Invitation to Love (6 page)

The
rest of her sentence halted post haste when she rounded the corner and saw, of
all people, Michael, standing in the middle of the floor with
the
most
captivating smile on his face.

“Michael,”
she exhaled.

“Hello,
Taryn.”

“Oh,
my God.” She hurried over and gave him a brief hug. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m
returning from a business trip. On my way home, I thought it would be nice to
stop by and visit all of you, and see if you wanted to have dinner with me
tonight. For old time sake?”

“Please?
Can we, please?” Remi and Rachel bounced eagerly, pulling at her shirt.

“We’d
love to,” she replied without a moment’s hesitation. “You two, go put some clean
clothes on. Remi, put on a dress. Do you hear?”

Remi
ran from the room so quick, that Taryn could only hope she heard her. “Sit
down”, she signaled toward the couch. As he walked ahead, her eyes did a
thorough once-over of him in his black outfit. It feels so good to see him
again. Even that brief hug is still doing its number on her. “I can’t believe
you’re here,” she sat to the other side of the couch.

“I
wanted to surprise all of you; And, to make up for not writing as often as I
should have. I hope they’re not holding it against me too much.”

“Well,
as you can see, you’re completely forgiven.”

“And
you—have you forgiven me, too?”

His
eyes lowered from hers to touch intimately on her mouth. That act reminded her
of just how much she’s missed him. She held her breath and looked away, not
knowing what to say, wishing for something witty to break the heady moment.

“It’s
good to see you.”

“You,
too,” she replied with all sincerity. After ten seconds of their eyes locking,
she finally ended the moment with shy laughter. “I guess I’d better go change,”
she stood. “Certainly can’t go anywhere in these, can I?” She promptly excused
herself. As she headed down the hallway, she could feel the energy of his eyes
on her, touching her from the top of her head, and gliding straight down her
back. Although she was tempted to look back to confirm that, she chose the
wisest course and kept moving.

Evening
turned into late night. Taryn unlocked the front door and walked in, followed
by Remi, Rachel, and Michael.

“Say
good-night, you two. It’s time for bed.”

The girl
threw their arms around his waist. “Good-night,” they said.

“Will
we see you again?” Rachel asked before releasing her hold on him.

“Of
course you will. I’m not leaving until tomorrow. I’ll drop by and see you
before I go.”

Taryn
left him sitting on the couch to put them to bed. A few moments later, she was
back. “Thanks again, Michael,” she settled on her side of the cushions. “You
made our day.”

“Thank
you for the company.”

“So
tell me, how is your apartment renovations coming along in New York? I remember
you mentioned that in one of the letters you wrote.” She had decided as she
stood in her bedroom retouching everything, debating over whether she should
put her hair back, or change out of that awful skirt, to keep the conversation
on impersonal matter, and contain her attraction to minus one.

“The
units have all been rented out and ready for occupancy in a couple of months.”

“I
bet they’re beautiful. I’d like to see your work one day. Tell me about the
design, the cost, everything.”

“So,
how have you been doing?” he asked once the subject was thoroughly depleted.
“Have you found a job, yet?”

“No,”
she sighed from the dread that question caused. “But, I’m sure I’ll find
something.”

“Of
course, you will,” he expressed with great confidence. “Other than that, life’s
treating you fair?”

“Everything’s
fine,” she lowered her eyes to hide that lie, but, hadn’t realized that twist
of her mouth gave her away.

“Taryn,
something’s bothering you. I can tell.”

“It’s
nothing, Michael,” she waved him off.

“Taryn,”
his tone urged her to look at him. “What’s going on?”

“Michael,
please. You didn’t come here to hear my hard-knock story. I don’t want to bore
you.”

“That’s
what friends are for—friend.”

They
are
friends, aren’t they? The assurance in those eyes, and the meaning of
that word gave her the impetus she needed to open up to him. Maybe, it would
help talking about it. She certainly can’t go to Nora; She’d only buckle from
the stress. Besides, he can probably offer some sound advice she could use in
her favor. She shifted her position toward him and went into the account of her
troubles with her father-in-law, and his plans to sue for custody of Remi and
Rachel.

“That
is, unless I secure a job by the end of next week,” she exhale tiredly.

Michael
moved to the edge of his seat, his brows drawn, his mouth set. “He can’t be
serious.”

“Believe
me, he is. They’ve never really forgiven me for marrying their only son. The
want to make sure I don’t ruin the girls’ life the way I did Collen’s.”

“They
blame you for everything?”

“Oh,
yeah. Even his death.”

He
shook his head, his eyes reflecting compassion as he studied the sad expression
on her face. “It’s unfair that you have to go through this. Surely, your
father-in-law knows what this will do to Remi and Rachel.”

“He
only knows what it will do to me; And, that’s what counts.”

“Do
you really think a court will take the girls away from you? Their own mother?”

“In
normal circumstances, maybe not. But, Mac has clout. His brother’s a sheriff;
And two of his sisters sit as judges on the family court circuit. With their
power, if they wanted to build a case against me, they could. When they’re
through with me, I’ll most likely end up on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.”

“What
a mess.”

They
sat silently in their own mode of concentration until she realized that the
excitement of his arrival, and the wonderful night out, had been doused by the
severity of her tribulations. At once, she felt the weight of such a selfish
act, and turned to apologize.

“You
know, I think I can help you,” he said first.

“Michael,
no,” she held her hand up when the meaning of those words finally hit. “I
didn’t tell you this to involve you. This is
my
problem.”

“Taryn,
I care a lot about you and the girls. This isn’t something you should be facing
all alone. These people could take away everything that means the world to
you—Remi and Rachel. Alone, you have maybe a chance of keeping them. But, with
you being out of work, coupled with this new grandparents’ law, you could end
up sharing custody.”

The
idea had her eyes closing in despair.

“With
my help, your chances are much better. I have a top-rate lawyer you can use.
There’s no way in the world they’ll be able to take your girls from you.”

His
offer was so enticing; And yet, this isn’t his problem. The poor man just came
for a visit, not to get pulled into a legal brawl. But, if she turned him down,
she would have to face the Gant clan on her own with little or no chance of
winning. If Michael can help her keep her children, why not take him up on his
offer? Does she really want to risk losing them, and have them raised by the
likes of Mac and Phyllis?

“Oh,
Michael,” she reached out and grabbed onto one of his hands. “You don’t know
how much this means to me. If I wasn’t in such a desperate position right now,

I’d insist you not get
involved. But, I need all the help I can get. Do we really have a better chance
if we fought together?”

“You
bet,” he turned his hand over and enclosed it around hers. “I’ll get in touch
with Allen tonight, see what strategy we can use, and call you in the morning.
Don’t do anything until you hear from me. Okay?”

“Okay,”
she nodded, feeling relieved now that the situation has been taken from her,
and she’s not going to face this alone.

He
released her hand and stood. “I’m going back to the hotel to call Allen. He
should be getting home right about now.”

She
rose from her seat, feeling somewhat guilty about having pulled him into her
war. “Are you sure, Michael?” she gave him one last chance to back out, though
the services of his lawyer will be hard to relinquish.

They
were at the door now. And, the warmth in his eyes as he turned and smiled
answered her quite definitely. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against
her cheek.

“Good-night,
Taryn.”

Taryn’s
nerves wouldn’t allow her to just sit and wait for Michael’s call the next
morning. The only way she could spend that energy was by cleaning the house
from one end to the other. His assurance that she would keep her children made
her night fitful with maybe three hours of sleep. She didn’t want to think too
far ahead of herself, but couldn’t help celebrating the fact that her troubles
were coming to an end; That canopy of threat Mac held over her was about to be
torn down.

She
eyed the black and silver phone on the wall as she passed it for the utility room
to put a load of clothes in the washer; She couldn’t take her eyes off it as
she stood across the kitchen floor scrubbing down the table. She was searching
around the dishwasher, trying to find a spot to place a breakfast plate when it
rang. The plate slipped from her hand and landed with a clang atop the others.
She rushed over and grabbed up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Taryn,
it’s me.”

Michael’s
voice generated a wealth of calm. “Hi.”

“We
need to talk. Is it all right if I come over now?”

“Sure.
Come on over.”

She
carefully placed the phone in its base all the while hoping—no—praying he had
good news for her. The tone in his voice gave nothing away. Having decided it
best not to dwell on fruitless speculation, she went to change into a pair of
blue pants and top, and brushed her hair back to a tidy ponytail. Remi and
Rachel were still playing on their swing-set when she peered out the back
window. She was about to pour herself a needed cup of coffee when the doorbell
hailed his arrival.

“Please,
let this be good news,” she whispered as she rushed to the door. “Michael, come
on in,” she held the screen door open, all the while scrutinizing the set of
his face.

“Hi,”
a warm smile was all he offered for the moment.  “You look nice.”

“Thanks.”
Her eyes trailed over his smart casual wear. “So do you. Have a seat.”

“I
think I should stand for what I have to say.”

Her
smile slowly ebbed away as she stood gaping back at him; Her mental faculties
braced for his next words. “What’s wrong?”

“Relax.
Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that what I’m about to propose is something I know
you’ve never considered, and will take a lot of forethought on your part.”

“What
do you mean?”

“Well,
there’s a better way to fight your in-laws; A way where you wouldn’t have to
see the inside of a courtroom.”

She
put her hand to her head and channeled her relief through a brief chuckle. “You
scared me for a moment, there. What is it? Did your lawyer come up with a legal
maneuver we use?”

“Here
me out, first,” he cautioned. “Like I said, you’re going to have to think long
and hard about this.”

“If
it means keeping Remi and Rachel, I’m all for it. Please, tell me.”

She
wondered why he stood regarding her with that profound expression on his face;
As if he didn’t know how or where to start. Surely, what he has to say can’t be
that difficult of a matter to…

“Marry
me.”

The
one-two punch of those words had her head spinning with disbelief. She stared
wide-eyed for a long moment. Then her mouth began to form a smile as she waited
for him to laugh out any second now and tell her he was kidding—That he was just
trying to lighten the mood. But, that look in his eyes said it all: This is no
joke.

“You’re
serious. You just asked me to marry you.”

“I
did.”

“But—”

“Look,
you have two choices. We can go to court and fight this. It’ll be messy, but
you have a good chance of keeping the girls; Or you can bypass the toll it’s
going to take on all of you by marrying me. I have a successful business. Remi
and Rachel will be well taken of. So, not only will you be able to show the
courts that you can provide for them financially, the judge will be convinced
that they’ll be in a secure family environment. Under those circumstances, your
in-laws can’t make a case against you, even with what little power they
possess.”

She
turned and stepped away to ponder his offer. The pros and cons began forming
from a puzzled mess, to a neat finished picture. Pro: Remi and Rachel wouldn’t
have to go through the devastation of sitting before a judge, terrified that
one wrong answer would get their mother in trouble. Con: Even if she did win,
she can’t be positive they would come away unscathed. Pro: Marrying Michael
will ensure that. But, she skyrocketed the thought of ever marrying again into
deep space years ago. One trip down that path is enough for one lifetime: Big
con. Can she do it? It’s nothing against Michael. Good looks aside, there’s no
questioning his benevolence and genuine goodness: Pro. But, marriage will ruin
their friendship; It almost always does: Con.