Until He Met Meg (20 page)

‘Of course I did. I had to ask for your hand.’

Meg stared at Bryce once more. ‘My
hand?’

‘It’s tradition. It would have been rude not to check with him.’

‘Oh, crikey. Lord save me from men who want to decide my fate for me.’

‘No, only you can do that,’ Bryce said, softness in his voice. He took her hand, his fingers warm on her skin. His eyes were warm too as they gazed down at her. ‘All I can do is ask that you let me be a part of it.’

Meg swallowed, struck speechless. She could hardly believe this was happening. Yet Bryce was here, right in front of her, saying he’d asked her father for her hand in marriage. It was like something out of an old movie. Was this the part where she was supposed to fall at his feet in gratitude that he’d picked her?

If so, she was going to ruin his plans. Again. ‘You hurt me,’ she said, reminding herself as much as him. ‘You broke my heart.’

‘I know. I’ll never forgive myself, but I’m asking you to do that for me. Take pity on a man who’s always been a bumbling idiot when it comes to matters of the heart. I didn’t want to admit it two weeks ago, but I love you, Meg Lacy. Please give me a chance to make it up to you. I want to spend the rest of my life trying.’

With each word he spoke it was growing more difficult to remain stoic. How could a woman in love turn away from such an impassioned offer? Bryce wanted to marry her. He loved her.
He loved her!
The reality of what he’d said began to penetrate her shocked brain and once it was in there it wouldn’t get out.

Bryce loved her.

He wanted to marry her.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Bryce’s expression eased in response, his lips curving in perfect unison with hers. His fingers tightened on her hand and he leaned forward, the intent in his eyes clear. Coming to her senses in the nick of time, Meg pressed a finger to his lips to hold him off. ‘Not so fast, buster.’

Bryce scowled, but he looked more cute than scary. He mumbled, his lips moving against her finger. ‘I need to kiss you or I’ll go crazy. I think it’s traditional when a man asks a woman to marry him that she gives him a kiss.’

‘Only if she accepts.’ Meg folded her arms across her chest and raised a brow at him. ‘I haven’t said yes, yet.’

Bryce sighed. ‘You’re going to make this difficult for me, aren’t you?’

‘You’d be disappointed if I didn’t.’ The light of amusement in his eyes told her it was true. ‘Besides, I’m not being difficult. I only want to know what the rest of the plan was.’

At that Phillipa shook the flowers, alerting them both to her presence once more. Bryce looked down at his daughter with such love in his eyes that Meg’s breath caught. He touched the girl’s hair, then laid a kiss on her forehead before straightening again and handing the flowers to Meg. ‘I was going to meet you at the front of the hardware store and give you these.’

Meg took the flowers, which were now crushed and losing their petals from being squished first between her and Bryce and then between her and Phillipa. She gazed at the drooping blooms. ‘Then of course I would have beaten you over the head with them because I was still so mad at you.’

‘Was?’ He said, picking up on the past tense usage.

Meg felt her smile showing but she tried her best to hold out. ‘Keep talking, Carlton. You’ve got more work to do.’

‘Right. Of course. Well, after you’d beaten me over the head, you would have been too exhausted to resist my invitation to lunch. So I was going to bring you here.’

Bryce indicated the store beside them. It was only then Meg realised they were standing directly outside the Karawak Kafe. A sinking feeling fell through her as she realised they must be putting on a show for the whole town, but when she peered into the windows there were only two faces pressed up against the glass. Dolly Spencer and Didi Wallace, the co-owners of the café. Usually at this time of day the place was packed.

Before she could ask what was going on, Bryce tugged on her hand. ‘Come in.’

Meg allowed him to lead her through the glass doors of the establishment, her heart jumping to her throat as some kind of instinctual anticipation kicked in. Once inside her heart rate grew quickly out of control. She gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.

Soft jazz played from the stereo, the one that was otherwise permanently switched to the local news radio station. Most of the curtains were drawn, cutting out the glare of the midday sun and creating a cosy, intimate atmosphere. Dolly and Didi stood at the counter, their black-and-white polka-dot uniforms looking freshly laundered and pressed. The old familiar café had somehow been turned into a five-star restaurant. Well, maybe four-star, Meg amended, thinking of the available fare on the menu, which didn’t stretch to lobster or fine Chablis.

On top of all that, there were flowers here, too. So many of them that they seemed to cover every available flat surface in the café. Everything from orange blossom to sweet peas to beautiful, fat pink roses.

No way had he gotten all those from Betty’s Blooms and Gifts.

‘How did you….’ Meg’s question trailed off as she walked around the café, stunned by its transformation.

‘Dolly and Didi were very accommodating.’

Oh, Meg would just bet they were. She cast the two fifty-ish women a sharp look. ‘I hope you didn’t gouge him.’

‘Of course not,’ Didi said, offended.

Dolly added excitedly, ‘When we heard it was true love, we were happy to help. Good on ya, Meg!’

Meg swung her gaze back to Bryce. ‘True love, is it?’

‘You better believe it,’ he said. ‘I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t stop this horrible ache in my chest. I’ve had it since you left and I know the only cure is to win you back. I was such a fool to let you go and if you come back to me, I’ll never be that foolish again.’

Then, to Meg’s shock, Bryce Carlton, respected wealth management expert, prominent community figure and highly paid CEO of a national company, got down on one knee before her. He held her hand in his — he hadn’t let it go since he’d first taken it out on the street — and looked up at her with a plea in his brown eyes that turned them warmer and softer than she’d ever seen them.

‘Meg Lacy,’ he began. ‘I want to spend the rest of my life proving I’m worthy of you. Will you please, please, marry me?’

‘Oh, Bryce.’ Meg felt the tears tracking a wet path down her face. ‘If you insist.’

‘I do. I really do.’ Bryce smiled, his eyes shining up at her. Meg grinned back, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Somewhere in the room, Dolly and Didi sighed. Then Phillipa appeared and handed her father a small velvet box.

Even guessing what was inside, Meg still gasped when he opened the lid and revealed the huge square-cut diamond nestled within. ‘Crikey!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’ll have to do some strength training to even lift that thing!’

‘If you don’t like it, we can exchange it.’

‘Are you kidding? Give it to me.’

Chuckling, Bryce pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto Meg’s left hand. It felt odd there, a thing so fine and expensive on the callused hand of a girl from the smallest of small towns, a girl who’d never dared dream something like this could happen to her.

Yes, it felt a little odd. But as Meg stared at the sparkling beauty of her engagement ring in wonder, she decided she’d get used to it.

‘Oh Bryce. I can’t believe this.’

‘Neither can I,’ Bryce agreed as he stood. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. ‘Thank-you for giving me this chance. I promise I’ll be the best husband in the world. I’ve learned from my mistakes, Meg. I’m selling my stake in DCA. Being the biggest in the country was always my father’s dream. Mine is to be the best.’

Meg reached up and touched his cheek. ‘What are you going to do?’

‘I’m going to work for myself so I can set my own hours, be my own man. I can be home for Phillipa. I can spend a lot of time making you happy.’

‘I’m already happy,’ she smiled. ‘Happier than a girl ought to be. I love you, Bryce Carlton.’

‘I love you, too. And it’s Alistair, by the way,’ he said. ‘Bryce Alistair Carlton. You once asked me what the A stood for.’

Yes, she had. Meg still had the monogrammed handkerchief he’d given her on that first crazy taxi ride. It was tucked into her jewellery box with all her most precious possessions. She was sure she’d always keep it, even though now she had the love of the man it belonged to, something too precious to ever be contained in a box.

‘My middle name is Elaine, after my mother.’ Megan Elaine Carlton. It had a nice ring to it.

‘Now that we know each other so much better,’ Bryce drawled. ‘Can finally I have that kiss?’

Meg smiled and offered her lips, but before they could make contact Phillipa came barrelling into them, twining her little arms around both of their waists as best she could and burying her face into Meg’s stomach. ‘We’re going to be a family!’

Meg and Bryce locked gazes, happier with each other than two people could possibly be. Bryce smiled tenderly, love shining from his eyes as brightly as the sun. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We are.’

Then, at long last, he kissed her.

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