Valentine's Day

Diamonds glittered when she moved and the reflections of their light flashed against the walls of the room. It almost seemed a counterpart to the way Max’s touch sizzled on her skin. It had been a magical evening, but she knew it was drawing to a close. If only there was some way to keep it going all night.

“This is the most perfect Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had,” she told him simply.

“Good.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “Not too ordinary?” he teased.

She shook her head. “Not a bit ordinary,” she said. Reaching up, she touched his face with the flat of her hand. “Oh, Max,” she began, feeling the need to express to him how she felt.

But she never got the chance. Before she could get another word out, C.J.’s voice was booming through the room.

“So this is what you’re up to, is it? I should have known.”

There she stood, hands on her hips, green eyes flashing angry fire.

“C.J.” Max started toward her. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. What else? It’s Valentine’s Day. But I see you know that.” She glared at him. “Don’t you think you should have been with me? I’m the one you’re supposed to marry.”

Max stopped dead and stared at her coldly. “C.J., I haven’t made any sort of commitment to you and you know it.”

“It’s her, isn’t it?” she cried, pointing at Cari. “It’s because of her. You’ve fallen in love with her, haven’t you?” Swinging around, she faced Cari. “If it wasn’t for you, we could have this whole deal done by now.” She took a step toward Cari, shaking her head as though she were beseeching her. “Look, I’ve stood back and I’ve been tolerant. I knew he went for you, not me. That was okay. I figured, if he wants to have some fun on the side, let him. That doesn’t bother me at all. But I want the wedding ring on my finger, I want the marriage certificate in my hand. Then he can do whatever he wants.”

“C.J., you’re embarrassing yourself,” Max told her quietly, controlling his temper with obvious effort.

“Oh, yeah?” She tossed her flaming hair back and glared. “Well, get this, mister. This is it. No more Ms. Nice Guy. I want a wedding date and I want it now. Or you can forget about your mother getting back her beloved ranch.”

Max looked pained. “Go home, C.J. You weren’t invited here.”

Her face reddened in outrage. “Be careful, Max. My patience is not infinite.”

“Good. It shouldn’t be. And in that vein, let me explain more explicitly.” He stood before her, legs apart, arms at his sides. “I’m not going to marry you. Not ever. And if that means my mother will have to forgo having her ranch back, that is the price we will have to pay.”

C.J.’s head went back, but her glare didn’t dim.

He shook his head, exasperated with her. “But you know very well we aren’t in love with each other. And even more important, we don’t suit each other at all. We would both be miserable tied together by a wedding vow. Upon reflection, I’ve decided it would be a very bad move. So it’s out. Sorry.”

On a certain level, Cari felt sorry for the woman. She’d made her intentions clear from the beginning. It was too bad she hadn’t noticed earlier that her plans were just not panning out. Cari was watching the scene carefully and she saw the anger in C.J.’s face. Anger and frustration. But no pain, no sadness. This failure had touched her spirit, but not her heart. That relieved Cari somewhat.

Randy appeared out of nowhere and was helping to get C.J. out of the room, though she was still railing at Max.

Valentine’s Day was over. And just in time, Jamie woke up.

CHAPTER TEN

IT WAS a good hour later before they settled down and got Jamie back to sleep, in his bed this time. Cari was still trying to come to terms with what had happened. Max had pretty much rejected the plan to marry C.J. Did he mean it? And what did that mean for the prospects of getting his mother the ranch? She couldn’t help but worry.

Max was taciturn and restless, sitting on the couch not watching the television which played in the background. She knew he was thinking over the ramifications of what he’d just done. She slid onto the couch beside him and took his hand in hers.

“Max, you always say that you came to Dallas with two big goals in mind. Number one was to find your brother’s son and to find proof that he is Gino’s. And you’ve done that. You’ve saved Jamie’s life and you are going to have a beautiful baby who will carry on Gino’s memory and be a part of your family forever. You’re giving your mother a gift of love that can’t be equaled. Jamie will remind you and your family every day of what a wonderful brother you had.”

Max inclined his head, acknowledging everything she’d said as his fingers curled around hers. “You had a part in it all,” he mentioned, but she waved that away.

“Your second goal was to return the ownership of the family ranch to your mother because losing it had preyed on her mind for years and you thought it would make her happy to have control of it again, something to help heal the unhealable wound losing Gino had dealt her. This you haven’t achieved as yet.”

“True.”

Now came the hard part. “You know you could achieve it by marrying C.J.”

He nodded. “But that’s not going to happen.”

She frowned, shaking her head. “Then how are you going to get control of the ranch?”

He grimaced and shrugged. “I’ll find another way.”

That chilled her. What if desperation drove him to do something illegal, or even underhanded in some way? She knew that would eat away at him. She couldn’t let something like that happen. But what could she do? When it came right down to it, this was none of her business. Why was she even delving into it?

Because she wanted to help him. Because she was worried about him. Because…and this was the bottom line…she was in love with him.

Yes, it was true, and she had to admit it to herself. She’d fallen in love with the man she’d vowed to harden her heart to from the start. What a fool she was.

Turning, she looked at his handsome face, and some of her self-criticism faded. He was so gorgeous and so good and so lovable. How could she not fall for a man like this?

Especially now as he moved closer and he took her chin in his hand and he began to kiss her mouth with quick, hungry nips that made her gasp. Ordinarily she would pull away. Ordinarily she would protest. But he wasn’t marrying C.J. anymore. So she was going to give in to temptation for just a few minutes. It just felt so good.

His hands held her head on either side now, and his kisses were growing deeper and more urgent. Reaching up, she dug her fingers into his thick hair and arched her breasts against him. He was so very male and she was so very female and they were caught up in a dance as old as life. Every part of her body began to relax, and then to tingle with pleasure. She wanted his hands on her breasts, and his lips, too. She wanted to feel him crush her to the couch with his hard body. She wanted all of him.

The phone rang. For a moment she thought he was going to ignore the sound of the phone and make love to her instead. That was what she wanted. That was what he wanted, too. But in the back of her mind she knew this had to be his mother. Gathering all her strength, she pushed back and startled him into noticing.

“It’s going to be your mother,” she panted, pulling her clothing together. “You’d better take it.”

“I’ll call her later,” he muttered, kissing her again.

“No, Max. You’ll hate yourself if you don’t take this call.”

It took another minute for him to come to his senses, but when he did, he rose and took the phone call. She sat on the couch and smiled as she listened to their conversation. It was in half in Italian, but she understood every word and every emotion. As Max explained about Jamie, the astonished joy on the other side of the Atlantic was easy to feel. It was a good night.

And a lucky phone call. If his mother hadn’t interrupted, she might have made love with Max. Her willpower had eroded beyond usefulness for a moment there. She had it back now. She knew it would be crazy to make love with a man, no matter how much you loved him, without some sort of plan or commitment. And she had neither. So she was going to give him one last kiss and go off to her bed—alone. Sighing, she turned and prepared to do just that.

* * *

Cari was juggling baby bottles and Jamie the next morning when her phone rang. It was Mara.

“Did you have a nice Valentine’s Day?” she asked hopefully.

Cari smiled into the phone. “It was wonderful.”

“Good. I’m so glad we fixed that.” Mara sighed happily. “So, where did you and Randy go last night?”

It had been a while since she’d talked to her friend. Her heart sank as she realized Mara didn’t have a clue as to what had been going on. How was she going to tell her?

“Mara, I didn’t go out with Randy.”

There was a shocked pause, then Mara cried, “What? But I talked to him and he said…”

“If he said he was out for Valentine’s, he must have been out with C.J.”

“C.J.?” Her voice was rising. “Who is C.J.?”

Mara was sounding a bit tightly wound at this point. Cari tried to use a soothing tone.

“You remember about C.J. She’s the other woman in the big mix-up.”

“Oh. Ah. And so I imagine you were out with the other man?” She was back to being hopeful again.

“Yes. Max Angeli.”

Mara laughed. “Okay, I can hear it in the way you say his name. You’re in love, aren’t you?”

She never gave up. Cari was halfway between laughter and outrage.

“No!”

Mara nagged at her for another twenty minutes but, Cari wouldn’t break down and admit it, not even to her best friend—even though she was very much afraid it was true.

And if it was true, just what exactly was she going to do about it?

There wasn’t really much she could do. Max had told C.J. he wouldn’t marry her last night, but in the bright light of morning, she couldn’t take that seriously. She knew him well enough by now to know he would do anything he had to do to heal his mother’s heart. And that was one of the things she loved about him.

She gave Jamie a bath and cleaned his room and put him in an adorable baby suit. But all the while, her mind was on the facts, and the facts were stubborn things.

She had to face them. She had to be realistic. Max had a lot of affection for her. He enjoyed being with her. And he definitely wanted her in his bed—he’d made that perfectly clear. But he’d never said one word about marrying her, had he? He hadn’t even contemplated that as much as he had contemplated marrying C.J. Marriage of any sort did not seem to be on his horizon.

He’d made it clear from the beginning that he wasn’t the marrying kind. And she’d told him much the same about herself. Too bad she’d changed her mind. He obviously hadn’t.

And no, she couldn’t see herself as a paid mistress, traveling to Venice with the family, being with Max as long as his interest lasted, then segueing into the role of nanny once he’d moved on to someone else.

Ugh. That picture didn’t fit at all. There was no way she could live her life like that. Painful as it was, she was going to have to withdraw from the field. There was no other way.

But how could she leave Max? She knew now that she loved him. And how could she leave Jamie? She loved Jamie almost as much as she’d loved Michelle. Well, she’d survived losing her own baby. Now she would have to develop ways to live through losing Jamie—but with a broken heart that might never be repaired.

She tried to talk to Max about it the next day when he came home for lunch. He brought in burgers in a sack and they sat down at the dining-room table to eat out of cardboard containers. She mentioned a few things obliquely at first, venturing carefully into the subject, but he dismissed it out of hand.

“I’m not marrying C.J.,” he stated firmly. “I’ll find another way to get the ranch. And I want you here with Jamie. That’s all there is to it.”

She licked her lips and tried to think of a way to make him understand. “I think I should go. I have a feeling you would be better able to negotiate with C.J. if I was out of the picture.”

He was astonished and not very happy to hear this theory. “I don’t want you out of the picture. I need you in my life.”

“Max, there’s no room for me in your life. It’s already too crowded in there. You’ve got too much going on as it is.”

He dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Cari, C.J. is irrational. She wants things that cannot be. Whether you are here or not, she is still going to want those things.”

Cari shook her head, looking troubled. “I don’t know. I think my being here puts her back up and makes her more rigid in her demands. If I were gone she might be more reasonable.”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t be,” he noted dryly. “If you were gone, I’d be a bear to live with.”

He was teasing and not really taking what she was saying seriously. She could understand that. He didn’t want her to go, so he was rationalizing that it was for the best that she stay. But she felt she could see things a little more clearly. She had to go.

Max left for a meeting with the lawyers, and she called Mara and got the number of the person she used for babysitting. Calling her, she made arrangements for the woman to come right over and begin taking care of Jamie. Then she went into the nursery and pulled out the velvet box with the necklace and bracelet inside. She looked at it for a long moment, sliding her hand over the surface. Then she pressed it to her cheek and closed her eyes, remembering how it felt to dance with Max while a guitar played in the background. It had been a wonderful night she would never forget. But it was over. Bracing herself, she walked briskly into Max’s room and left the velvet box on his dresser.

She spent an hour showing the babysitter where everything was and getting Jamie used to her. And then she packed all her belongings into one suitcase on wheels and took one last look around the hotel suite. She’d only lived there for a little over a week, but it had become home very quickly. She was going to miss it.

And the emotion she was going to feel when she left Jamie behind didn’t bear thinking of. Her heart dropped every time she did think of it. But she had to do what she had to do. And finally, it was time.

She’d barely made it to the hallway when the elevator dinged. Tensing, she waited to see if Max was back. But it wasn’t Max. An older woman got off the elevator and started her way.

Max’s mother. It had to be.

Cari watched her for a moment. A tall, regal-looking woman, she seemed more European elite than Texas rancher. Where was the evidence of that wild young girl who had ridden bareback over the plains and hunted rattlesnakes with the boys?

“Hello,” she said, her eyes friendly as she looked at Cari. “I’m looking for the suite that belongs to Max Angeli. Can you direct me?”

“Of course,” she said. “Please come this way.” She escorted her to the door and rang the bell. “Someone will let you in any moment,” she said, and as the woman turned to face the door, she added, sotto voce, “I’m in love with your son.”

“What is that, my dear?” she said, turning back to look at her curiously.

Cari shook her head and smiled. “Nothing,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Angeli.”

She walked away quickly, not waiting for a reply.

* * *

It was almost comforting to be back at work at the café—the same old routine, the same old people—she’d missed it all. It felt so nice and ordinary. There was that word again. That made her laugh, and then it made her tear up. Ordinary. That was exactly what she was.

All the diamonds and the luxury rooms and the fancy foods—that was for some other person, not for her. She belonged here in ordinaryland.

Mara was upset, of course. “Well, there’s still Randy,” she pointed out when Cari told her what had happened.

“Oh, Mara, please! He’s head over heels in love with C.J. You should see him mooning after her.”

“But if she goes off with Max—”

“No. That won’t work. You see, the whole situation was never going to be Max and C.J. setting up housekeeping. She just wanted to be his wife for all the rights and privileges—and money—and wasn’t expecting to fulfill any of the responsibilities. She made it perfectly plain that was never in the cards. I’ll tell you, from what I’ve seen, I think she prefers Randy when you come right down to it. She can boss him around.”

On the first day back at work, she kept looking at the entry doors, expecting to see Max come strolling through. But he didn’t come. And he didn’t come the next day, either. By the third day she had pretty much decided she must have dreamed the whole thing. Maybe there really wasn’t such a person as Max Angeli. Maybe Jamie was a manifestation of her grief. Who knew?

She’d been so sure she would never love again. She’d been so sure that she was too wary to let another man steal her heart. But she’d thrown all that to the winds and fallen for Max. Now she was back to square one, but with a new crack down the center of her heart. Hopefully, she’d learned something. Why did lessons like this have to hurt so much?

On the fourth day she was talking a cowboy into having a piece of lemon meringue pie when a lovely older woman entered the café. Cari didn’t recognize her at first, as she wouldn’t have expected to see her there in the café in a hundred years. But she knew right away she’d seen her before, and for just a second, she assumed it was a movie star or a TV performer. Then she realized it was Max’s mother.

Max’s mother. Her first thought was something had happened, something bad. But that fear died quickly. The woman looked too calm, too sanguine.

She came up and took a seat at the counter.

“Hello,” she said as her gaze met Cari’s.

“Mrs. Angeli,” Cari said a bit breathlessly, wiping her hands on her apron and hoping her hair wasn’t too wild.

“You recognize me.” She smiled.

“Of course. I’m…”

“Cari Christensen. Yes, I know.” She reached out and shook Cari’s hand. “I just felt I should come in and say hello to you and thank you for all you did to help settle my grandson into his new life.”

“It was my pleasure. How is he?”

“Wonderful. Perfect. We couldn’t be happier.”

“I’m so glad.” They smiled at each other.

“I’m sure he’d like to see you again.”

Cari’s smile faded. “I’d love to see him, too. But I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“I understand. Breaking away is so hard.”

“Yes.”

She ordered a piece of chocolate cake and a glass of milk. Cari wondered if that was what she used to order as a girl whenever she came into town. But the café was filling up, and Cari was too busy to talk any longer. When she looked up a bit later, Mrs. Angeli was gone.

It was the next day that Max came in.

“Hi,” he said, his gaze never leaving her face from the moment he entered the café.

“Hi.”

He stood before her, his eyes luminous. “I’ve missed you.”

She could hardly breathe. “Me, too.”

Reaching out, he cupped her cheek with his hand.

“Max, don’t,” she whispered helplessly.

He shrugged and drew his hand back.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, sliding onto a seat at the counter. “How about a piece of apple pie?”

“Coming right up.”

It was good to have something to do with her hands. They were shaking. She put a piece of pie on a plate and carried it over to where he was sitting.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She stood watching him as he ate, her heart beating in her throat. Why was he here? And why hadn’t he come looking for her sooner? But she knew the answer to that. He had other things on his mind. Like the ranch. Like C.J.

“I hear my mother came in to see you,” he said suddenly, looking up.

“Yes, she did.”

He had a slight smile. “She liked you.”

Cari’s smile was bigger. “That’s nice. I liked her, too.” She hesitated, then added, “She said Jamie was doing well.”

“Oh, yeah. She adores him.”

“Of course.”

They smiled at each other, agreement about Jamie’s wonderfulness warming the connection between them.

“He’s going to be the most spoiled baby in Dallas.”

“I’m sure of it.”

“And the ranch? Has she been out there?”

He pushed the pie plate away. “See, here’s the funny thing. I didn’t want her to go. I was scared to death to have her see what a dump it was. But she insisted, so we packed up and went out there. C.J. even came along.

“And? Was she devastated?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. In fact, as far as she’s concerned, it looks a lot like it looked when she lived there.”

Cari’s jaw dropped. “No!”

He grinned. “She was ecstatic. She went running around exploring every nook and cranny, remembering when she’d hidden under the front porch when trying to get out of chores or where she’d found an arrowhead near the well. She told C.J. stories about her mother she’d never known before, showed her where she and Betty Jean had snuck out to go to a dance in town when they weren’t supposed to, things like that.”

Cari was astounded. The place was such a dump. “How did C.J. like that?”

“She was very touched. She was crying half the time.”

“C.J.?”

He nodded. “In fact, she’s selling us the ranch.”

A wave of emotion hit her hard and she was light-headed. “No kidding,” she said breathlessly. This was huge. But what did it mean?

“She and Randy are going to use the money to fund an expansion of his catering business. They want to be the biggest caterer in Texas.” He shrugged, looking up at her. “I think they’ll get married.”

Cari had to grip the edge of the counter to keep from falling over. “Wow. Well, more power to them.” She blinked rapidly, wondering why he was torturing her this way. “And you? Are you going back to Venice soon?”

“Yes.” His gaze was black as coal. “We’re getting ready to go this weekend. Just for a few days, though. We’ll be back.”

“Oh,” she said faintly.

He rose from his seat. “Well, I’d better get going. I’ve got a lot of packing to do. Jamie’s got enough stuff to fill a plane on his own by now.”

“I imagine.” Her heart sank. He was going. So that was it, then. It really was over.

“Cari?”

“Hmm?” She looked up, feeling bereft.

He moved close to her. “Jamie loves you and misses you.”

She shook her head, confused. “How do you know that?”

His mouth twisted at the corners. “Because we all love you and miss you.”

“Oh.” What? Maybe she wasn’t hearing words right any longer. She didn’t really get it. What was he saying?

“Where’s my bill?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” She waved a hand in the air. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay.” He smiled. “Then I’ll just leave you a tip.”

He put a small box on the counter. She stared at it.

“It’s not a snake,” he told her. “Go ahead. Open it.”

She turned to look at him, terrified. “Max, what is it?”

“Open it and find out.”

Her heart was beating so hard she could hardly make out what he was saying. “I don’t think I should.”

“Come on, Cari. I dare you. Do it.”

Her fingers were trembling so hard she could hardly hold the box, but she managed to open it. Inside, set against black velvet, was the most beautiful diamond engagement ring she’d ever seen.

“Max!”

She turned to find him on one knee.

“Cari Christensen, I love you with all my heart,” he announced to her and to everyone else in the place. “I need you in my life. Jamie needs you, too. He’s got a grandmother, but he needs a mom. So here’s the deal. Will you marry us?”

“Oh, Max, get up off the floor.”

“Not until you answer me.”

“Of course I’ll marry you,” she said, pulling at his hand and laughing at the same time. “I can’t believe it took you so long to get over here and ask me.”