She admitted, “It really hurt my feelings that you didn’t trust me.”
“Let me make it up to you.” He gave her a passionate kiss, a promise of things to come. “I have never loved anyone like I love you. Do you believe that?”
Katie didn’t want to push her luck, but she needed to know he wouldn’t change his mind later. “You didn’t want to get married or have children. Everyone that knows you reacted to our wedding in the same way. They’re shocked you got married and can’t believe we’re expecting. Are you sure this is what you want?”
She was afraid to let him all the way into her life. What if he decided being a parent wasn’t for him? It was one thing to have her heart ripped out; she couldn’t bear to see her daughter crushed. If Chase was going to change his mind again someday, it would be better for their daughter if she never knew him at all.
He left the couch, left her, to pace the living room floor. “I had an interesting talk with my mother. She caught me at a vulnerable time, and I was honest with her for once in my life. I confronted her about marrying my father for his money. She set me straight. Seems like there were a lot of things I didn’t understand when I was a kid.”
“That must have been some talk if it changed your mind about marriage.”
“It wasn’t just her.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his trousers and opened it. “My father left me a letter. He wrote it in the hospital right before he died, and my mother hid it from me all these years.”
A secret letter?
“What does it say?” She blushed. “Sorry. It isn’t my business. You don’t have to tell me.”
“You need to hear this. I want you to hear it. Then you’ll know that I’m sure I want this marriage and that I want to be a father to our little girl.”
She clasped her hands in her lap. “Let’s hear it then.”
He read his father’s words to her. “I was wrong. Yesterday, I had a heart attack, and an epiphany hit me. No matter how much you love a business, it can’t love you back. If I survive this, I promise to be the best husband and father that I can be, and I’ll make up for the past several years. I swear I will. But if I don’t survive, my lawyer is drafting a codicil to force you to marry and have at least one child. I hope you figure things out by yourself before you get this letter. If not, just know I was wrong, and I’m sorry. Don’t make the same mistakes I did, son. Staring at the end of your life with a heart weighed down by regret is worse than dying. Don’t end up like me. I was wrong.”
Chase returned the letter to his pocket, and she caught sight of unshed tears in his eyes before he turned away.
“Wow,” she said, blinking back her own tears. “That was pretty powerful stuff.”
She went to her husband and slid her arms around his waist. The side of her face rested against his chest. It was her turn to give him comfort. She hoped he wouldn’t refuse to accept it in some macho over-reaction. His entire body stiffened, and she thought he was about to push her away. She gripped him tighter.
“This is marriage,” she said. “Or what it should be, two people being there for each other. It’s us against the world. You can always depend on me to be there for you. I want you to know that.”
His muscles relaxed, and he returned her embrace. “I promise to always be there when you need me, and I swear I will be there for our child.”
She believed him.
“Is that it?” she asked. “One child? We’ve never talked about it because you didn’t seem to want to be a father at all, but how would you feel about having two or three children someday?”
He grinned, and his dimples deepened. “Why stop there? We could have four or five or even six.”
She hoped he was kidding.
They sat next to each other on the couch and talked for hours. For the first time since they’d exchanged vows, he completely opened up to her about his childhood, past relationships, and future goals. They stayed up until two in the morning getting to know each other.
Then she stood and held her hand out to him. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Are you saying you want to make love in a bed? Finally?”
She laughed. “Yes, Chase. It’s time.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am if you are. If you meant everything you said to me, that you love me and our child and want a real marriage, take my hand. Come to bed with me.”
He slowly stood and reached for her hand. At the last second, he scooped her up into his strong arms. A startled yelp burst past her lips. Now, she felt loved and cherished and wanted. He carried her upstairs to their bed.
They made love until dawn and slept in each other’s arms, completely satiated.
It was the best night of her life, and it was only the beginning.