Heart of the Country Read Free

turned her to face me. She smiled and I wasn’t sure I’d seen anyone look at me with that kind of . . .what was the word? Delight? Her eyes sparkled against the high afternoon sun.
    I swept the hair out of her face and took her hands in mine. Then I knelt. My knee sank into the wet sand.
    The sparkle of her eyes vanished, replaced by shock. “What . . . are you doing?”
    “I’ve been raised to never make an impulsive decision, so you need to understand that in no way is this impulsive.” I pulled out the ring from my pocket and held it up to her. I felt energy tremble through her fingertips. “Faith, there are many things in life that require time and thought, and marriage is one of them. But I’ve thought so much of you and about you since the hour we met   —enough to fill weeks if not months   —that I believe this is a well-thought-out question. Will you marry me?”
    “Luke . . .” She fell to her knees so we were face to face. She cupped my hand in hers and we both stared at the ring, a simple, elegant solitaire that glinted dynamically against the light. Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to speak several times but nothing came out except three or four half words I couldn’t decipher.
    I wanted to beg. Badly. But I figured I was taking a big enough risk by asking her to marry me two months after we’d met. So I waited.
    She made me wait, glancing out at the ocean like it was going to confirm some gut feeling she had.
    Then she looked me square in the eyes. Her features tensed and her eyes grew fierce. For a split second I thoughtmaybe things weren’t going to go my way. But then she said, “Yes!” and sprang into my arms, squeezing me so hard I almost toppled over. I laughed and held on to her.
    In the distance, standing on the ledge of the cliff, was Jake. He sipped his drink, watched us for a moment longer, and then turned to walk away.

3
    FAITH
    T O THE LIGHTEST OF APPLAUSE, Luke formally announced our engagement to his family a week after he’d proposed to me. I had to look hard for one approving smile. Candace, Jake’s wife, seemed oblivious to the rest of the family’s disapproval, so I smiled back at her and kept her in my focus as I tried my best to not look sick to my stomach. Whatever Austin had felt for me before was gone. I suppose he didn’t expect to meet me and then instantly become my father-in-law.
    Luke, however, didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the lack of response. I asked him why he didn’t tell his dad and brother the day we were engaged, and he explained that there were just certain ways Carradays did things. The announcementof an engagement had to be more of a formal affair, a proper gathering or some such. I warned him of the enormous learning curve I was embarking on, but he told me not to sweat it. I kept getting the impression he wasn’t all that fond of his world anyway. There was something restless in his eyes, detached from it all.
    After drinks and “light” hors d’oeuvres fancier than anything I’d ever tasted, we returned to the city in his limo. I’d grown fond of his driver, Ward. He was an older gentleman with a wry sense of humor. I got the feeling he always knew more than he was saying.
    In the very back, we snuggled against each other and watched the beauty of the Hamptons fade into the roaring life of the city. After some time of comfortable silence, Luke sat up and said, “Have you been thinking of the wedding? What you want? The sky’s the limit.”
    “The sky seems impossible to fill.”
    “What have you always dreamed of? Every little girl has her wedding dreams, doesn’t she?”
    Sure. Olivia and I used to spend hours in the barn, setting up our weddings. The horses were our guests. We’d trade off being bride and groom. But if I had to admit it, dreams had lost their luster for me. The pomp and circumstance of dreams   —and their ugly cousin, hope   —had led me to a place where I’d stopped dreaming. I’d made a