Snow wanted to change the subject, to defuse the situation, but her mind was racing like a rat caught in a maze. She loved Caleb. They could buy a house and start their life together. Embrace a second chance and get it right this time.
But someday, everything would change. Her life would be turned upside down. She would be Mrs. McGraw, obligated to host dinner parties for executives and their wives. Attend charity functions and don the fake smiles that Vivien had perfected long ago.
No. Snow would never be Vivien. She’d never be a petty, materialistic manipulator who endured her bitter existence with the aid of vodka and tonic.
“Did I miss something?” Caleb asked.
“No,” Snow said, rising to her feet and sliding her arm through his. “I was telling the girls a little about your background.” She loved Caleb and would not be embarrassed or intimidated by who and what he was. Not anymore. “I mentioned you’ll someday run your father’s company.”
As if talking about the weather, Caleb said, “I might own it someday, but that doesn’t mean I’ll have to run it. I’m sure Jackson McGraw will groom someone else for that job, since I’ve refused to do it.”
“What kind of company are we talking about?” Spencer asked.
“McGraw Media,” Caleb said. “Newspapers, TV stations, and a few radio stations around the Southeast.”
“Your family owns all that,” Carrie asked, “and you’re selling ads for the Advocate?”
“My father owns it,” Caleb corrected. “And yeah, I’m selling ads for the local paper. There’s something rewarding about making a living that has nothing to do with who my parents are.”
Relief washed over Snow as she watched their friends process Caleb’s explanation. She wouldn’t be throwing dinner parties for elites wearing suits that cost more than her car, but now she had a new fear. Would these people see Caleb as the same person? As the man who’d joined their community and instantly gave back? If the truth of his background changed that vision, they could always start their life over somewhere else.
The thought took Snow by surprise. In order for Caleb to be happy, she would give up everything she’d built in Ardent Springs. Sell the store, withdraw the offer on the house, and return to Baton Rouge if that’s what it took. Something she should have been willing to do before now.
“I get that,” Spencer said, snapping the line of tension that tightened Snow’s shoulders. “So when our preservation society goes looking for donations, we come to you first?” His brown eyes showed total acceptance, and Snow audibly exhaled.
“I’ll have to ask my wife,” Caleb said, “but if she agrees, then sure.”
“Did you say wife?” Rosie Pratchett asked as she stepped up behind the couch. “Did you two run off and get married without telling the rest of us?”
Lorelei stared at Snow, her blue eyes wide and questioning. Caleb hadn’t said anything to Snow about revealing their state of matrimony. It was one thing to tell the others that he had money, since he’d already shared as much with Miss Hattie, but he should have talked to her first before letting everyone know that they’d been lying to them for weeks.
Before anyone said another word, Snow’s reality shifted into slow motion.
Ignoring Rosie’s question, Caleb dropped to one knee.
“Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat,” Carrie said.
Snow’s left hand shook in Caleb’s warm grasp. He pulled something from his back pocket, never breaking eye contact.
“Snow Cameron,” he said, love clear in his eyes, “will you make me the luckiest man in the world and be my wife?”
She didn’t know how to respond. Though they were already married, Snow had never been proposed to before, especially not in front of an audience. Did she remind him that they were already hitched? Did she say yes and keep up the act? Did it really matter if everyone knew the truth?
No. No it didn’t.
“Yes,” Snow said, the tears falling freely. “Yes-yes-yes!”
Chapter 24
Black Friday wasn’t limited to big cities. No sales calls could be conducted the day after Thanksgiving with most businesses opening early, keeping their doors open late, and dealing with three times their usual volume, freeing Caleb up to help out at Snow’s shop. Which was good, since this was an all-hands-on-deck situation.
“Excuse me, young man,” said a frail voice from his left. “Could you come get something down for me?”
“Of course,” Caleb said. He’d been helping little old ladies all day. On several occasions, the women could have reached whatever bit or bauble they wanted to see, but he never called them on it. Lorelei found this endlessly entertaining, claiming they all wanted to talk to the pretty man.