Heart of Clay (32 page)

“Clay, is this… do you mean… is this…?” She
searched his face, but was unable to blurt out the question that
stampeded through her mind.

“Yes.” His voice was quiet, deep, and husky
as he gave her a shy, unsure look. “Please?”

“You want to marry me?” Callan couldn’t
believe he could possibly want to marry her.

“Yes. So…?” Clay’s entire face reddened and
sweat dotted his forehead.

“Yes!” She threw her arms around the man
she’d only known a few months but felt like she’d loved forever.
“Absolutely, yes!”

They married two months later, just before
Christmas.

Callan remembered the day they wed thinking
it would be impossible to love Clay more than she did at that
moment. What she felt then was nothing compared to the depths of
love she now felt for him, especially after everything they went
through during the past year.

As she pulled into the driveway, the
welcoming glow from the porch light Clay left on for her made her
smile. She slid out of the car and walked into the house, pleased
no strange smells greeted her at the door. Clay had even put his
boots and hat away.

“Hey, Brick, I’m home!” she called as she
set down her purse and strolled into the kitchen.

Clay hurriedly stuffed the papers in his
hand into a folder under a stack of assignments he graded for one
of his classes. Glad he’d heard Callan pull into the driveway, it
gave him time to hide the evidence of the surprise he planned for
her.

Callan walked into the kitchen and eyed the
mess of papers covering the dining room table, but didn’t say
anything. Instead, she kissed his cheek and asked if he’d eaten
dinner. He had and left her a plate in the fridge. While her dinner
warmed in the microwave, Callan changed into jeans and a
sweatshirt. Clay slipped his secret folder into his briefcase while
she changed and pasted an innocent look on his face before she
returned.

“What are you working on?” she asked, moving
enough of his papers to be able to sit down with her dinner.

“I’m grading assignments,” he said, putting
away a stack he had already graded. “We’re getting close to
mid-terms and I want the kids to be ready.”

“You’re such a great teacher, Clay. I know
if I’d had you for a professor, I’d have enjoyed classes a lot
more.” Callan gave him a playful look.

“If you had me for a teacher, you’d have
spent all your time daydreaming and doodling hearts on your
homework and I wouldn’t have been able to keep my eyes off you or
focus on my work,” Clay said with a teasing grin. “We’d both have
been in trouble.”

“True,” Callan agreed with a smile, then
went back to eating her dinner. As she rose to put her plate in the
dishwasher, Clay asked about her day. She gave him a run-down of
the highlights then mentioned she’d been thinking about the day he
proposed.

“You were so pitiful,” she laughed as she
set a glass of iced tea next to him, with a hand on his shoulder.
“You know, you never did get around to saying the words, but I’m
very pleased with the end result.”

“Me, too, Laney.” Clay grabbed her hand and
kissed the soft skin on the inside of her wrist. “Hey, if you had
the chance to do it over, would you do anything different?”

“Everything or just the wedding?” Callan
asked, her hand still resting on his shoulder.

“The wedding. Would you do it the same?”
Clay tried to sound casual, not like he attempted to pry
information out of her.

Callan laughed. “Let’s just say the only
thing I’d do the same about the wedding would be the groom.”

Although he was glad to hear she’d keep him,
he wanted to know what she would change if she could. “What would
you do different?”

“What’s with all the questions tonight?”
Callan asked. At Clay’s noncommittal shrug, she sighed and sat down
again. “I wouldn’t get married right before Christmas. I’d have a
summer wedding and get married outside with tons of flowers and
white lights and breezy fabrics. I’d choose pink as my wedding
color. The ceremony would be small, with just the people who really
matter to us. I wouldn’t listen to all the well-meaning individuals
who insist things had to be done a certain way. It would be more
fun and less formal. However, no matter how our wedding turned out,
I’m very happy to still have my groom. He’s a pretty great guy.”
Callan gave Clay a warm smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. She
got up from the table and wandered outside to play with Cully for a
few minutes.

Clay hurriedly jotted down notes on a blank
sheet of paper and crammed it into his secret folder.

The many hours he spent flat on his back in
the hospital gave him a lot of time to think. He decided if he ever
made it back home, he wanted to give Callan the wedding of her
dreams as an anniversary gift. He knew people sometimes renewed
their vows. After how far they’d come in the last year, the timing
was perfect.

Determined to keep it a surprise, he muddled
through figuring out the details without asking for anyone’s help.
He started by raiding Callan’s event planning files. He found some
forms she used when she planned a wedding and that helped give him
an idea of the basics involved with that type of event. He also
pulled out files from some weddings she had done.

With her detailed organizational skills,
each folder had not only the details and photos of the event, but
also a list of vendors she had contacted to provide specific
services. In a stroke of pure luck, he found a file she labeled “my
favorites” that included all her favorite vendors as well as
pictures of things she liked.

Just that evening, he’d started a list of
ideas for a theme. He needed to start moving forward with plans.
Clay had less than two months to pull this together and it had to
be amazing.

A few weeks later, Clay admitted he was in
way over his head with the anniversary surprise. He had no idea how
Callan did event planning all the time. Deciding on the details and
organizing everything was exhausting. He’d made so many phone calls
trying to line things up, he felt like the phone had grown attached
to his head.

In a moment of desperation, he asked Jill at
the convention center to help. With the anniversary date in the
middle of December, it would have to be an indoor event.

Jill approved of the ideas he shared and
said they could use one of the ballrooms for the event. She gave
him some good suggestions and promised to keep the secret from
Callan. She created a false name to put on the event order for the
ballroom, convinced Callan would never suspect the event was a
surprise for her.

Clay couldn’t figure out how to get Callan
to the party wearing something she would deem appropriate for
renewing their vows.

Finally surrendering to defeat, he called
Laken and asked her to meet him for lunch. He made her promise on
her very life that she would keep the secret before he’d tell her
what he had planned. Laken got so excited about the news, she could
hardly quit squirming in her seat the whole time they ate.

“Callan has no idea what you’re planning?”
Laken asked for the third time. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I’m getting pretty good at covert
operations, if I do say so myself.” Clay grinned. “Jill said they
can make it sound like it’s an event that Callan needs to be
present for, but I can’t figure out how to get her in a dress that
she would want to be wearing if she knew what was going on. With a
photographer coming, I just want to make sure everything looks
perfect for her, right down to her outfit.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
Laken thought of a dozen different stories she could concoct to
take Callan shopping for a dress.

When Laken and Clay parted company after
lunch, he made her promise one more time not to let the secret
slip. “Clay, as hard as it seems to comprehend, I’m capable of
keeping my big mouth shut when it’s something this important. My
lips are sealed.”

As the calendar rolled closer to their
anniversary, Clay decided he could never have a career as an event
planner. Just trying to pull together this celebration for
twenty-some people taxed his patience and created levels of stress
he’d never imagined.

He felt an entirely new level of admiration
for his wife, knowing she planned huge parties all the time. She
made it look so easy when obviously it wasn’t. It was hard work and
he had a head start because of Callan’s detailed notes and
files.

The first caterer he called was more than
happy to help because of business Callan had referred to them, but
Clay had to decide on the menu. He’d found someone to do
invitations but then he had to choose from the seemingly thousands
available what he wanted them to look like and say. Then there were
flowers, a cake, decorations, his tuxedo, a gift for Callan, the
photographer, and a disc jockey.

Jill made up a grand story about an
eccentric couple hosting a party at the convention center and told
Callan it was part of the contract all the management staff attend
the party, at least for a while, and the clients demanded all of
the staff dress in white attire. Callan thought the entire thing
absurd and was more than a little put out that she’d have to work
on her anniversary.

When she told Clay about the crazy clients
and the wardrobe demands, he thought he could have won an acting
award. First, he pretended to be irritated that she would have to
work. Next, he sympathized over her having to go shopping for a
dress and working on their anniversary. He laid it on thick. At the
end of the tirade, he offered a thoughtful solution.

“Since you’ll be all dressed up, why don’t I
pick you up when you finish with work and we’ll go out somewhere
really nice for dinner. You don’t have to stay late and we’ll still
have plenty of time to enjoy the evening. How does that sound?” He
attempted to sound innocent and pleading.

“That would be nice, Clay. I appreciate you
being so understanding that I have to be there.” Callan squeezed
his hand. “Where would you like eat? I can make a reservation.”

“Why don’t I surprise you? I’ll take care of
everything.” He kissed her cheek and congratulated himself on
everything going so well.

The day of their anniversary finally
arrived. By early afternoon, Clay had consumed an entire bottle of
liquid antacid and kept a roll of tablets stuffed in his pocket
that he continued crunching like candy. Before the celebration
started that evening, he thought he might develop an ulcer.

Laken, Jenna, and Jill provided a wealth of
assistance. He knew he’d never make it through without them. He
relied on Jill to take care of overseeing many of the details
because Callan would be suspicious if he hung out at the convention
center all afternoon. Jill created an errand in Portland that she
assured Callan only she could handle, getting her out of the office
for a few hours. Clay snuck in as soon as Callan left and jumped
into the preparations.

When Callan continued to delay purchasing a
dress, he started to panic. Laken and Jenna finally took her
shopping a few weekends ago and the dress they found had to be
altered. Laken went with Callan to pick it up the previous evening
and assured him that morning the dress looked great and Callan
reluctantly purchased matching shoes.

He hoped to get a glimpse of it, but Callan
arrived home late so Clay didn’t get a chance to see her model what
she’d bought. He hoped the gown made her feel fantastic.

All the details fell into place without any
major disasters, so Clay left overseeing duties in Jill’s capable
hands and went home to change. In record time, he took a shower and
shaved, dressed in his tuxedo, picked up Callan’s gift, and
returned to the convention center by five-thirty. Spying Callan’s
car in the back parking lot, he cautiously snuck inside the back
door and went straight to the ballroom.

Family and friends already started to gather
for the small celebration. He invited the people who meant the most
to them. Although he wanted to include Audrey and Emma, that would
have involved Melanie, Ted, Bob and Donna, so he opted to leave
them out. Laken thought it for the best and hired a babysitter for
her two kids for the evening.

Those gathered were the adults they both
cherished. As Clay looked around the room, he took a deep breath,
along with another antacid tablet and hoped for the best.

Jill had her hands full trying to keep
Callan out of the room. Clay watched as Jill rushed into the room
at a quarter to six and hurried his direction.

“She’s finally getting dressed.” Jill looked
flustered. “Despite her annoyance that she has to be here this
evening, Callan wants to keep checking on the details. I’ve never
had to work so hard to keep someone out of the ballroom.”