She just wished that there was some way she could know in advance what he would say. How he would take it.

  Whether it would ruin what they had.

  Chapter 23

  Halle

  “I think I need to make a cup of tea,” Halle’s father said faintly.

  “I’ll make it,” Halle said, starting to rise to her feet.

  “No,” her father said firmly. “You stay where you are.”

  Nervously, Halle sank back into her seat. Was he angry with her? It was difficult to tell. Her father never balked at allowing her to take care of him in little ways. It was out of character for him to do so, and even more out of character for her to take such a firm tone with her.

  She had worried about the wisdom of telling him everything that had happened. And there had been an awful lot to confess.

  She had started with the story of the plane crash, knowing that, in spite of everything else they were going to have to talk about, that was the thing that would alarm him the most. And she’d been right. He had been so worried after hearing about it that it had been momentarily impossible to get him to focus on anything else. Only after she had finished telling him the story of the helicopter’s arrival and the way they’d been rescued had he been able to relax.

  “I’ve always worried something like this might happen,” he had said, his eyes closed, his face pale.

  She'd frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “From the moment you said you were going to be a flight attendant, I’ve been worried.”

  “But, Dad,” she’d said, “air travel is one of the safest things out there. You know that.”

  “I do. But…Halle, you just can’t understand this, because you’ve never been a parent. I’ve spent the past thirty years trying to stop myself from envisioning the worst-case scenarios. If you had a child of your own, you would know.”

  If I had a child of my own.

  It was the perfect segue, and yet taking it had still felt impossibly awkward.

  In the end, though, she had told him, staring at the floor, feeling as though the words were going to choke her. She had confessed to her affair with Grayson, to the fact that they had a burgeoning relationship, and that she was pregnant with his child.

  Her father was intently focused on brewing tea now. Halle sat at the table, feeling as if she’d been caught staying out past her curfew as a teenager and was waiting for a reprimand.

  It’s not like that. You’re an adult now.

  And yet, her father’s opinion still meant the world to her. His disappointment would destroy her now just as much as it ever had when she was young.

  Her father arranged two tea bags in two mugs and carefully poured hot water over them. He picked them up and carried them back to the table, where he set one down in front of Halle. “Drink,” he said.

  She took a sip. It was warm, and in spite of her anxiety, she felt it begin to relax her.

  “Okay,” her father said when he had sat down beside her at the table “First things first. Are you all right?”

  That question seemed larger, more all-encompassing, than it ever had in Halle’s life. “I will be, I think,” she said.

  “When did you find out about this?”

  “Just now. I came straight here.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “Halle, why are you crying?” her father asked, reaching across the table to rest his hand on hers. “Do you feel sick? Do you want me to take you back to the hospital?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m just afraid you’re going to be disappointed in me.”

  “Of course I’m not disappointed in you, Halle.” He squeezed her hand. “How could you think that I would be?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve been so irresponsible.”

  “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen you so much as take an interest in a man? Your boss is a surprising choice, it’s true, but I’m happy for you. I’m happy that you’ve been able to enjoy yourself.”

  “But now I’m pregnant,” she said tearfully.

  “Is that a bad thing?” her father asked her gently.

  “I don’t know,” she said again. “It’s not something I was planning for.”

  “Sometimes these things aren’t planned for.” He was quiet for a moment. “Do you know what you want to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With the baby,” he said. “Do you plan on keeping it?”

  “Oh.” That question had been turning around in the back of her mind from the moment Dr. Wong had told her she was pregnant. But if she was honest with herself, it wasn’t really a question at all. She had been so lonely for so long. She couldn’t give up a chance at family now that it had been offered to her.

  “I’m going to keep it,” she said. “I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else.”

  Her father nodded, as if this was the answer he had expected. “Okay,” he said. “It’s good that you’re so sure. That’s a good start.”

  “But that doesn’t change anything,” she said. “I’m not prepared for this. I’m not married. I’m hardly even in a relationship. And who knows whether what we have will stick once I tell him about this?”

  Her father cocked his head at her. He looked like he was trying to decide something.

  Then he got to his feet. “Come with me,” he said. “There’s something I want you to see.”

  Curious, Halle got up and followed him out of the kitchen and down the hall toward his bedroom. He gestured to the bed, indicating that she should sit down, and then went to the closet.

  When he returned, he was carrying a shoebox. It looked decades old—the print on the side was old-fashioned and faded. He handed it to Halle and then sat down beside her.

  She frowned. “What is this?”

  “Something you need to see,” he told her. “Open it.”

  She opened the box to reveal a stack of old photographs. She pulled out the top one. It was a picture of her mother in her wedding dress, looking calm and happy, standing in a beam of sunlight and smiling.

  “This is from your wedding,” Halle said.

  Her father nodded. “Your mother looked so beautiful that day.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Halle said. “I’ve seen this picture dozens of times. There’s a copy of it in the wedding album in the living room, and another one right there.” She pointed to the silver frame that her father kept on his nightstand.

  “I know,” her father said. “Keep going.”

  Halle plucked out the next picture. This one was familiar too. It was a picture of her mother and father standing together, their arms around each other, looking into each other’s eyes and grinning.

  Halle felt a pang.

  She had grown up looking at this picture. When she had seen it in the past, it had always prompted daydreams about the future. She had imagined what it might feel like to be held in the arms of some unknown man, to have him smile at her and to feel lit up from within the way her mother seemed to be.

  When she was a child, she had taken for granted that this experience lay in her future. When she had gotten older, the picture had begun to make her sad, as she had grown to doubt whether she would ever find love like this.

  But now, looking at her parents smiling at one another on their wedding day, her thoughts turned to Grayson.

  It was the first time this picture had made her think of someone specific.

  This was how she felt with his arms around her. This was what it was like when he smiled at her. The feeling she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl—she’d found it.

  It had taken seeing this old picture to make her truly realize that.

  “Is this what you wanted me to see?” she asked her father, wondering if he could have somehow known what this picture had always meant to her.

  But he shook his head. “Not that one. The next one.”

  Halle set aside the picture of her parents and picked up the next picture in the box.

  This was a picture of her Aunt Georgia, her father’s youngest sister. She was young here, probably still a teenager. She was smiling brightly, dressed in one of the pale pink bridesmaid dresses Halle recognized from the wedding album.

  And she was holding a little bundle in her arms.

  Halle frowned, peering more closely at the picture. “That’s a baby,” she said.

  Her father nodded.

  “Aunt Georgia doesn’t have children,” Halle said. “Whose baby is that?”

  Her father put his arm around her. “That’s you, kid,” he said.

  “Me?” Halle felt shocked. “But I—it couldn’t be me. I wasn’t at your wedding.”

  “You were, actually,” her father said. “That’s what I wanted you to see. You were born before we were married.”

  “You mean…you and Mom…Mom got pregnant before you were married?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “That’s right,” her father said. “I know it’s not what you were planning, Halle. It’s not what we were planning either. But it turned out great for us, didn’t it? Mom and I got married, and we had twenty-five amazing years together. And I wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world.”

  “How come no one ever told me about this?” Halle asked.

  Her father shrugged. “I thought it was your mother’s place to decide whether to tell you or not, and she never seemed to think it was important,” he said. “It hasn’t made any difference in our family. We all mean just as much to each other as we would have if we had done things in a more conventional order.”

  “That’s true,” Halle said. “I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

  “But she would have wanted you to know today,” her father said. “Knowing how worried you are about all this, and what you’re going through. She would have wanted you to know that these things happen all the time. It happened to her. There’s no shame in it, and it doesn’t mean you won’t go on to be a great mother and have a great family and a very happy kid.”

  Halle clutched the picture. “Can I make a copy of this?” she asked.

  “You keep that one,” her father said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sure I’m sure. Consider it my congratulations gift,” her father said. “I want you to have it.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Halle’s eyes filled with tears again. She wasn’t sure why. She only knew that she felt completely overwhelmed.

  He put his arm around her and pulled her into his shoulder. “It’s going to be fine,” he said quietly. “Whatever you decide to do, whatever happens from here, just know that it’s going to be fine. In thirty years, you’ll be able to look back on these moments and know that it was all for the best.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “I’m absolutely sure of it,” he said.

  She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Now, come on back to the kitchen and finish your tea,” he said. “You’ve got to let me take care of my grandchild.”

  Grandchild. “That’s right,” she realized. “You’re going to be a grandfather.”

  “And I can’t wait,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to welcoming the newest addition to our family.”

  She felt a swell of happiness at the thought. No matter what Grayson had to say to her news, she would have her father. And the two of them would have a new member of their family.

  It was comforting. But it wasn’t enough.

  She wanted Grayson to be a part of this too.

  Chapter 24

  Grayson

  Grayson’s heart pounded as he followed the restaurant’s hostess to the table he had reserved. If all went according to plan, tonight was going to be the biggest night of his life.

  I never thought it would happen like this.

  He hadn’t given much thought to how it would happen. But when the idea had crossed his mind, he’d never imagined a woman like Halle. He had pictured women who were heart-stoppingly beautiful, yes, but in a very different way—like the airbrushed models he saw on the covers of magazines. Women whose beauty was entirely in their long, lean lines and their expensive clothing.

  It wasn’t like that with Halle. Her beauty was in her softness and her curves, and in the way her face changed when she smiled. It was in the sharpness of her wit and the way she kept up with him in conversation. He had never imagined he could feel about any woman the way he felt about her.

  And now that it had happened, he didn’t want to wait any longer.

  He fingered the box in his pocket, flicking it slowly open and closed.

  A part of him still couldn’t believe he was planning on doing this. It was all happening so fast.

  And yet, he’d never been more sure of anything in his life. He didn’t have to question whether he was making a mistake—he knew he wasn’t.

  He was going to propose to Halle tonight.

  She would be shocked by the suddenness of it. He was sure of that. But he hoped that she would be able to set that aside, that she would see through to the potential the two of them had, and that she would agree there was no reason to wait.

  He hoped she was as sure of him as he was of her.

  “Is this table all right, Mr. Bloom?” the hostess asked.

  “This is perfect,” Grayson said. It was in a quiet corner of the restaurant, so they wouldn’t be overheard or distracted by the noise of the other diners. They wouldn’t even be seen by anybody else here, which was good—Grayson wasn’t a celebrity by any means, but there were certainly people who would recognize him if they got a good enough look, and there were people who would be willing to snap photos of him and sell them to trashy magazines. That wasn’t something he wanted Halle to have to deal with. He didn’t want it to be part of their memories of this night.

  He took his seat at the table. “When Ms. Johnson arrives, just bring her straight back here,” he said.

  The hostess nodded. “Of course. Can I get you any drinks while you wait?”

  “A bottle of your nicest champagne, please,” he said. “And two glasses. Chilled.”

  She smiled. “Are we celebrating a special occasion?”

  “I’m hoping we will be.” He pulled out the ring box and placed it on the table.

  Her smile broadened. “Well, that’s certainly exciting,” she said. “Let me talk to the manager and see what we can do for you.”

  She swept away. Grayson was left alone at his little table, doing his best to relax.

  He found himself smiling wryly. Nobody had ever been able to make him feel nervous before. This was entirely new to him.

  He picked up the ring box again. It shouldn’t be sitting there when she sat down. He opened it, pulled out the ring, and pocketed the box.

  Now what?

  He palmed the ring, thinking carefully. Maybe he should have given it to the hostess. Maybe he should have asked to have it brought out along with the champagne once Halle had arrived.

  But he was glad he hadn’t done things that way. He didn’t want her to find it on a tray. He didn’t want her to be the one to pick it up and look at it. He wanted to place it on her finger.

  I’ll just ask her. There doesn’t need to be any pageantry about it.

  It went against his instincts to make things simple. But maybe that was what Halle would like. Hadn’t she shown him again and again that he didn’t need to impress her?

  I wonder what she’ll make of the ring?

  It had belonged to his grandmother. She had passed it down to him, telling him that he should give it one day to the woman he wanted to marry. Grayson, who had been seventeen years old at the time of that exchange, hadn’t thought much of it, and he’d put it away for safekeeping.

  But now he was ready. He’d finally found the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

  And as he looked up, the ring still clutched in his hand, he saw her being led over to the table.

  She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a black, off-the-shoulder dress with a slit up the side, so that her long, lean leg was revealed to him with every step.

  Grayson’s breath caught in his throat. I don’t deserve her.

  Was this the first time he had ever thought that he didn’t deserve something?

  He was surprised by how pleasant that idea was. That she was crossing the restaurant to sit with him, not because it was anything he was entitled to, but simply because she wanted to.

  It gave him courage for the question he was going to have to ask her.

  She sat down opposite him and smiled. “Hi,” she said. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

  “You’re not late,” Grayson said. “And you look absolutely beautiful, by the way. Even if you were late, it would have been completely worth waiting for.”

  “You’re such a charmer.”

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “More like yourself now that you’ve had time to go home?”

  “That did help,” Halle said.

  But she wasn’t quite making eye contact with him.

  He frowned, turning her hand in his to trace patterns in her palm. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. “You don’t quite seem like yourself.”

  Now she looked up at him, and her eyes were shining. To his horror, he saw that they were full of tears.

  “What’s wrong?” He left his seat and moved to kneel beside her, acutely aware of the ring that was still clutched in his hand. He couldn’t ask her to marry him while she was crying.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, sniffling. “I didn’t mean to get all emotional like this. I know you were looking forward to a nice, fun night together—”

  “Hey,” he said, shaking his head. “Tonight can be whatever you need it to be, Halle. I know you and I have just been through hell. We don’t even have to have dinner if you don’t want to. Would you rather just go home and watch TV or something? We can go back to my place if that would be more comfortable.”