The Wedding Wish (Summer Grooms Series) Page 6

Chapter Eight

  Robert stood on wobbly knees and dusted off his dress slacks. He watched Kip and Trudy walk away, shaking their heads as they made for their car. Of all the scenarios Robert had envisioned occurring this evening, Kip’s assault hadn’t been among them. Though Robert knew he couldn’t entirely blame Kip for reacting the way he did. Robert understood the information had come as a shock. He worried it would come as one to Isabel as well. He only hoped she’d give him more time than her dad had for him to explain the entire truth.

  Robert straightened his tie and pulled back the heavy door, finding the museum’s entry foyer nearly empty. Only a few scattered guests remained, chatting casually amidst the catering staff that was busily cleaning up. It took him a few moments to find Isabel in a back chamber, gathering up some extra programs. She heard his approach and looked up. “Robert!” she said, her cheeks flushed. She was stunning in a short black dress and heels, her blonde curls twisted up in a knot behind her. She set down her pile of papers and hurried to him. “I didn’t think you could make it.”

  He sadly surveyed the empty room, then took her in his arms. “Looks like I missed it.”

  “Most of it, yeah.” She gave him a tilted smile, and his heart stilled. How he wished there was a way to make things easy, but any way he could think of was hard.

  She ran her hand down his lapel, noting the tear at his collar. “What happened to your shirt?”

  “Let’s just say I had a little run-in with Kip on my way here.”

  “With my dad?” she asked with surprise. “I don’t understand.”

  He looked down into trusting blue eyes, hating to shatter her illusions. But the only way to move forward at this point was with full disclosure, and Robert knew it. “I told him, Isabel. Told him why I went to New York.”

  Her delicate brow wrinkled in concern. “And now you’re going to tell me?”

  “All I ask is that you hear me out. Let me say my whole piece.”

  “Robert,” she said, her voice trembling. “You’re scaring me.”

  He drew a deep breath, then released it, gathering his courage. He locked on her gaze and willed the words from his throat, but they wouldn’t come.

  “What is it? What’s happened?”

  “When I told you before there was no one else, that wasn’t exactly right.”

  “What?”

  “Isabel, I’m married.”

  She pushed back in his arms and broke their embrace. “Married?” she shrieked, looking as if she’d been slapped across the face.

  “But it’s not like you think!”

  She shook her head in disbelief and then stammered, “You mean, all this time… When you and I have been together?” She brought her hand to her mouth as if she might retch.

  “Isabel.” Robert stepped forward, but she inched back.

  “Stay where you are.”

  “You don’t understand. I’ve been trying to get it undone.”

  “Sure you have,” she said, clearly not believing him. “That’s what they all say, isn’t it?”

  “They?”

  “Men, Robert! Like you!” She shot him an accusing glare. “And all this time I blamed my dad, said he was overreacting…” She stood up straighter and squared her shoulders. “But he was right, wasn’t he? You weren’t to be trusted. All this time, you’ve been married to somebody else.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Were you or weren’t you?”

  Robert hung his head. “I was.”

  “Does she know about me?”

  “No.”

  “Perfect. That’s perfect.”

  “My marriage was over a long time ago.”

  She set a hand on her hip and asked combatively, “What do you think, Robert? That I don’t go to the movies? If that isn’t the oldest line in the book, then I don’t know—”

  “She left me, Isabel,” he said, his voice cracking. Fire welled in his eyes, and his jaw trembled. “Ran out on me, don’t you know.”

  She gasped and blinked at him. “What?”

  “Seven years ago, to be exact. We were barely even married. We got married right out of college, and it scarcely lasted six months. Six months was all we had before she put me through seven years of hell.”

  Isabel brought her hands to her head, a million emotions swirling inside her. “I’m not getting any of this,” she whimpered as tears sprang from her eyes. “Except for the part about you being married.”

  “But not for long. At the stroke of midnight, it’s over.” He held her gaze, dark eyes sincere. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. My meeting in New York was with my attorney, Susan. She’s the one who called that night when we were out to dinner.”

  Isabel lifted a hand to wipe back her tears. “I’m listening.”

  He heaved a breath, his shoulders sagging. “Jenny left without so much as a word. I didn’t even see it coming.”

  “Then how—?”

  “She left a note by the coffeepot in the kitchen. Going to Florence to find myself.”

  “Oh!”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t the nicest birthday gift I’d received.”

  “She did that on your birthday?” Isabel asked, unable to believe the callousness of it.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure she remembered what day it was. I guess all she was thinking about was leaving.”

  Isabel stared at him, her heart softening. Of all the people to do that to, Robert surely hadn’t deserved it. Even if the marriage had been bad or things had started to sour between them, Isabel couldn’t imagine what would drive a woman to do something so cold. No matter how hard it had been hearing Robert’s confession, in her heart Isabel believed that he was speaking the truth. The pain was written in his eyes, just at the mention of what was bound to be an awful memory. “I’m sorry.”

  “The worst part was, because she did things the way she did—leaving the country and all—this left me in a terrible predicament.”

  “How long was she gone?”

  Robert slowly shook his head. “She’s still gone.”

  Another scenario occurred. “How do you know she’s okay? That maybe she didn’t get hurt?”

  “We have mutual friends who’ve seen her around. Sipping cappuccino in a café in Venice… Out to dinner with a gaggle of girlfriends in Rome. Jenny’s apparently having the time of her life as an ex-pat and has absolutely no intention of coming home. I’ve tried contacting her over the years, having my lawyer send official correspondence. She’s ignored all of it.”

  “Well then, how can you…” Isabel swallowed hard, hating to hear herself say it. “Get a divorce?”

  “There’s a seven-year abandonment rule. That is, if you have some way to prove it.”

  “The note by the coffeepot?”

  “In court, that could prove ambiguous. She didn’t precisely say she wasn’t coming back.” He paused a moment for effect. “But in the postcard she did.”

  “Postcard?”

  “Two months after she’d gone, I got a postcard from Pisa. Having the time of my life. Decided to stay. You can keep condo and my cat.”

  “Cat?” Isabel asked in shock.

  “No worries. Her sister took it.”

  “So this postcard…? It was proof?”

  “Postmarked seven years ago today.”

  The art deco clock in the atrium began to chime.

  “What’s that?”

  “Perelli’s clock,” she said. “The one in there.” Her gaze travelled to the next room, the truth slowly dawning.

  Robert caught his breath. “Isabel, what time is it?”

  “When my folks left, it was after eleven.”

  The clock struck again, then again, and again.

  “How many was that?” he asked.

  “Ten, I think.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Robert felt awash in relief. It was if he’d been drowning for seven long years and someone—at long last—had thrown him a life raft. “Isabel…” he said as the c
lock chimed eleven.

  “Robert?” she asked, blue eyes wide.

  And then, miracle of miracles, it happened. The clock chimed midnight. It was over.

  He ran his hands through his hair, unable to absorb the moment. After all this time and the endless court battles… False starts and disappointments. At least three times before, Robert had believed himself on the brink of divorce. But each time, some unforeseen legal precedent had blocked it. Susan had assured him that abandonment was their big ticket. It might take longer to work through than the other strategies they’d tried, but according to her, it was the best thing they had. They’d win this battle for his freedom at last. After so long of holding on, Robert had almost lost faith in a hopeful outcome. Now, incredibly, it had arrived.

  Isabel brought a hand to her heart. “What does this mean?”

  “I’m a free man.”

  Isabel steadied herself on shaky knees as the waves of these truths crashed over her. First he was married… Now he wasn’t?

  “Are you okay?” he asked, walking to her. “You look a little pale.”

  She stunned him by latching on to his coat lapels, and for a crazy instant, Robert feared she might tackle him to the ground just as her dad had. “So you’re saying…” She gripped tighter and pulled him toward her. “You’re…not…married? To anyone? Anymore?”

  He vehemently shook his head. “That’s the good news,” he said with a squeak.

  She narrowed her gaze, and his heart thumped in his chest. “And you didn’t tell me before because…?”

  “I wasn’t sure how you would take it. Plus…”

  She cinched his lapels in her hands and pulled him right up against her as she stood on tiptoes to stare into his eyes. “Plus what?”

  “Oh God, Izzy. I didn’t want to jinx it. I’d wanted out of that marriage for a while, but after I met you, I became desperate to leave it. I didn’t tell you because I was still working things out. I didn’t want you to worry. Have you agonizing and waiting over some timeline only to have some last-minute thing go wrong. I couldn’t put you through that. Wading through the abysmal legal maneuvers. Watching and hoping for it all to be done. Becoming painfully disappointed time and again.

  “I apologize if I screwed up by handling things this way, but you’ve got to believe that I never meant to hurt you. I would never…in a million years…hurt you. I care for you far too much.”

  She relaxed her grip but still held on.

  “You’ve got to trust me when I say there’s never been anyone but you. When I saw you again that day on campus, it was all over for me. You’re the only one I want, Izzy. In some ways, I see now that you’re the only one I’ve always wanted. Please, say something.”

  “You know, Robert Reed, you’re making me crazy with this.” Tears leaked from her eyes, but she smiled softly just the same. “He loves me, he loves me not…”

  “Isabel,” he said, steadying her against him. “You’re not hearing me. I said, I’ve always loved you. The heart remembers. At least this one does.”

  He looked deep in her eyes, and her whole world went off-kilter. He had to be telling the truth. The Robert she knew had never been much of a liar, not even as a kid. And he was all grown up now, and strong enough to hold her—even though her legs seemed to be giving way. He’d turned her emotions inside out with his confession, but the words that she hung on to were the ones that spelled forever. Robert did love her; she was sure of it. Whatever had gone before was over now. And if it wasn’t, the two of them would deal with it together. For together with Robert was where she’d always longed to be. She tilted her chin toward his, her lips trembling.

  “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted too.”

  “I was so hoping you’d say that.”

  Then he claimed her mouth with his and swept her away with his kiss.

  Chapter Nine

  Isabel sat beside her mother on the porch swing while Kip perched in a rattan chair nearby. “I don’t see why I have to talk to Robert,” he said, feeling grumpy.

  “You don’t,” Trudy said, her dainty shoes rocking back and forth. “All you have to do is listen.”

  “And remember.” Isabel studied him sternly. “You promised to be nice.”

  Kip didn’t like being cornered, and this corralling was among the worst of them. Something was going on here, something that had his wife and daughter in cahoots, Robert in the know, and Kip on the outside. “You already explained all about his ex-wife,” he said to Isabel. “Why do I need to hear the same story again from him?”

  Trudy and Isabel innocently looked at each other and shrugged. “Maybe he wants to tell it to you man to man,” Trudy offered.

  “That’s right,” Isabel inserted. “Clear the air.”

  If there was an air clearing about to go down, then why did it appear the two women in his life were throwing up a smoke screen?

  “I think I hear a car!” Isabel said, getting to her feet.

  “Why don’t we all go and greet him?” Trudy said, standing as well.

  Kip reluctantly followed after them, hoping this whole thing would be over soon. He had a ball game to watch and other things to attend to. Important things, like rearranging his CD collection or helping Trudy sort those blasted cookbooks.

  “Sir,” Robert said with a nod. “It’s good to see you.”

  He wished he could say the same, but the truth was he still wasn’t over it. That whole marriage thing had sat with him the wrong way. If a man can hide one thing, he can hide something else. That was the trouble with deception. Some people didn’t know where to stop. He suspiciously rolled his eyes toward Trudy, who was grinning like a cat who’d swallowed a canary. The entire thing, feathers and all. “It’s a beautiful day,” she offered. “Isabel and I were thinking it would be nice if you boys took a walk.”

  “A walk?” Kip’s tone rose in dismay. To add insult to injury, now he had to exercise? Didn’t he get enough of that at work, walking around, supervising everything? Standing on his feet nine to ten hours a day?

  “Go on,” Trudy said, giving him a little push down the path. He begrudgingly sidled up next to Robert but kept his distance. Arm’s length. So he wouldn’t be tempted to reach up and throttle the boy the way he’d nearly done before.

  “We’ll be back in a bit,” Robert told the ladies with an easy grin.

  Why did Kip have the feeling that everyone else around here knew something he didn’t?

  Robert started right in on it before they had even rounded the corner. “Thanks for agreeing to talk with me today, sir.”

  “I’m not sure I was given much of a choice.” He glanced back at the women, who watched them expectantly. Trudy motioned him forward with her hand, urging him along.

  “The truth is, I wanted to talk to you about Isabel.”

  “Listen, Robert, if this is about that whole Susan thing, I know all about it. Isabel and Trudy filled me in.”

  “I know it might seem hard to understand.”

  “It’s not really for me to understand or not, is it?” He shot Robert a sideways glance. “That’s up to Isabel.”

  “Yes, sir. I agree, sir. And she does too. It was a shock to her at first as well. But once I explained it—”

  Kip blew a hard breath and stopped walking. “Robert,” he said, meeting the young man’s eyes. “What’s this really about?”

  Robert stunned him by throwing himself down on one knee. “Sir, I want to marry your daughter!”

  Kip nervously scanned the block, then hissed under his breath. Of all things, Mrs. Meryl was out watering her petunias, and she was staring at them, mouth agape. “What are you doing?”

  Robert latched on to his arm. “Asking for Isabel’s hand.”

  Kip stared down at the boy in horror and shook off his hold. “Her what? Get up!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “The neighbors are staring.” He grabbed Robert under his arm and yanked him to his feet. Robert shielded his face like he feared Kip was going to slug hi
m.

  “Now what are you doing?” Kip spouted in low tones.

  “Self-defense?”

  “And you have the balls to ask to marry my daughter?” Kip huffed and stormed forward.

  “I didn’t have to do it,” Robert called after him.

  Kip slowly turned on his heels. “What did you say?”

  Robert unabashedly met his eyes. “I said I didn’t have to do it. Go to the trouble of asking for her hand. I want your blessing, sir. Yours and Mrs. Miller’s both. But even if I don’t get it, I’m planning to ask her.”

  “Harrumph.”

  “You just told me yourself, Isabel makes up her own mind.”

  Kip hung his head, wondering where he’d gone wrong. Maybe this had to do with the last time he went to confession. It had been so long ago, he couldn’t even recall when that was. This was divine retribution, and he knew it. What else could it be?

  “Mr. Miller.”

  Kip slowly looked up.

  “I might not have done everything right in your eyes, but I can assure you of one thing: I desperately love your daughter. I am madly and unconditionally, one hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt in love with her, and I will do everything in my power to make her happy.” After a pause, he continued. “I also know how much Isabel loves you. And part of my making her happy involves finding a way for you and me to get along. I really want that, Mr. Miller. For all of us to be a family. Because I know that’s what Isabel would want.”

  Kip swallowed hard, thinking of the speech he’d given to Trudy’s father. A speech not so different from this one, delivered to a man who couldn’t stand the sight of him and abhorred the thought of someone as lowly as a construction foreman marrying his only daughter. It had taken Brad years to accept him. Even after Kip had started his own business and bought Trudy the big house, Brad wouldn’t stop by to visit. It was only after Isabel was born that Brad had finally started to soften. Isabel, Kip saw, could melt the heart of any man. Including this one standing before him here.

  “You really do love her, don’t you, boy?”

  “With my whole heart.”

  Kip perused him a beat, his own heart telling him the truth. His Isabel loved Robert too. “Then do your best not to muck it up.”