THE BOSS HAD PICKED A HELL OF A TIME TO GET CHATTY. A bead of sweat rolled down Michael's back. As Baltimore City State's Attorney Tom Houlihan pelted him with a rapid-fire series of pre-trial questions over the phone, the departure time for Michael's flight to Florida crept closer. He needed an exit strategy, and he needed it now.
Travelers swarmed through the gate area while Michael struggled to stay focused on the call despite the chaos around him. Tugging on his burgundy silk tie, he released the top button of his shirt and watched a line form to board the flight.
"And Rachelle?" Tom asked.
"I saw her last night," Michael said. "She's antsy, but hanging in there." He flipped through some other notes on his laptop, hoping to anticipate Tom's next question.
"How antsy?"
"Well, she's a teenager stuck in protective custody. You've got daughters, so you can probably imagine." An exotic scent filled Michael's senses, drawing his attention away from the call. He glanced at the seat next to him where a young woman with silky dark hair and an olive-toned complexion watched with dismay as a gate attendant slipped a "Delayed" sign over the flight number.
"Michael?" Tom said.
Michael tore his eyes off the woman. "I'm sorry.
What did you say?"
"I asked if there was anything else you needed from me."
"We should be set until jury selection. I'll want your input then. George prepped the last of the witnesses today. We've covered all the bases, so try not to worry."
"Yeah, right," Tom said with a wry chuckle.
"I'll check in first thing on Monday."
"Enjoy the party. Hopefully, it's the only time you'll be engaged."
Michael laughed, relieved that Tom seemed satisfied -- for now. "That's the goal. I appreciate the time off. Have a good weekend." He ended the call and caught the tail end of the gate attendant's announcement.
"What did she say?" he asked the woman next to him.
She glanced over with a distressed expression on her stunning face. "Ninety-minute delay."
A jolt of desire surprised Michael. He was on his way to visit his fiancee and to attend their engagement party, so what was with the unexpected reaction to a pretty stranger? Pretty wasn't the right word. Strikingly beautiful was more like it. Since they now had ninety minutes to kill, he decided to indulge the curiosity. "Where're you heading in Jax?"
"Jacksonville Beach."
He noticed her eyes were fixed on the gate attendant who slid the updated departure time into a slot on the board.
"My boyfriend's working there for a year. How about you?" She glanced over at him with soft brown eyes that drew him right in.
He couldn't remember the last time anything other than the upcoming trial had captured his attention so completely. "Amelia Island. My fiancee lives there with her parents."
"So you're doing the long-distance thing, too, huh?"
"Yeah, and it sucks. How long have you been doing it?"
"Almost seven months," she said with a sigh. "Five more to go."
"Six months down and eight to go for us. We're getting married in April."
"Well, at least we both know it won't last forever. I don't know how people do it indefinitely. That would make me even crazier than I am now."
"For real."
"What do you do?" she asked.
"I'm a prosecutor for the Baltimore City state's attorney."
Her eyes widened. "Wow, that's so cool."
"More like overwhelming -- especially lately. What about you?"
"Nothing quite so exciting. I'm a hair stylist."
"That sounds like more fun than putting people in jail."
Her smile engaged her entire face, and his heart skipped an erratic beat.
"It is until someone hates their haircut, but fortunately that doesn't happen to me very often."
"What do you do when it does?"
"If they're truly upset, we offer them a freebie next time, but usually they come back telling us they got all kinds of compliments on their new look."
THE NEXT MORNING MICHAEL SAT AT HIS DESK LOST IN thought. He couldn't believe the way he had bared his soul to Juliana the night before. He didn't regret anything, though. Everything he told her was true.
She hadn't said a word to him on the way home. Once they arrived she went straight up to her room and closed the door. Despite her silence, Michael knew she had feelings for him, too. He could see it in the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention.
That she was still mired in a ten-year relationship gave him pause. "But hey," he said out loud, "she's living in my house and not even talking to him." The thought made Michael feel better about his chances with her until he remembered how wrong he'd been about Paige. But Juliana was different from Paige in every possible way. "That's one thing I know for sure."
His assistant, Angela, came to the door. "Talking to yourself, Michael?"
"Huh?"
"Your mother's on line two." The demands from the press had gotten so out of hand in the last few days that Angela was screening his calls.
"Thanks."
Angela left him to take the call.
"Hi, Mom."
"How are you, Michael? They mentioned your trial on the Today show this morning."
"We're getting a lot of attention. Too much."
"How're you holding up, sweetheart?"
"Good. I'm ready to go."
"You know we're all pulling for you. So how was the cotillion in Dixie last weekend?" His mother had long ago stopped pretending to approve of the Simpsons or their lifestyle.
"It was interesting. I've actually been meaning to call you since I got home."
"Oh? Why?"
"Well, I'm sorry to report the engagement is off."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Try to contain your euphoria, Mother," Michael said with a dry chuckle.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story. Suffice it to say I finally saw the light."
"Hallelujah! Your sisters will be thrilled to hear this."
"I'm sure."
"Are you all right, Michael? I know you loved her.
I'll never understand why, but I'm sure you must be upset. I don't mean to make light of it."
Michael laughed. "Yes, you do. I'm fine. Believe me, by the time the whole thing blew up, I could hardly remember what it was I loved about her."
"She must've taken it well." Maureen's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Yeah, not so much. In fact, I'm quite certain I haven't seen the last of her. But right now all I'm thinking about is the trial." Well, not all, but he wasn't ready to tell his mother about Juliana. Not yet.
"I know you're busy, so I won't keep you. I'm sorry if you're hurting, Michael."
"I'm fine. Really."
"Keep us posted on the trial. We'll have our fingers crossed for you."
"Thanks, Mom. Give my love to everyone."
"I will. You know you have ours."
She ended the call promising to check on him in a week or so. He smiled when he imagined the news of his broken engagement burning up the phone lines in Newport's Fifth Ward and had no doubt he would hear from his sisters before the day was out. On her way home from her mother's that evening, Juliana stopped at Collington Street where she cleaned out the fridge, took out the trash, and stashed the mail in her purse to deal with later. She was in and out of there in ten minutes. Even after the emotional exchange with Michael the night before, she still couldn't bear to be in the house she had shared with Jeremy. Michael's words had haunted her all day as she made polite small talk with her clients. How could he be falling for me? It's preposterous. We haven't even known each other a week!
But there was something, Juliana acknowledged. She had felt it herself. More than once. It wasn't love, though. No way. Things like that happened in the movies, not to real people.
At times she wondered if her head would just explode from thinking too much. Ironically, though, she hadn't had the urge to call Jeremy all day.
Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to absorb it all.
He put his arms around her. "If you had any doubt that I knew you'd eventually find your way back to me, I hope you don't anymore."
"After what I did to you." She shook her head with disbelief. "After what I did, that you could still love me this much astounds me."
"I love you this much and so much more. I have since I first looked over and found you sitting next to me in the airport, and I always will." With his hands on her face and his thumbs skimming her jaw, he finally kissed her the way she had dreamed about during the long year without him. The kiss went on for what felt like forever until she pulled back to gaze up at him. With her palm resting on his face, she kissed him again. "Thank you, Michael, for all of this and for all the faith you've always had in us. I wasn't worthy of it before, but I think I might be now."
"You were always worthy of it, silly. You could've saved me a lot of sleepless nights if you'd skipped over your whole Zen phase and come home to me sooner."
He took her hand again. "Let's go upstairs. There's more I want to show you."
He gave her a tour of all the improvements he had made to the second floor since she was last there, including a new kitchen, remodeled bathrooms, and a fresh coat of paint in every room. She recognized most of the furniture from his house in Maryland, including his big bed. On the bedside table was another copy of the photo from the Bahamas.
He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "You ever think about the last night we spent in that bed?"Her cheeks burned. "I've never forgotten it." "I've relived it a few thousand times myself. Maybe we can have a reenactment tonight?"
She snuggled into his embrace and kissed him. "Do we have to wait that long?"
"No." He laughed against her lips. "We definitely do not have to wait that long. Come see the third floor. I've done the most work up there."
She followed him up the stairs. "Oh, it looks wonderful!" He had torn out the kitchen and knocked down walls to make four more big bedrooms.
"They'd make for good kid rooms, don't you think?"
"Maybe when they're older." Juliana ran her hand along the smooth wall and then turned to him. "When they're babies, I'll want them downstairs with us."
He blinked back tears and shook his head as if to convince himself this was really happening.
"Yeah?"
"Uh huh."
He took her hand and put it over his heart. "Feel that? My heart hasn't pounded like that in more than a year."
With his arm around her, he led her over to the window seat and brought her down on his lap the way he had on a long-ago autumn night. "Remember the last time we were right here?"
She rested her head on his shoulder and nodded.
"I wanted to be the first guy to propose, but I've since learned that sometimes being last is much better than being first."
Juliana chuckled.
"So what do you say? Will you marry me, Juliana?"
Raising her head to meet his blue eyes, she said, "Yes, I'll marry you, Michael Maguire." She pressed her lips to his. "Yes, yes, yes!"
With his fingers buried in her hair, he kissed her senseless and then tugged the chain out from under his shirt and tie.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the ring was exactly where she had left it. "All this time you've kept it right there," she whispered, amazed.