Orchard Valley Grooms (22 page)

“And I had to go along with it,” he said.

“That still doesn’t explain why you were so offended when Dad suggested we marry.” His reaction was a mystery in light of the things he was telling her now.

“A man prefers to propose himself,” Charles offered as a simple explanation. “I don’t think I could’ve made my intentions any plainer if I’d hired a skywriter. Then to have first your father and then you—”

“Me?”

“Yesterday I suddenly felt so afraid that you
weren’t
lying about why you’d stopped by the house. To deliver the finishing blow, to get me to admit I loved you and then laugh at me…”

“I—I made that part up! I was so mad—”

“
You
were mad?”

“I know, I know. It’s just that I had to say something. I didn’t think you’d believe all those ridiculous lies, and then you seemed to and that made everything a thousand times worse. I was just beginning to hope we might have a future together.”

“I was, too. That’s why it hit me so hard.”

“I could never intentionally hurt you, Charles. Not without hurting myself.”

His eyes held hers, and everything around Steffie faded into insignificance. She was on the verge of disclosing her love when there was a knock at the kitchen
door, followed by her father poking his head inside. “Is it safe yet? You two looked like time bombs about to explode twenty minutes ago.”

“It’s safe,” Charles answered, smiling at Steffie.

“I hope you’ve got everything worked out because I’m tired of waiting. The way I figure it, you should be married by the end of the summer. Your oldest—”

“Dad,” Steffie cut in. “I don’t think Charles is interested in discussing it right now. Why don’t you leave all of that to us?”

“Our oldest?” Charles asked, frowning.

“Child, of course. A girl, then a son and then another daughter. Sweethearts, all three of them. The boy will be the spitting image of you, Charles—same dark brown eyes, same facial features.”

Charles glanced at Steffie as though he was questioning her father’s sanity.

“I think you’d better tell Charles about the dream, Dad.”

“You mean you haven’t?” He sounded surprised.

“No, I didn’t want to frighten him out of marrying into the family.”

“What’s going on here?” Charles’s eyes roved from Steffie to her father and back.

“You may have trouble accepting this,” David said, pulling out a chair and settling himself. He grinned, happy as Steffie could ever remember seeing him. “But I got a glimpse of the future. It was a gift from Grace. She wanted to be sure I had a reason to live and so she—”

“But isn’t Grace—”

“She’s in heaven, but then so was I, briefly. It was what they call a near-death experience. You can ask Colby if you want.”

“Colby?” Charles repeated.

“I’m not convinced he believes me one hundred percent, but time will prove me right. Look at what’s happened with Valerie and Colby, just like I said it would. And with you two. You’re going to marry this little girl of mine, aren’t you?”

“In a heartbeat,” Charles confirmed.

Her father’s grin practically split his face. “That’s what I was counting on. You love him, don’t you, Princess?”

Steffie nodded. “More than I thought possible,” she said in a hushed voice.

David smiled knowingly and stood up from his chair. “In that case, I’ll leave you two to discuss the details of your wedding. I’d like to suggest midsummer, but as I said, I’ll leave that up to you.” He sauntered out of the room.

“Midsummer?” Steffie shrugged.

“Sounds good to me. Does that give you enough time?”

She laughed. “Sure, and I’ll be able to register for my courses, according to plan—if that’s okay with you?” At his enthusiastic agreement, she added, “Uh…what do you think about Dad’s dream?”

“A boy and two girls, he says.”

Steffie nodded shyly.

“How do
you
feel about that?” he asked.

“Good, very good.”

Charles reached for her then, taking her in his arms
with the strength of a man who’d been too long without love. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and breathed deeply. “I nearly lost you for the second time.”

“You’d never have lost me, Charles. I’ve loved you for so long, I don’t know how not to love you.”

“I love you, too, Stephanie. Give me a chance to prove it.”

In her eyes, he’d proved it when he hadn’t laughed at her father’s dream. She knew what he was thinking, perhaps because she was thinking the same thing herself. They were in love and had already decided to marry, so it didn’t matter what her father had predicted after his supposed sojourn in the afterlife. It was the course they’d willingly set for themselves.

He kissed her then, and her heart seemed to overflow with love, just as her eyes overflowed with tears.

“Stephanie,” Charles whispered, his lips against hers. “We have a lot of time to make up for.”

“It’ll take at least fifty years, won’t it?”

“At the very least,” he murmured, kissing her again with a need that left her breathless.

David Bloomfield relaxed in his rocker on the front porch, his smile one of utter contentment. It was all coming to pass, just as he’d known it would. Just as Grace had told him. First Valerie, and now Steffie. His grin widened.

My goodness,
he thought.
Norah’s in for one heck of a surprise.