“You really think surprising her is such a great idea?” John asked skeptically.

“Of course it is,” Adam said. Why wouldn’t it be?

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I am so bummed,” Jazmine muttered, sitting in front of the computer after e-mailing her mother.

Shana was disappointed, too, but she tried not to let it show. She’d spent half her day on the Internet, searching for last-minute bargain tickets to Honolulu. Apparently there was no such thing. It didn’t matter what she could or would have been willing to pay. There simply weren’t any seats available for the next few days. The best rates were for the following week.

“Waiting a week won’t be so bad,” Shana assured her niece.

“We should let Uncle Adam know we’re coming.”

That meant Shana would have to pick up the phone and call him, which was something she hadn’t managed to do in more than two weeks. Jazmine was right, though. It probably wasn’t fair just to land on his doorstep and expect everything to fall neatly into place.

The doorbell rang and Jazmine was out of the computer chair and racing to the front door. Shana walked briskly behind her, uncomfortable with the girl flinging open the door without first checking to see who was there.

Her worries were for nothing. Jazmine stood on the tips of her toes, peering through the tiny peephole. She stared for the longest moment, then her shoulders sagged and she backed away. “It’s for you,” she said in a disappointed voice.

Shana moved in front of her niece and opened the door. She was in no mood to deal with a salesman or a nuisance call. When she found Adam Kennedy standing on the other side, she was stunned into speechlessness.

“Adam?” His name was a mere wisp of sound. He looked good, no, better than good. Great. He was a thousand times more compelling than she remembered, and her heart felt in danger of bursting right then and there. If their disagreement had given him a minute’s concern, his face didn’t reveal it. He seemed rested and relaxed.

He smiled, and Shana’s knees started to shake. It shouldn’t be like this, the rational part of her mind inserted. She shouldn’t be this happy to see him or this excited. But she was.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Jazmine was the one who answered. The nine-year-old slipped around Shana and held open the screen door. Judging by the broad smile on the girl’s face, anyone might think she was ushering in Santa Claus.

Shana frowned. “You knew about this?” she asked her niece.

Jazmine shook her head, denying any knowledge. “But I fooled you, didn’t I? You didn’t guess it was Adam.” Then she grinned at the man in question. “We were coming to see you, only we couldn’t get a flight for this weekend. We have tickets for next week.”

“You were flying to Hawaii to see me?” Adam’s eyes probed Shana’s.

She nodded, and found the shock of seeing him in the room with her nearly overwhelming. Placing her hand on her chest, she felt her heart hammer against her palm. Even with the evidence standing right in front of her, she had a hard time taking it in.

Reaching for Adam’s hand, Jazmine led him into the living room. “You can sit if you want.”

Adam chose the sofa.

“You, too, Aunt Shana,” Jazmine said, orchestrating events as though she were moving figures on a chessboard. She took Shana’s hand next and led her to the overstuffed chair.

“Okay,” Jazmine said, standing in the middle of the room between them. “You two need to talk. I can go to my room or I can stay and supervise.”

Shana’s gaze didn’t waver from Adam’s. “Your room,” she murmured, hardly able to catch her breath.

“Your room,” Adam echoed.

“Really?” Jazmine’s frustration echoed in her voice.

“Go.” Shana pointed down the hall, although her eyes were still on Adam. She was afraid that if she glanced away he might disappear.

Jazmine started to walk in the direction of her bedroom. “I’m leaving my door open, and if I hear any yelling, I’m coming right back. Okay?”

Adam’s mouth quivered with the beginnings of a smile. “Okay.”

After Jazmine left, there was a moment of awkward silence—and then they both started to speak at once.

“I’m so sorry….”

“I’m an idiot…” Adam held up his hand and gestured for her to go first.

Shana moved to the edge of the cushion, clasping her hands together. “Oh, Adam, I’m so sorry. I wanted to call you, I really did. I thought about it so many times.”

“I was afraid of losing you.”

“That won’t happen,” she told him. “Don’t you know how I feel about you?”

When he didn’t reply, she said, “I wasn’t planning to fall in love again, but—”

“You love me?” he interrupted.

Shana hadn’t meant to declare her feelings so soon, and certainly not like this. The way she’d envisioned the scene, it would be a romantic moment over dinner and champagne, not in the middle of her small rental house, with her niece standing in the bedroom doorway listening to every word.

“She does,” Jazmine answered for Shana. “She’s been impossible ever since you went to Hawaii.”

“Jazmine,” Shana warned.

“Sorry,” the girl muttered.

“Maybe it’d be best if you closed your door,” Adam suggested.

Jazmine stamped her foot and shouted “Okay,” but when Shana’s gaze shot down the hallway, she noticed that her niece’s bedroom door was only halfway shut.

“You were saying?” Adam said and motioned for her to continue.

“I forget where I was.”

“I believe you’d just declared your undying love for me. I’d like to hear more.”

“I’m sure you would,” she said, smiling despite their interruptions, “but I was thinking it would be good to hear how you feel, too.”

“You will, I promise,” Adam assured her, “but I’d appreciate if you finished your thoughts first. You were saying you hadn’t planned to fall in love…”

Shana lowered her eyes. It was difficult to think clearly when she was looking at Adam. The effect he had on her was that powerful. “I think sometimes love finds you when you least expect it. As you might’ve guessed, my opinion of the opposite sex was somewhere in the basement when I came to Seattle. And then Jazmine arrived. At first I envied the easy relationship you two shared. And my sister couldn’t stop singing your praises.”

“You weren’t in the mood to hear anything positive about a man. Any man.”

“Exactly,” Shana concurred. “But you were so patient with Jazmine and…you were patient with me, too.”

“I was attracted to you from the moment we met.”

“Really?”

“You knocked my socks off.” They both grinned at that. Then his expression grew serious again. “Having this surgery wasn’t a pleasant experience.” He pressed his hand gently to his shoulder. “I was in pain, and my life felt empty, and all of a sudden you were on the scene. I felt as soon as we met that I could love you.”

“You did?” Her voice lifted with joy.

“And I do love you. I recognized that I had to give you time. Coming out of a long-term relationship, you were bound to need an adjustment period. I understood that. But I don’t think you have any idea how badly I wanted to be with you.”

“You love me,” she repeated, hardly hearing anything else he’d said. “You love me!”

“I know you wanted to marry Bernie—”

“It’s Brad, and no…not anymore.”

“Good, because I’m hoping you’ll marry me.”

Jazmine’s bedroom door flew open. “Aunt Shana, say yes. I beg of you, say yes!”

“Jazmine!” Shana and Adam shouted simultaneously.

“Okay, okay,” the nine-year-old moaned and retreated back inside her bedroom.

Adam hesitated only briefly. “Well, what do you think?”

“You mean about us getting married?” Just saying the words produced an inner happiness that radiated from her heart to every single part of her. “Being your wife would make me the happiest woman alive.”

Adam stood and she met him halfway. Seconds later, they were locked in each other’s arms and his mouth was on hers. From the way he kissed her, she knew he’d been telling the truth. He loved her! After several deep kisses, Adam raised his head and framed her face with both hands. His eyes bored intently into hers.

“One question, and if my asking offends you, I apologize in advance. I need to know something.”

“Anything.”

His eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Why was it necessary to talk to Ber—Brad?”

Shana sighed and kissed his jaw. “I wanted to say goodbye to him properly.”

“And you intended to see me next week.”

She nodded, then caught the lobe of his ear between her teeth and gently bit down on the soft flesh. The shiver that went through him encouraged her to further exploration.

“What were you going to say to me?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper.

“Hmm…” she responded, her thoughts clouded with desire. “Hello, and that I’m crazy in love with you.”

“Good answer.” Adam directed his mouth back to hers, and soon they were deeply involved in another kiss.

The sound of a throat being cleared broke into Shana’s consciousness several seconds later.

“Did you two forget something?” Jazmine asked, hands on her hips. “Like me?”

Shana buried her face in Adam’s shoulder.

“Howdy, squirt,” he managed in a voice Shana barely recognized as his.

“This is all very good, but we have a wedding to plan, you know.”

“A wedding?” Shana lifted her head and murmured, “We have plenty of time to work on that.”

“I don’t think so,” Jazmine insisted. “We’ll be in Hawaii next week. We should do it then. Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Next week?” Shana looked questioningly at Adam, not sure that arranging a wedding in such a short time was even possible.

“Would you be willing?” he asked, catching Jazmine’s enthusiasm.

Shana nodded. “Of course, but only if Ali can be there. I want her at our wedding.”

Adam brought her close. “I do, too.”

Jazmine applauded loudly. “I know it isn’t good manners to say I told you so,” she announced with smug satisfaction, “but this time I can’t help it.”

“We’ll let you,” Adam said, his arms around Shana. “Because this time you’re absolutely right.”

Shana leaned against the man who would soon be her husband and sighed with contentment. She’d never known that being wrong could feel so right.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Mom!” Jazmine slammed into the bathroom of Shana’s old house in West Seattle, where Ali was preparing for work. They’d been living there for the last seven weeks, ever since her discharge from the Navy. Her life and that of her sister’s had been a whirlwind for the past half year.