Ready for Marriage? (23 page)

“Oh, look, Kate, isn’t that a pretty house?” Christa pointed out the old Kirkendall house on the corner at the end of the four-hundred block. She glanced over at Trent. “It’s not that Winston Hall isn’t beautiful, but it’s so big. It doesn’t seem like a home at all. It reminds me of a museum.”

Trent laughed heartily. “Where have I heard that statement before? Mmm, hmm.” He shot Kate a quick glance as he pulled the Bentley into the driveway at the old Kirkendall house. “Your mother—that is Kate—once said the very same thing to me.”

Christa bobbed around and looked up at Kate, her lips curved in a big smile. “Did you really tell him that?”

“I sure did.” Kate’s heart raced wildly.

“We’re here,” Trent announced. “Let’s get out and go inside.”

“What?” Kate and Christa cried in unison.

“This is your surprise, Kate.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You mean the house is Kate’s surprise?” Christa bounced up and down, all smiles and happy laughter. “You bought Kate a house?”

“Trent, what have you done?”

Christa tugged on Kate’s arm. “Come on, let’s go see it.”

Halfway in a trance, Kate opened the car door and got out, Christa on her heels. Trent rushed around the Bentley’s hood and escorted them up the brick walkway to the front porch.

Trent inserted a key in the lock, then opened the front door. “Come on inside.”

“This was someone’s home,” Kate said. “You didn’t force some family to move out just so you could give me this house, did you?”

“Christa, see if you can get Kate to come inside and take a look.” Trent stepped back to allow them room to enter. “And for your information, Ms. Malone, I bought this house nine years ago, had it completely remodeled at that time and have since completely furnished it.”

Christa pulled Kate into the foyer. Shiny wooden floors, polished to a rich gloss spread out from the foyer into the living room and dining room on the left, then went into the paneled den on the right. Kate’s mouth dropped open when she saw a glowing fire blazing in the living room fireplace.

Christa danced around and around as she explored the downstairs. “I love this house. It’s just perfect. If I come to live with y’all, are we going to live here?”

Trent draped his arm around Kate’s shoulders. “What’s the answer to that, Kate? Will you come back to Prospect and live in this house with our daughter?”

“Trent….” Tears pooled in Kate’s eyes. Not in her wildest dreams had she imagined Trent would have bought the old Kirkendall house, remodeled it and kept it—for her. “You bought this house nine years ago, after we were divorced, after I’d left Prospect. I don’t understand.”

“It was a crazy thing to do,” he admitted. “But I thought that maybe someday…” He raked his hand through his hair and chuckled. “Hell, I don’t know what
I thought. That by buying this house I was holding on to a little piece of you, I guess.”

“How many rooms are there upstairs?” Christa asked.

“Four bedrooms and three baths.”

“That’s more than enough rooms for all of us. When you and Kate get married again, you’ll share a room, of course. And I’ll have my own room. And Nana will have her room. And there will be a guest bedroom. Or heck, maybe we’ll have a baby. I always wanted a little brother or sister.”

Kate and Trent stared at each other, totally amazed by Christa’s exuberance.

“What if Trent and I don’t remarry?” Kate asked. “What if I come back to Prospect and you and I and Brenda live here?”

Christa looked at Trent. “But if we’re going to be a family, Trent has to live here, too. Right?”

“Are you saying that you want to come to Prospect to live?” Trent asked. “Do you want us to be your parents?”

“I guess. I mean, yes, I think that’s what I want. But not if we have to live at Winston Hall.”

“This can be your home,” Trent told her. “And you can redo your room anyway you’d like. But it’ll be up to Kate whether I live here with y’all or just visit every day.”

Christa grabbed Kate’s hand. “Please, Kate, tell him he can live here, too.”

“Christa, honey…”

Christa reached out for Trent’s hand. “I have a great idea, why don’t we go get Nana and we all stay here for our visit.”

“Would that make you happy?” Kate asked.

“Yes, it would be the very best birthday present.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Kate looked to Trent. “Right?”

“Nothing would please me more.” He wrapped one arm around Kate and the other around Christa. Both of them looked up at him and smiled.

W
inter turned into early spring. The days Christa spent with Kate in Prospect flew by, but the days Kate was on Dundee assignments and Christa in school in Sheffield seemed endless. Kate and Christa kept in touch by daily telephone conversations and she and Trent spoke often, too, their main topic of conversation always their daughter. She felt certain Trent wanted to ask her to remarry him, but she’d done everything to put him off, short of telling him she wouldn’t go into a marriage only for the sake of their child. A part of her wanted to believe that Trent loved her and would want to remarry her regardless of whether Mary Kate had come back into their lives. But the insecure girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks, who’d always felt so unworthy, had her doubts.

With Christa’s spring break from school beginning, Brenda Farrell had arranged for them to arrive in
Prospect this Friday evening and stay for nine whole days. Kate could hardly wait. She had come into town the day before and spent the entire day today preparing the house on Madison for their guests’ arrival. Trent had joined her for dinner last night and they’d ended the evening by making love. Each time they were together it became harder and harder to stop herself from telling him how much she loved him.

Before he’d left that morning, he’d made a request. “I’d like to stay here with you and Christa during this visit.”

“You’re welcome to stay, but you can’t sleep with me,” she’d told him, only halfway joking. “I don’t think Brenda would approve. She’s the old-fashioned type.”

“I’ll sleep on the porch if I have to,” he said. “I just want to be here with you and our daughter. We’ve lost so many years. I don’t want to lose another minute.”

“Oh, Trent. Brenda told me that if this extended visit goes as well as the short weekend visits have gone, she thinks Christa will soon be ready for them to move here permanently.”

When he’d hugged her, she’d sensed he didn’t want to let her go, as if he was afraid he’d lose her. “If that’s the case, don’t you think we should make some decisions about our future.”

“Not now, Trent. Let’s wait and see how it goes.”

She had put him off once again. But sooner or later she’d have to face the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before Trent proposed. And then she would have to decide if she could trust him completely, if she could believe he truly loved her.

“Where shall I put these, dear?” Aunt Mary Belle held a large floral arrangement, flowers from the Winston Hall spring garden.

“Those go in Brenda’s room,” Kate said.

“I think I’ll suggest to Brenda that she should come over to Winston Hall and stay with me so that you and Trent can have some time alone with Christa.”

Kate groaned. “I know you mean well, but please don’t do that.”

Mary Belle harrumphed. “Brenda needs to start letting go, just a little. You’re the child’s mother and unless Brenda allows Christa to bond with you—”

“Let’s face it—my daughter may never think of me as her mother. She may always see Brenda in that role.”

Mary Belle sighed, then turned to take the flowers into the guest bedroom Brenda Farrell would occupy. Kate returned to her chore—making Christa’s bed with the new pale yellow bed linens she’d purchased in Atlanta. She’d found out recently that yellow was Christa’s favorite color, so she’d made plans to add more of that color to this room.

“Where is everybody?” Trent called from downstairs.

“We’re up here,” she told him.

“I’ll be on up as soon as I put the groceries away.”

“Did you remember the Turtle Tracks ice cream?” Kate asked. “It’s her favorite, you know.”

“I got it. And the cereal she likes and the strawberry-flavored milk she prefers. You gave me specific instructions, honey. Stop worrying. Everything will be perfect.”

“Everything will not be perfect until you two get married again,” Mary Belle called out loud and clear.

Silence.

Say something, Trent. Please
.

“I’ll thank you to stay out of my business,” Trent told his aunt.

Kate released her pent-up breath.

Mary Belle came into Christa’s room and zeroed in on Kate. “Why won’t you marry him?”

“I beg your pardon.” Kate rearranged the decorative pillows on the four-poster bed.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know my nephew has been walking around with your engagement ring in his pocket for over a month now. Why haven’t you said yes?”

“Trent has my engagement ring? Do you mean he kept my original ring, the one he gave me years ago?”

“That very ring. Half of Prospect is aware of the fact that Trent took your engagement ring and wedding band out of his safety-deposit box this past month.”

Kate laughed spontaneously, finding great humor in the fact that a bank employee had spread the word about Trent’s withdrawal from his safety-deposit box and that within a few days afterward half the town had known what he’d done. And wasn’t it strange, Kate thought, that she didn’t seem to mind at all. Once she had hated small-town gossip and the busybodies who generated it. Now she liked everything about Prospect, absolutely everything.

“Trent has not proposed,” Kate told Mary Belle.

“He hasn’t?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“I find that odd.”

“Why should you find—”

“Have you been discouraging him?”

Kate gave Mary Belle a withering glare.

“You have, haven’t you?” Mary Belle huffed indignantly. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

“Why would Kate do what?” Trent asked from where he stood in the doorway to Christa’s room.

Kate and Mary Beth gasped and jumped simultaneously.

“I’m going to hang a bell around your neck,” his aunt told him.

“Pardon me. Did I interrupt private woman talk?”

“Yes, you did,” Mary Belle said. “Kate, I’d very much like for y’all to come to lunch on Sunday, right after church.”

“We’d be delighted, Aunt Mary Belle,” Kate replied.

Trent looked from his aunt to Kate, his brow wrinkled, his gaze narrowed. “Aren’t you two awfully chummy these days?”

“Kate, we’ll finish our conversation at a later date. I must run. I have a dinner engagement with the other members of the museum’s board of trustees and I shall need a good two hours to bathe and dress.” She walked over to Kate, kissed her on the cheek, then did the same to Trent. “Give Christa my love and tell Brenda that there’s a room at Winston Hall for her any time she’d like to take me up on my offer.”

When his aunt walked out of the room, Trent eyed Kate questioningly. “What’s that about—Brenda has a room at Winston Hall?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just Aunt Mary Belle being Aunt Mary Belle.”

Trent came up to Kate and slipped his arm around her, then kissed her on the mouth. When he lifted his head and smiled dreamily, she grinned back at him.

“Before Christa and Brenda arrive, there’s something I want to ask you.” He took her hands in his and led her out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

Don’t propose to me now, she cried silently. I’m not
sure if I can say yes. Not yet
.

She gave him a pleading look.

He stuck his hand in his jacket pocket. Kate’s heart stopped. He knelt on one knee.

“Oh, Trent.”

“Kate…” He held up her engagement ring—a three-carat emerald cut stone. “You accepted this ring from me once before.” He gazed up at her longingly. “I’m hoping you’ll wear my ring again.”

“I want—”

“Shh. Let me finish.” He took her hand in his. “Kate, will you marry me. Again?”

Before she could utter a word, he slipped the ring on the third finger of her left hand. Kate stared at the sparkling diamond. She loved Trent with all her heart and soul and wanted to be his wife. Besides, remarrying him would be the best thing for Christa. It would make them a family. But that was the very reason she hesitated. She didn’t want Trent to marry her because he thought it was the right thing to do for their daughter.

“Trent, why do you want to marry me?”

He stared at her, a puzzled expression darkening his face.

“Yoo-hoo,” Brenda Farrell called out from downstairs. “We’re here. Mary Belle let us in as she was leaving.”

“Oh, God, it’s Christa and Brenda,” Kate said. “They’re early.”

“We’re upstairs,” Trent called. “We’ll be right down.”

When Kate headed toward the stairs, Trent grabbed her wrist to halt her. “Say yes now.”

“Later.”

She offered him an encouraging smile, then pulled free of his hold and raced down the stairs to greet Christa and Brenda. Trent came down only a second behind her. Kate skidded to a halt in the foyer, stopping
herself only seconds before reaching out to Christa. More than anything she wanted to wrap her daughter in her arms and hug her for dear life. Although she and Trent had made amazing progress with Christa, a barrier still existed between them and their child. And they had agreed not to push her, to give her all the time she needed, to let her come to them when she was ready.

“Hi.” Christa had Trent’s wide-mouthed smile. “We left Sheffield early. School let out at noon and Nana had us all packed and ready to leave.”

“Well, we’re delighted y’all arrived early.” Trent grinned at Christa, then turned to Brenda. “I’ll bring in your bags.”

“Just get Christa’s bags,” Brenda said.

Kate and Trent stared questioningly at her.

“I’m going to stay at Winston Hall with Mary Belle,” Brenda explained. “I’ll be close by and be able to see Christa every day.”

Kate looked directly at her daughter. “Are you all right with those arrangements?”

“Oh, sure. Nana and I talked it over last night. She thinks I need to spend time with you two without her and I’m okay with it.”

“Did Aunt Mary Belle have something to do with this?” Trent asked.

Brenda’s lips curved into a how-ever-did-you-guess grin. “Don’t be upset with her. She telephoned me earlier this week and made the suggestion. And she’s right. I’m Christa’s grandmother and nothing will change that fact. I’ll always be close by when she needs me, but she has a mother and father now and y’all need to form a family bond.”

Trent nodded. “Why don’t y’all go on in while I get Christa’s bags.”

“I’m not staying,” Brenda said. “Come on, Trent, I’ll walk back to the car with you.”

She leaned over and hugged Christa. “Behave yourself, young lady.” She looked at Kate. “Do not let her get away with anything. She’s a smart little cookie. She knows you and Trent will jump through hoops to pacify her.”

“Ah, Nana, you’re giving away all my secrets.” Christa laughed.

“Are you hungry? Would you like a snack?” Kate asked her daughter as Trent opened the front door for Brenda and the two disappeared onto the front porch.

“Do you have any of those homemade oatmeal cookies?” Christa asked.

“I made a fresh batch this morning.”

“Oh, Kate, thanks. I knew you would. You’re the best.”

Christa’s smile warmed Kate’s heart.

When Kate shoved open the kitchen door, Christa gasped. “Oh, my heavens, Kate, what is that on your finger?”

“What?” Damn, she was still wearing the three-carat diamond Trent had slipped on her finger. “Oh, that’s the ring your father gave me when he asked me to marry him the first time.”

“Are you two going to get married again?”

“Would you like that?”

“You know I would.”

“We’re talking about it,” Kate said. “We haven’t made a definite decision.”

“If you do get married again, I could be the maid of honor, couldn’t I?”

“Yes, of course, you could.”

Oh, Trent, what am I going to do? I love you and
want to marry you. Nothing would please our daughter
more. But you haven’t said one word about loving
me. I need the words, Trent, I need the words
.

The evening had been perfect, the kind Kate had once dreamed of having with her husband and daughter. With Trent and Mary Kate. And despite the years of separation and the fact that Christa was now their daughter’s name, the three of them had shared a true family evening. Dinner together in the kitchen. Mother and daughter doing the dishes. Sitting on the front porch at sunset, despite it being slightly chilly. Watching Christa’s favorite Friday night TV program while the three of them shared the sofa, Christa sitting between them.

When the mantel clock struck ten, Kate rose from the sofa and Trent used the remote control to turn off the television.

“Bedtime,” Kate announced.

“You’re going to follow Nana’s instructions to the letter, aren’t you?” Christa sighed dramatically.

“Nana knows best,” Trent told her.

“Go on up and change into your new pajamas,” Kate said. “I bought them in Atlanta and put them in the top drawer of your dresser this morning.”

Christa jumped up and down. “Are they those yellow silk pajamas I wanted?”

“Could be.”

“Oh, Kate, you
are
the very best.” Christa came barreling toward Kate and threw her arms around her.

Kate thought she’d die from joy when her daughter hugged her fiercely, then released her and ran up the stairs. Trent came up behind Kate and pulled her back against his chest, then nuzzled her cheek with his.

“Good feeling, huh?”

“Great feeling.” Kate turned around, right into Trent’s arms. “Oh, Trent, I’m so happy.”

“Me, too, honey. Me, too.”

“I know we need to talk.” She held up her ring finger. “About this. But could it wait until morning? I want to go up now and see Christa in her new pajamas and then I hope she’ll let me stay with her so we can have some girl talk before she goes to sleep.”

Trent kissed Kate quickly, then turned her and gave her a shove toward the stairs. She raced halfway up the steps, then paused, looked over her shoulder and blew her former husband a kiss.

“I love you,” she mouthed the words and waited for his response.

He shut his eyes for a brief moment, an odd expression on his face. When he opened his eyes again, he smiled at her, but didn’t say anything.
Did that mean he
didn’t love her? Dammit Trent, am I supposed to be able
to read your mind?