insist on, if I may.”

“What’s that, Sunny?”

“I don’t want to be married at City Hall. I want to be married in a church, with a minister officiating. Even if this isn’t a traditional marriage, I want that.”

“That’s no problem. I know the perfect place. I’ll call the minister tomorrow. Will your mom be coming for the wedding?”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course, I thought perhaps the children, our mothers, Alma, George, Alice, and John and anyone else you might
want to ask.”

“Dr. Rose and his wife, I
’d like for him to give me away.”

“That’s fine. I’ll let you call everyone and tell them. I’ll do as much as I can to help with the arrangements
, but I think you and Alice can probably handle most of it.”

“You’re giving me free rei
gn?”

“Sunny, we’re partners from now on. It’s going to be small and quick, but other than that, you
plan the wedding you want. It’s your day.”

“I’ll get right on it tomorrow. How soon are you thinking?”

“Within the month, if possible, I’ll know for sure after I speak to Reverend Key tomorrow.”

“Wow, that soon? Okay, I
’ll need to get busy.”

“Sunny, you don’t know how much this means to me. I hope you know what you
’re getting yourself into.”

“I do and
I’m fine with it. I’m fond of you and I adore your children. The rest of it…we’ll see.”

“I’ll never rush you into loving me, Sunny. That
’s something that has to happen when we both are ready. The marriage needs to come first, for obvious reasons. So, we’ll just do things a little backwards, the marriage first and maybe the courtship later. I’m hoping, in time, we’ll be able to be a normal, married couple. But, in no way, do I expect that of you right now. So please don’t fret about that.”

“I appreciate that, Chase, and I won’t fret about it. It
’ll happen naturally. We can’t be married for the rest of our lives without it happening sooner or later.”

“Oh, Sunny, you
’re such a breath of fresh air.” He leaned over and kissed her again, this time a little longer, a little deeper. He drew away and said in a husky voice, “I need to go to my room, or I may break my promise the first night not to rush you, Sunny.”

She got up and walked him to the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Remember, to the world, from now on out, we’re the happiest couple in the world.”

“Goodnight.” She shook her head and closed the door.

If he only knew that I really am the happiest bride-to-be in the world.

The next morning, Sunny bounced out of bed and dressed with care. She pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail and went downstairs to talk with Alice before the children woke up.

As she walked into the kitchen, Alice was preparing breakfast. “Good morning, you’re up early, Sunny.”

“I wanted to talk to you before I get the kids up.” She reached into the cupboard for a coffee cup, poured fresh coffee into the cup and reached for the creamer. As she did, Alice gasped.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” She poured the creamer into her cup and stirred.

“Is that a diamond
ring on your finger?”

“Yes,
it is. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Chase and I are getting married. Very soon, in about a month to be exact and I need your help with the planning. It’ll be small so don’t worry.”

“You and Chase…I knew there were sparks there…but Sunny, it’s so quick. You two didn’t…you aren’t…?”

Sunny laughed. “No, we haven’t, and no, I’m not pregnant. We fell in love at first sight, so to speak, and decided not to wait. We live in the same house. Do you know how hard that’s been?”

“I’m so happy for you.” Alice hugged her
, just as Chase walked into the kitchen.

“Apparently the secret is out. Good morning, sweetheart.” He kissed Sunny on the forehead and helped himself to coffee.

“You’re a sly one, Chase Dupont,” Alice scolded him good-naturedly.

“What can I say, Alice, darling? This sweet
, young thing came into my life and turned it upside down.”

He certainly is playing his part well.

Turning to her, he said, “Honey, after you finish your coffee, we need to get the children up and tell them the good news. After that, I believe you have phone calls to make.”

“Yes, Alice, you can call Alma if you want to. I know you
’re dying to be the one to tell her.” Sunny laughed as she took another sip of coffee.

They went upstairs together a few minutes later. Sunny went into Ali’s room and gently woke her as Chase did the same with Brice.

They met in Chase’s bedroom. With the four of them sitting on Chase’s king-sized bed, Chase began, “Sunny and I have something to tell you. I hope you’re both going to approve.”

“What is it
, Daddy?” Ali asked as she looked from her dad to Sunny.

“Well, last night I asked Sunny to marry me and she said yes. Is that
all right with the two of you?”

Ali looked at them both and looked at Brice. For once, the little chatterbox was speechless.

Brice spoke first, “That means you’ll be my mommy forever and ever.”

“Yes, Brice, she will. Your other mommy will always be in your heart and she watches over you from Heaven everyday, like we’ve talked about. But Sunny will be your new mommy here.”

“Sunny, can I call you Mommy now?” Ali asked.

“After the wedding, sweetheart, if you want to. If you’d rather call me Sunny, that’s okay too.”

“Okay, do I get to be the flower girl?”

“Yes, if you want to and Brice can be the ring bearer.”

“What’s that?” Brice asked.

“Well, my
little man,
that
is the person who carries the wedding rings. It’s a very important job. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Heck yes. I’m not a baby.”

They all laughed after that and hugged as one big happy family. It was almost too good to be true and Sunny almost pinched herself to make sure it was.

After Chase dressed the children and
took them down for breakfast, Sunny called her mother.

“Mom, are you sitting down? I have some exciting news to share with you?”

“Sunny, what in the world is going on? You sound happy.”

“Chase asked me to marry him. And before you say anything, I know it’s sudden. I’m not pregnant. I love him and we don’t want to wait.”

“Okay, when?”

“In about a month, I’ll have to get back to you with the details. We’re getting married in a church here in Palm Beach. It will be very small, but of course
, we want you to be here. And, Mom, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to ask Dr. Rose to walk me down the aisle.”

“I don’t mind,
honey. I think he’ll be honored to do that.”

“You’re okay with this?”

“Sunny, if you’re okay with this, that’s all that matters. You’re taking on a lot, marrying a man with two small children. If you truly love him and he makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Goodbye, Sunny Jo, and if there is anything I can do to help, let me know.”

“I will, bye, Mom.”

Feeling slightly sentimental after the phone call, she went downstairs to join her new family for breakfast.

“Call your mom?” Chase asked as she sat down and helped herself to fruit and toast.

“Yes, she’s fine with it.”

“Good. When I know the date, I
’ll send her a plane ticket.”

“Have you called your mother?”

“No, not yet,
I’ll call her after breakfast. She’ll probably be on the next plane down here to oversee the whole thing. I thought I’d warn you.”

“Don’t be scaring the poor girl, Chase. Sunny, Marty is wonderful and if she offers to help, you should take her up on it.” Al
ice added, “Alma sends her love, by the way.”

“You didn’t waste any time calling her, I see.” Sunny grinned affectionately at the housekeeper.

“No, ma’am, I didn’t.”

Chase threw his head back and laughed heartily. “
Did you and Alma really think you were being inconspicuous with your matchmaking, Alice?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sunny and I were onto you two, from the start.”

“You were?”

“Yes, we were, but that’s okay. Sunny and I thought it was cute, didn’t we, sweetheart?” He looked at Sunny lovingly. She could almost believe he really did love her.

“Yes, we did, we talked about it the night Chase took me to his restaurant for dinner, Alice.”