Page 63 of Secrets at Seaside
She forced her brain to fire. “What…what about your competitions and…?” She paused to wipe her tears.
“I’ll make it work.”
The truth and worry poured out without her permission. “But I don’t want to live apart while you travel and compete, and if I take that job…” She couldn’t ask him not to compete. What was she saying?
“We won’t, babe. We’ll figure it out. I don’t have to compete in every competition. I’ve won all there is to win. The rest is gravy. Now it’s time for us. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.” He must have seen the question in her eyes, because he added, “Including surfing.”
Honesty was evident in the sincerity of his voice and the depths of his eyes.
“And I know you and the girls wanted to have a group wedding. If you want to get married with them, that’s fine. If you want to go to the justice of the peace tomorrow, I’m in. If you want a big wedding on a tropical island, I’m there.”
“I don’t need a tropical island. A nice quiet wedding on the beach with the girls would be another dream come true.”
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do. All I ask is that you marry me soon, because I’m not taking a chance that you change that brilliant mind of yours.”
Amy touched her forehead to his, knowing there wasn’t a chance that she’d change her mind.
Chapter Twenty-One
FRIDAY MORNING TONY was up before the sun, but not to run off unwanted stress. They planned on telling their friends about their engagement over breakfast, and he knew that once the news was out, the girls would monopolize Amy’s time until after the wedding took place. She still hadn’t spoken with her father, and he wondered when she would get around to it, but he didn’t want to pressure her. He knew it was going to be a difficult conversation for her, and he also knew Amy well enough to know that when she was ready, she’d take charge of that situation just as she had of getting his attention before Jamie’s wedding. Right now he wanted a few quiet minutes alone with her before the wedding became their focus.
She was lying beside him in her bed, one arm stretched out under her head, the other draped over his stomach. Her hair fell away from her face in golden streaks across the back of the pink nightshirt he’d given her over the winter. He could see the tail of the kitten that was imprinted on the front of the shirt. On the front the kitten was curled into a ball with one eye open with the wordsStroke meabove the kitty andI’m into heavy pettingbeneath.
He was already thinking about where they’d live if she took the job with Duke. Tony owned houses on the East and West Coasts, as well as the cottage on the Cape. Adding a house in Australia was fine with him, as long as Amy was happy. He worried about her being that far away from her friends. Not that Amy saw them much between summers, but now that all the other girls were living at the Cape full-time, he wondered if she’d rather be there with them. They were as close as family to both of them. He was thinking about how to ask her without sounding as though he would rather not move to Australia when she lifted her pretty face and smiled up at him from beneath her long lashes, and his thoughts fell away.
“Tony?” She laced her hand with his.
“Hm?”
“What if we get married and I get pregnant and…” She lowered her voice. “And I lose the baby again?”
He went up on one elbow so he could look at her face. “Hopefully, that’s not going to happen. We’ll be more careful—no surfing if you’re pregnant—and we’ll talk to your doctor and see if that seems like it’s something we should be worried about.”
“I have. He said he didn’t see any medical reason for me to be at risk of another miscarriage.”
A slice of relief cut through him. “Well, does it scare you? Would you rather not try to have children? Because as much as I’d adore biological children, I’ll adore adopted children just as much.”
Amy smiled. “No. I want to try, but thank you. I just don’t want to disappoint you.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Babe, you could never disappoint me. My love for you is unconditional. If we have children, wonderful. If we adopt, beautiful. And if it’s just you and me for the rest of our lives, it’ll be just as perfect.”
“You wouldn’t feel like you were missing out on something?” She searched his eyes, and he hoped she saw the truth in them.
“I’ve missed out for fourteen years.” He kissed her and held her close. “I love you, Amy. I want a life with you. Kids are a bonus.”
“I want the bonus deal,” she said against his chest. “A couple times over.”
He leaned back and smiled. “Then you’re going to get the bonus deal. As many times as you want. And, baby, if what happened before happens again, we’ll deal with it together. I’m not letting you turn me away again, and there’s no way I’m going anywhere. That’s a promise.”
BABIES, BABIES, BABIES. That was all Amy could think about after she and Tony talked about having children earlier that morning. Now, hours later, surrounded by all their friends while they ate breakfast on Bella’s deck, Amy was looking at each of her girlfriends and wondering what she’d feel like if they could have babies and she couldn’t. If they had baby bumps beneath their sundresses and she was the only one with a pitifully flat stomach, would she resent them? No. She’d like to believe she would never be so petty, but the heart could be petty. Her dart-board practice confirmed that much.
“I still can’t believe we’re all getting married,” Bella said.
“Well, almost all of us,” Sky said as she French braided Jenna’s hair.
“No need to rush things, sis.” Pete gave Sky a brotherly narrow-eyed gaze, then reached down and petted Joey.
Jenna smacked his thigh. “She’s twenty-five, Pete. She can do whatever she wants.”
