Easy Loving

“WILL YOU MARRY ME, Catherine?”

Catherine St. Clair nearly choked on a spoonful of raspberry sorbet. Momentarily frightened by the sensation of her throat filled with shards of crystalline ice, she swallowed hard and followed it with a gulp of water.

Jeffrey patted between her shoulder blades. “Did I startle you? I’m sorry.”

She dabbed at her lips with a napkin and cast him a look askance. “Don’t make jokes when I have my mouth full.”

“I’m serious. I love you and want you to be my wife. We’re the perfect couple, honey. Together we’ll conquer the world.”

She searched for any hint of laughter in his pale blue eyes. He was serious.

She shifted on the seat and glanced nervously around the restaurant. She and Jeffrey dined often at the Grape and Olive, and always took the back corner booth. The few other diners didn’t pay her and Jeffrey any attention. “I’m flattered, but we barely know each other.”

He shook a finger at her. “You said we were soul mates.”

“I meant because of the house.” Five months ago she’d hired Jeffrey, a real-estate broker, to help her find a house to buy. He’d found the perfect property for her—a charming raised rancher, with fixer-upper potential, on ten acres in Black Forest—as if he’d magically conjured her dream into reality. Since it had been a cash sale, she’d closed quickly on the deal. To celebrate, Jeffrey had taken her to dinner. They’d been dating ever since.

She admired his energy and assertiveness. He liked being in control of any situation. In small doses his domineering personality suited her, acting as a foil for her withdrawing nature. He loved the outdoors as much as she. He was brilliant when it came to finances, so she often sought his advice about investments. They had fun together.

But marriage?

“I love you, Catherine, truly, madly, deeply. And—” He reached inside his jacket and brought out a velvetcovered box. “I am more serious about you than I’ve ever been about anything, or anyone, in my entire life.” He opened the box. Jewels glittered in the candlelight.

An elaborate gold setting contained a large blue sapphire nestled inside a double circle of diamonds. Her breath caught in her throat. She clutched her hands into fists, wanting to touch the ring, but not daring.

“I had this custom-made to match your eyes.” He inched the box closer to her, urging her to touch it. “Please, darling, do me the honor of being my wife.”

Gus Neci, the restaurant owner, approached the corner booth. Catherine sat in stunned silence while Jeffrey leaned forward, his handsome face alit with eager anticipation.

“Everything is well, yes?” Gus asked. He wheeled a small cart next to the table. Atop a white linen cloth, a silver ice bucket chilled a bottle of champagne. Two slender flutes gleamed in the candlelight. A bouquet of red roses, wrapped in silvery paper, rested next to the ice bucket.

Flustered, she shoved another spoonful of sorbet in her mouth. Jeffrey had obviously planned the proposal down to the smallest detail. Annoyance tightened her forehead and chest. He had no right to spring this kind of surprise on her. “Everything is fine, Gus, thank you.”

Neither man reacted to her icy tone. Jeffrey displayed the ring for Gus’s admiration. With a grand flourish, Gus presented Catherine with the roses. She forced herself to accept them. She managed a gracious smile, but inside she seethed. While Gus opened the champagne, she whispered, “I haven’t said yes, Jeffrey.”

“You can’t say no.” He pulled the ring from the box and reached for her left hand.

She twisted on the seat and fussed with the roses. Jeffrey managed to snag her pinkie finger. In the midst of the ridiculous tug-and-pull match that ensued, Gus set the champagne flutes on the table.

“A toast to the happy couple! May you live happily ever after.”

Catherine snatched her hand free. She struck a champagne flute and set it flying. She lifted a stricken gaze to the restaurant owner. “I’m so sorry!”

Gus snapped his fingers for the busboy. “You must be shivering with joy. Such a handsome couple you are. Both so blond and all-American. You are every person’s dream, yes?” He whipped a napkin from his back pocket and began mopping up the spilled champagne.

Jeffrey offered his champagne to her. “We’re like Romeo and Juliet.”

“They died,” she said darkly. Not only was Jeffrey the only friend she’d made since moving back to Colorado, he was the first man she’d met in years with whom she felt comfortable. If she refused to marry him, he might break off the relationship altogether.

“I have to go home,” she announced and tossed the napkin on the table. “Gus, the fettuccine was superb and do tell the chef the sorbet is excellent. Thank you.”

“Catherine, wait—”

“I’m sorry, I have an early morning appointment. I’ll call you, okay?” She grabbed her purse and scooted out of the booth. Her gauze skirt tangled around her thighs and for a moment she feared falling flat on her face.

Jeffrey’s pale eyes turned flinty in the flickering candlelight. “The champagne. It’s Dom Pérignon—”

“I can’t drink and drive.” She swiped at her skirt, knowing she made an ass of herself, but unable to help it.

Two booths away, a slim blond woman wearing a tailored suit stood up and stared. Catherine recognized the title company closer who had processed the paperwork for Catherine’s house purchase. Jeffrey claimed he and the woman were good friends, but at the closing the woman had seemed uncomfortable and not friendly in the least. At the moment, she appeared horrified.

Noreen, Catherine finally remembered. Her cheeks burned, but she forced a smile. “Well, hello, again. Noreen?”

Noreen shifted her stare to Jeffrey. “I thought I recognized your voice, Jeff. Did I hear right? You guys are engaged?” A sickly smile thinned her lips. She lowered her gaze to the cart holding the champagne. Her voice rose an octave. “You’re going to get married?”

Jeffrey had said “good friends,” but Noreen’s reaction clearly showed they’d been closer than mere friends. Catherine had never asked Jeffrey about his past relationships—she’d never cared. All she cared about at the moment was escape.

“Nice seeing you again, Noreen. I’d love to stay and chat, but I have…” Her ability to continue the lie ran out of steam. “Goodbye, Gus.” She fled the restaurant.

Jeffrey caught up to her in the parking lot while she unlocked the door of her Blazer. “Darling, what’s the matter?”

“You know I’m not comfortable with public scenes. How could you do that to me? I’m so embarrassed.” She stared miserably at the toes of her woven sandals. “I’m sorry, I need some time to be alone. To think.”

He opened the car door for her and reached past her to place the bouquet of roses on the passenger seat. “You do love me,” he said. “I know it, you know it.” He pressed the ring box into her hand. She resisted, but he persisted until she closed her fingers around the box. “We can’t fight fate, darling.”

The velvet box seemed to weigh a hundred pounds. “I can’t—we don’t—you don’t know me!”

He stepped back and hung his head, his sheepish smile painted gold by the parking lot lights. “I’m a fast learner. I’ll never do anything to embarrass you again.” He pulled his fingers across his lips in a zippering motion. “I won’t pressure you either. I won’t say a word about it. All I ask is that you take the ring and think about how much I love you.”

Somewhat soothed, she nodded dumbly. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.

“I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world. I’ll devote my life to making you smile. Think about it.” He gave her room to slide behind the steering wheel. “I love you.”

She wished she could say, “I love you,” back at him. Except she could not say what she did not mean. Until she trusted him enough to tell him the truth about herself, she could not love him. Unless she loved him, she could not tell him. She hoped he returned to the restaurant and shared the champagne with Noreen. They could rekindle their romance, and Catherine wouldn’t have to deal with Jeffrey anymore.

Ambiguous emotions wore on her during the long drive home.

At home she set the ring box on the fireplace mantel in her studio. She tried to forget it. It was like trying to forget a sore tooth. She refused to open the box, refused to try on the ring—Mrs. Jeffrey Livman.

She didn’t sleep well that night.

“WOULD MARRIAGE BE SO BAD?” she asked Oscar and Bent, the greyhounds, when the three of them took their morning run. Up and down the hilly red graveled road she jogged, trying to regulate her breathing in the thin high-country air. The greyhounds focused straight ahead, their long legs springing in graceful motion.

The dogs liked Jeffrey. Or at least, they tolerated him with the same regal aloofness with which they tolerated most visitors. She frowned at their knobby, bobbing heads. If the greyhounds judged character, they kept it strictly to themselves.

Later, when her agent called from New York, Catherine asked, “Margaret, what do you think about marriage?”

“I think it’s a hell of an expensive way for a man to get his laundry done.”