“Well. It wasn’t really, was it…” he said in a wry tone.
“What?” I thought maybe he was in shock.
“I was just thinking about it earlier, how the house was so formal, how it never felt like a home.”
I didn’t expect him to say that. I had always had the impression it was his dream house. I had not been very comfortable here, though, it was true.
“I was thinking that maybe it was time for another place, something that would be more to the taste of the second Mrs. Marshall.”
“The second…?” I was processing what he was saying to me.
“Marry me, Natalie,” the words tumbled out of his mouth. “Say yes, say you’ll marry me.”
“Sam,” I tried to sound reasonable, “You’ve had a big shock, you’re not thinking clearly.”
He smiled. “I was going to come to Cape Cod, propose to you on the beach. I was working on my speech and how I’d tell you that nothing in my life made any sense without you. How you’re the only thing in my world that I really care about. You and Ethan. The rest I neither need nor want.”
I was stunned.
“Without you, none of this works. I love you and I want us to be together, always.” He took a breath. “I’m going to make Nic CEO of Luma, become chairman of the board.”
“Give up your job?”
He shook his head. “No, just stepping away a bit from the everyday running of things. Luma is doing fine. Nic knows what he’s doing.”
I hardly knew what to say.
“Say you’ll marry me, Nattie, say yes.”
“Of course, I will marry you!” I said, tears running over my cheeks. I kissed him again and he pulled me in under the blanket, holding me tightly. I couldn’t believe how the evening had turned out. I thought maybe Sam had suffered brain trauma and didn’t quite believe that he had actually proposed marriage to me. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary for us to get married, that we could be together like before. I had no intention of going anywhere.
But then he added, “I think I should get another nanny for Ethan. You’re wonderful but I don’t think it is a good idea to have you working for me, don’t you think? Then you can think about doing something else, apart from being Mrs. Marshall, of course!” He kissed me again, tenderly, and I tasted the acrid smoke of the fire on his lips.
As soon as he said it, I knew it was the right decision. I shouldn’t work for him anymore, it only added confusion to our relationship. It also freed me to go on to do something else. I didn’t know what that would be though.
These were the thoughts rushing through my head as a police officer came up to talk to Sam. I helped him up and I watched as the police officer spoke to him and tried to get details about what had happened. I looked around and saw the paramedics treating a person on a stretcher. I wandered closer and saw that it was Dana. She was unconscious.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked.
“We’re taking her to hospital now.”
I watched as they drove off with her. As soon as the police officer had finished with Sam, I took him to my car, and we drove back to my apartment. Holly was watching TV with a huge tub of ice cream when we came in.
“What the… “
“Everything is fine, Hol, I’ll explain later,” I said as I helped Sam into my room and got him into bed. I went to get him something to drink and quickly told Holly what I knew. I put the kettle on, but Holly gave me a stern look and took the whiskey from the cabinet.
“I think you both need something stronger.”
I poured each of us a drink and went to check on Sam.
He’d fallen asleep and I lay down next to him on the bed, putting my arms around him.
He’d told me in the car that the firemen had found Dana in one of the rooms, unconscious. He told them she was working for him and had come to fetch something. He didn’t tell them about her starting the fire.
“But they’ll find out, won’t they?” I’d asked.
He shrugged. “They will find out the fire was deliberately started, but not who’d done it. I’ll say I don’t know anything.”