Tying the Knot, page 35
By the time she entered the kitchen, Maggie’s knees were shaking. If she told Glenn about the baby, he wouldn’t leave, but she refused to resort to that. If he wanted to stay, it would be because he loved her enough to work out their differences.
The kitchen phone rang, and Maggie stared at it accusingly. The only person who would call her this time of the morning was Denny. If he asked her for another penny, she’d scream. It used to be that he’d call once or twice a month. Now it was every other day.
On the second ring, Maggie nearly ripped the phone off the hook. “Yes,” she barked.
“Maggie, is that you?” Denny asked brightly. “Listen, I’m sorry to call so early, but I wanted to tell you something.”
“What?” Her indignation cooled somewhat.
“I’m going to work Monday morning. Now, don’t argue, I know that you’re against this. I’ll admit that I was, too, when I first heard it. But I got to thinking about what Glenn said. And, Maggie, he’s right. My attitude toward life, toward everything, has been rotten lately. The best thing in the world for me right now is to get back into the mainstream of life and do something worthwhile.”
“But I thought—” Maggie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I know, I thought all the same things you did. But Linda and I had a long talk a few days ago and she helped me see that Glenn is right. I went to an interview, got the job, and I feel terrific. Better than I have in years.”
Maggie was dumbfounded. She lowered her lashes and squeezed her eyes at her own stupidity. Glenn had been right all along about Denny. Her brother had been trapped in the same mire as she had been. Maggie should have recognized it before, but she’d been so defensive, wanting to shield her brother from any unpleasantness, that she had refused to acknowledge what was right in front of her eyes. Denny needed the same purpose that Glenn’s love had given her life.
The urge to go back to their bedroom and ask Glenn to forgive her was strong, but she resisted. Denny was only one problem they needed to make right.
Glenn arrived in the kitchen dressed for the office. Silently, he poured himself a cup of coffee. Maggie wondered if she should remind Glenn that it was Saturday and he didn’t need to go to work. No, she’d let him talk first, she decided.
He took a sip of the hot, black coffee and grimaced. His head was killing him. It felt as if someone was hammering at his temple every time his heart beat. Furthermore, he had to collect his car. He’d taken a taxi cab back to the house, far too drunk to get behind a wheel.
“Who was on the phone?” he asked. The question was not one of his most brilliant ones. Obviously, it had been Denny, but he hoped to get some conversation going. Anything.
“Denny.”
Glenn cocked a brow, swallowing back the argument that sprang readily to his lips. If she was going to write Welcome across her back and lie down for Denny to walk all over her, there wasn’t anything he could do. Heaven knew he’d tried.
“He…he called because—”
“I know why he phoned,” Glenn tossed out sarcastically.
“You do?”
“Of course. Denny only phones for one reason.”
“Not this time.” Her pride was much easier to swallow after hearing the excitement and enthusiasm in her brother’s voice. “He’s got a job.”
Glenn choked on a swallow of coffee. “Denny? What happened?”
“Apparently, you and Linda got through that thick skull of his and he decided to give it a try. He feels wonderful.”
“It might not last.”
“I know,” Maggie agreed. “But it’s a start, and one he should have made a long time ago.”
Her announcement was met with silence. “Are you telling me I was right?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t so difficult to admit, after all. Her hands hugged the milk-laced herbal tea and lent her the courage to continue. “It was wrong to take matters into my own hands and visit Angie. I can even understand why you loved her. She’s a wonderful person.”
“But she isn’t you. She doesn’t have your beauty, your artistic talent, or your special smile. Angie never made up crazy rules or beat me in a game of tennis. You’re two entirely different people.”
“I’ll never be like her,” Maggie murmured, staring into the creamy liquid she was holding.
“That’s a good thing, because I’m in love with you. I married you, Maggie. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
Maggie’s head jerked upright. “Are you saying…? Do you mean that you’re willing to forgive me for taking matters into my own hands? I know what I did wasn’t right.”
“I’m not condoning it, but I understand why you felt you had to meet her.”
If he didn’t take her in his arms soon, Maggie thought, she’d start crying again and then Glenn would know her Christmas secret for sure.
He set the coffee cup aside, and Maggie glanced up hopefully. But instead of reaching for her, he walked out of the kitchen and picked up the two suitcases that rested on the other side of the arched doorway.
Panic enveloped her. “Glenn,” she whispered. “Are you leaving me?”
“No. I’m putting these back where they belong.” He didn’t know what he’d been thinking this morning. He could no more leave Maggie than he could stop breathing. After disappearing for a moment, he returned to the kitchen and stood not more than three feet from her.
Maggie’s heart returned to normal again. “Are we through fighting now? I want to get to the making-up part.”
“We’re just about there.” The familiar lopsided grin slanted his mouth.
“Maybe you need a little incentive.”
“You standing there in that see-through outfit of yours is giving me all the incentive I need.” He wrapped his arms around her then, and held her so close that Maggie could actually feel the sigh that shuddered through him.
She met his warm lips eagerly, twining her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in the thick softness of his hair. Maggie luxuriated in the secure feel of his arms holding her tight. She smiled up at him dreamily. “There’s an early Christmas gift I’d like to give you.”
Unable to resist, Glenn brushed his lips over the top of her nose. “Don’t you think I should wait?”
“Not for this gift. It’s special.”
“Are you going to expect to open one of yours in return?”
“No, but then, I already have a good idea of what you’re getting me.”
“You do?”
Maggie laughed outright at the way his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “It wasn’t really fair, because your mother let the cat out of the bag.”
“My mother!”
“Yes, she told me about your grandmother’s ring.”
His forehead wrinkled into three lines. “Maggie, I’m not giving you a ring.”
He couldn’t have shocked her more if he’d dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. He wasn’t giving her the ring! “Oh.” She disentangled herself from his arms. “I…guess it was presumptuous of me to think that you would.” Her eyes fell to his shirt buttons as she took a step backward.
“Just so there aren’t any more misunderstandings, maybe I should explain myself.”
“Maybe you should,” she agreed, feeling the cold seep into her bones. It never failed. Just when she was beginning to feel loved and secure with their marriage, someone would throw a curve ball at her.
“After the hassle we went through with the wedding rings—”
“I love my rings,” she interrupted indignantly. “I never take them off anymore. You asked me not to and I haven’t.” She knew she was babbling like an idiot, but she wanted to cover how miserable and hurt she was. All those months she had put so much stock in his grandmother’s ring and he wasn’t even planning on giving it to her.
“Maggie, I had the ring reset into a necklace for you.”
“A necklace?”
“This way you won’t need to worry about putting it on or taking it off—or losing it, for that matter.”
The idea was marvelous, and Maggie was so thrilled that her eyes misted with happiness. “It sounds wonderful,” she murmured on a lengthy sniffle, and rubbed the tears from her face.
“What is the matter with you lately?” Glenn asked, his head cocked to one side. “I haven’t seen you cry this much since you were six years old and Petie Phillips teased you and pulled your braids.”
Maggie smiled blindly at him. “You mean you haven’t figured it out?”
“Figured what out?”
Glenn’s dark brown eyes widened as he searched her expression as if expecting to find the answer hidden on her face. His eyebrows snapped together. “Maggie,” he whispered with such reverence one would assume he was in a church, “are you pregnant?”
A smile lit up her face and blossomed from ear to ear. “Yes. Our baby is due the first part of August.”
“Oh, Maggie.” Glenn was so excited that he longed to haul her into his arms and twirl her around the room until they were both dizzy and giddy. Instead, he pulled out a chair and sat her down. “Are you ill?”
“Only a little in the mornings,” she informed him with a small laugh. “The worst thing is that I seem to cry over the tiniest incident.”
“You mean like me packing my bags and leaving you.”
“Yes.” She giggled. “Just the minor things.”
“A baby.” Glenn paced the area in front of her, repeatedly brushing the hair off his forehead. “We’re going to have a baby.”
“Glenn, honestly, it shouldn’t be such a shock. I told you in the beginning I wasn’t using any birth control.”
“I’m not shocked…exactly.”
“Happy?”
“Very!” He knelt in front of her and gently leaned forward to kiss her tummy.
Maggie wrapped her arms around his head and held him to her. “Merry Christmas, my love.”
Glenn heard the steady beat of Maggie’s heart and closed his eyes to the wealth of emotions that flooded his being. She was a warm, vital woman who had made him complete. Wife, friend, lover…the list seemed endless, and he had only touched the surface.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispered in return, and pulled her mouth to his.
About the Author
Debbie Macomber is a leading voice in women’s fiction. Fifteen of her novels have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, and six of her beloved Christmas novels have been hit movies on the Hallmark Channel, in addition to the original series Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, based on Macomber’s Cedar Cove books. There are more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide.
debbiemacomber.com
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Debbie Macomber, Tying the Knot
