Millionaires' Destinies(68)

She caught his gaze, studied him intently. “You sure about that?” she asked. “You looked kind of funny there for a second, as if there was something you weren’t saying.”

Now, he thought, now would be the perfect time to open it all up, to tell her that everything had changed. He wanted to do it. He should do it. He even opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he remained silent, a prisoner to his longstanding doubts and fears.

And as he saw Melanie’s expression close down, saw the light in her eyes die at his silence, he knew that he’d lost what might have been his best chance for getting what he wanted for the rest of his life.





Melanie knew that something significant had happened during their late-night meal in the kitchen. She even guessed that Richard had wrestled with his demons and lost, but she had no idea what to do about it. Though she was assertive about so many things in her life, confident of her professional skills, even assured about most of her relationships, she’d lost that self-assurance when it came to matters of the heart.

Truthfully, she had been praying that allowing herself to be open and vulnerable would be enough, that she would never have to actually risk putting her feelings into words that could be thrown back into her face. She knew the power of words better than anyone. They could heal or wound, but once spoken they could never be undone.

Not entirely daunted by Richard’s silence, she left herself open to what might transpire between now and whenever they went back to Alexandria. She could do that much. She’d come down here hoping for a chance to make this work. They’d made so much progress, achieved a whole new level of intimacy. It was too soon to give up on getting more.

In the morning, it seemed that Richard had reached a similar conclusion. He greeted her with a smile and a breakfast worthy of a gourmet chef in a country inn.

“You know I might reconsider marrying you for real if you promised me a meal like this every morning,” she teased lightly.

“You’ve got it,” he said just as lightly. “Of course, we’ll both be waddling into the doctor’s office with high cholesterol and high blood pressure before we hit forty.”

She sighed as she took another bite of a fluffy omelette made with goat cheese and chives. “It might be worth it.”

He gave her a once-over that told her he appreciated the way she looked right now. “So, what are we going to do to work off these calories?” he asked, an unmistakably hopeful note in his voice.

“Not that,” she said decisively. She needed to reclaim a bit of distance this morning, gain some perspective on the night before.

“Too bad.”

She grinned. “I’ll give you a rain check. I want to go sight-seeing.”

He regarded her with surprise. “You do?”

“I glanced through some of those brochures in the living room last time I was here. There’s George Washington’s birthplace, Robert E. Lee’s birthplace, a winery. This could be fun.”

“The winery holds a certain appeal. I’m not so sure about the rest. Destiny considered all that history to be part of our summer experience.”

“You didn’t enjoy it?”

“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” he said. “We went every summer.”

“Ah.” She grinned. “Then we won’t need a guide, will we? You can tell me everything.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve blocked all the details.”

“I’ll get a book and test you,” she responded, refusing to relent. “Now let’s get moving.”

“Now who’s acting like an activities director?” he grumbled, but he did get up and stack the dishes in the dishwasher.

Melanie grinned at his attitude. She patted his cheek. “Don’t pout. When we get home you can test me.”

“On the history?”

“No, on my responsiveness to other commands.”

His expression brightened at that. “Put on your walking shoes, darling. These are going to be lightning-fast tours.”





Richard found to his amazement that he could put last night’s disappointment and worries behind him and fall in with Melanie’s playful mood. She soaked up the history lessons with astonishing attention, making him sift through years of tidbits for the most fascinating ones in his memory. He loved that she listened so intently, her expression as rapt as if he were divulging bits of current gossip about still-living neighbors.

“I know as a Yankee from Ohio, I shouldn’t be so caught up with Robert E. Lee’s family home,” she said as they left Stratford Hall, “but the place is so beautiful and so fascinating. I wish I’d lived back then. Imagine having his family and the Washingtons for neighbors. Just think what the dinner conversations must have been like.”