yesterday, I outdid myself. I’ve been desperate to reach you since
yesterday evening. My head was so far up my ass I should’ve been
able to see daylight every time I opened my mouth.”
Ashes the cat meowed and rubbed against her knees then nibbled
on her chin. She didn’t say a word but allowed him to continue
explaining, and he noticed the tears continued to flow. It made his
heart clench to see her like this, so sad and angry.
“I told you someone overheard you, but what they heard they got
completely wrong. I know I should not have trusted the source, either,
Spurs and Heels
221
when compared with you. He probably enjoyed bringing me bad
news. I wouldn’t let you explain because I thought it would hurt less
that way. That was dumb. I’d been hoping for the day you would tell
me that you loved me. When that day came, I rejected you. I was as
sorry as a man can possibly be, walking fifteen miles in the rain and
wind last night. I’ve got nobody but myself to blame for that or what
happened yesterday.”
Ash heard a small gasp, but she said nothing, so he continued. “I
thought you had come to tell me you were engaged to the man who
gave you the ring in the restaurant. I thought that was your big news.
And when you told me you loved me, I thought you were saying we
could still have something together while you were married to him.”
She gasped again, in outrage and surprise.
“Stupid. I know. The man is your cousin, and the ring is your
grandmother’s. I saw you slip it off when you came out to talk to me,
and I assumed that was because you wouldn’t want me to see it until
you broke the news to me. You see, I had a ring in my pocket, too. I
was planning on asking you to marry me yesterday. If I’d just let you
explain, trusting that there was a misunderstanding somewhere, this
would have all turned out different.”
He looked up at her, but her head was in her hands. He didn’t
think she was quite ready for him to go to her yet. “Teresa explained
it all to me. Then my sisters damn near beat me to death.”
“Your sisters?”
“The women you saw me with at the club. If we’d been closer,
you’d have seen the resemblance, not that it’s any excuse. They’d
decided to come out for a visit and surprise you with a welcome to the
family bridal shower.”
“Those were your sisters?”
“All you’d have to do is see them to know it. We all have the
same color hair and eyes.”
She lifted her head from her hands. “So you thought I was coming
to tell you I was marrying another man?”
222
Heather Rainier
“Yeah.”
“And when you told me we had no commitments and that I should
do what I needed to do you meant get married, not that I should have
an abortion.”
“God no! Oh, Lord, no! No!” He lurched from the table, not
caring that he cried or that he was on his knees in front of her,
begging. He cupped her cheeks in his palms. “Juliana, please tell me
you didn’t.”
Tears flowed from her eyes, and she sniffled. “We could go for
the world record for most serious misunderstandings in one day,
couldn’t we?” she said and smiled through her tears. “No, Ash. I was
having this baby, no matter what you thought I should do. But you
can see how I would’ve thought that, right?”
Ash nodded mutely, wiping the heels of his hand across his eyes
before wiping her own tears. She allowed him to lift her from the
floor, and he carried her into the living room to one of the huge,
comfortable-looking, overstuffed chairs in the corner.
“Your cousin was ready to kick my ass,” he said, cupping her
cheek in his palm, feathering in the strands of auburn hair that framed
her face.
“I know. He told me when I let him know I was coming out here. I
told him not to.”
“Will you forgive me for ruining your moment and not letting you
tell your news? Knowing what I know now, I can’t believe I said
things that would hurt you so much. I’m sorry for being such an
asshole. You must have been excited and nervous, and then I shut you
down like that. I hurt you when you reached out to me. You want to
beat on me some more?”
“No, but I reserve the right to revisit that option later. So you
drove all night?”
“Until my truck broke down in the middle of nowhere.”
“Where is Ashburn?”
“I took a shortcut through Ashburn and Wilton.”
Spurs and Heels
223
“Oh, that’s no shortcut. You got all turned around in the highway
construction, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t until this afternoon once I was back on the