Then Jolene was back on the line. “Dad would like to speak to you.”
“Okay.” Her heart started to pound.
“Hi,” Bruce said. His voice was unusually hoarse, and she wondered if he had a cold.
“Are you sick?” she asked.
“Uh, no.” He cleared his throat.
He didn’t say anything else.
Rachel kept waiting for him to tell her why he’d wanted to speak to her. “So Jolene’s baking a cake,” she said when she couldn’t stand the silence for one more second. “Any particular reason?”
“Not really. She said she was in a baking mood.”
Another silence. She was tempted to get off the phone.
“You mentioned something the other day, and I wasn’t sure I heard you correctly,” he finally said.
“What?”
“Did you tell me you’re not seeing Nate anymore?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate.
“Why?”
“None of your business.”
Under no circumstance was she going to admit to loving him, especially when he’d been so obtuse.
“Personally, I think you’re making a mistake. I think you should marry Nate.”
What? Rachel blinked with shock. “Fine, maybe I will. Thank you so much for your helpful advice. I’ll keep it in mind.” With that she slammed down the receiver.
The phone rang again. Again, Caller ID told her it was Bruce. She had no intention of picking up. As the answering machine came on, his voice resounded in the room. “Rachel, I know you’re there. Come on, be reasonable, would you?”
She turned and shouted back, “No, I will not!”
She had to get out. Grabbing her purse, she was halfway to her car when she realized she’d been so furious with Bruce she’d forgotten her coat. By the time she’d unlocked the house, retrieved her coat and climbed inside her vehicle, she saw Bruce’s car turn the corner. She sped away and prayed he hadn’t seen her.
No such luck. Not only did he see her, he followed her into the Safeway lot. He parked two cars over, and left his car the same moment she did.
“Why are you mad at me?” he asked.
Rachel ignored him and hurried toward the store, as intent as if she were gathering provisions before a snowstorm.
Bruce refused to give up. “I don’t understand what I said that was so horrible,” he said, trotting beside her. “Nate Olsen would be a good husband for you.”
Rachel didn’t deign to reply.
“He loves you.”
She continued to ignore him and seized a cart at the outside entrance to the store.
“Nate has connections and money and prestige.” Bruce collected a cart of his own.
She’d had enough. Whirling around to face him, she demanded an answer. “Why did you kiss me?”
“When?”
“Any of those times.”
“Why?” he repeated. “I don’t know. I guess I shouldn’t have.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.” She shoved her cart past him and noticed that the other shoppers moved quickly out of her way. Apparently these strangers recognized the mood she was in. Bruce, unfortunately, didn’t seem to.
As she tore down the aisle, Rachel tossed in items, although she had no idea what they were or if she needed them. Bruce was right behind her at the checkout stand.
When she’d finished paying, he abandoned his empty cart and reached for her groceries. “I’ll carry these for you.”
“I’m capable of taking out my own groceries.”
“I’m sure you are.” He walked out of the store, hauling her three bags.
Rachel had no other choice but to follow him. When she got to her car, Bruce was standing there, waiting for her.
“I think it’s fairly evident that we need to talk,” he said calmly.
Rachel glared at him in response. “All right. What do you want to say?”
He exhaled. “I lied.”
“About what?” she asked, folding her arms.
“I don’t want you to marry Nate. In fact, I’m convinced it would be the wrong thing for everyone involved—including me. Especially me.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said, and I didn’t mean a word of it.”
“Then why say it?”
He shook his head mournfully. “Because in every way that counts, Lover Boy is the better man.”
She didn’t bother chastising him for the derogatory nickname; it didn’t matter anymore.
“Better than whom?” she muttered.
That caught him up short. For a moment Bruce didn’t respond. When he did, his back was straight and his fists clenched. “Me.”
“You?” She dropped her arms. It’d taken him long enough to get to the point.
He inhaled sharply. “I love you, Rachel. I don’t know when it happened. All I know is how I feel. If you married Nate, it would devastate me. Not just Jolene. Me.”
“I told you I broke up with him.” She also remembered his reaction. Zilch. Zero. Nothing.
“Why?” he asked. “Why did you break up with him?”
“Because the night I was kidnapped, I realized I was in love with you. I was afraid I was going to die, and it was you I thought about. It wasn’t Nate.”
He took one step toward her. “Then why are we fighting?”
“Because when I told you I’d broken up with Nate, you … you acted like you didn’t care.”
He blinked. “I … did?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Maybe I was afraid to believe it was true.”
“Or maybe you don’t know what you want.”
“Oh, yes I do,” he insisted. “I’m in love with you, and I have been for a long, long time.”
She frowned, unsure she could trust him. “Then why aren’t you holding me?”
He grinned. “Mainly because I’m loaded down with these bags.”
Rachel promptly unlocked her car door and as soon as Bruce had set the groceries aside, she was in his arms. Then he was kissing her, and it was every bit as good as that night at the Taco Shack. No, better. She hadn’t thought that was possible.
“Thank God,” he whispered over and over. “I was so afraid I’d lose you.”
Rachel had been afraid, too.
“I’m not in favor of long engagements,” Bruce told her. He kissed her again, deeper this time. His kisses were filled with meaning, with joy and anticipation.
“I’m not, either.”
“Good.”
“Oh, Bruce, I can’t believe you really love me.”
“Believe it. I think I always knew,” he admitted. “But the night you were kidnapped