He shoved his hands into suit pants pockets, then pulled them out again. He looked at her, then at the floor.
“Our weekend away. I messed up and I’m sorry.” He met her gaze. “We had a great time. Everything was going the way I expected and you were amazing, as always. When we were walking on the beach at sunset I should have...” He swallowed. “It was the right moment to propose, but for some reason I got scared and nervous and I rushed us back to the room.”
She stared at him, not sure what to say.
He gave her a half proud, half chagrined smile. “I even had the ring with me and everything. Like I said, I messed up and I regret that more than you could know.”
“You were going to propose,” she whispered more to herself than to him. He’d been planning to do it? She hadn’t been wrong? “Why would you be nervous? It’s us, Dustin. You and me.”
“I know, but suddenly it seemed like a big deal.” He moved close again and lightly touched her cheek. “You’re so beautiful and I know I’m the luckiest guy to have found you. I love you and I want to spend my life making you happy.”
He stunned her by pulling a ring out of his front pocket. A perfect diamond solitaire.
“I know this isn’t the beach at sunset, but my heart is still yours if you want it. Ryleigh Weaver, will you marry me?”
She looked from him to the ring and back, trying to take it all in. Emotions swirled through her, but she was having a hard time defining them. She was surprised and thrilled and oh so ready to have the next phase of her life start with Dustin by her side. They were great together. Steady and predictable. It wasn’t the fire her sister talked about but then she’d never been a fiery kind of person.
Dustin blinked a couple of times. “Ryleigh? Did you want to answer?”
“What? Oh, sorry. I was just—” She waved away the words and smiled at him. “Dustin, of course I’ll...” Her throat went dry as a single word bubbled up inside. “No.”
“What?”
“What?”
They spoke at the same time then stared at each other.
She had no idea what he was thinking but she was absolutely stunned. No? She’d said no? But shewantedto marry Dustin. She’d been moping around all week because he hadn’t coughed up a proposal and now she’d said no.
“Are you pissed?” he asked at last. “About me getting scared?”
“No. Of course not. I get it. I can’t believe I said that. I didn’t mean it. I do want to—” Her throat got tight again and she realized if she kept talking she was going to say it again.
What was happening to her? Or maybe the bigger question waswhywas this happening to her? Her eyes began to burn with unshed tears as she realized after all this time, she maybe, possibly didn’t want to marry Dustin after all.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I thought it was forever, but it’s not and I don’t know why.”
Dustin went very still. His face turned white and his mouth thinned. After a few seconds he shoved the ring back in his pocket, turned and walked away without saying anything. She watched him go, thinking she should probably run after him, but honestly what was there to say? He’d offered her everything she’d ever wanted and she’d turned him down. Worse, she had no idea why and until she could answer that question, running after anyone seemed like a really bad idea.
Chapter Four
“Do you know what all these plants are?” Cheryl asked as she followed Jax through the large sunroom off the back of the bookstore. Racks of books on gardening were interspersed with displays of lush live plants. There were cute gardening tool kits, a couple of those rolling benches for working outside and tall spinners with colorful packages of seeds.
“Not a clue,” Jax admitted cheerfully. “That’s why we have the signs.”
She pointed to a large, bright sign that read: “Easy care. Prefers full sun. Water weekly.”
“I can fake my way through most conversations with those. If the customer wants more details, I give them one of Maggie’s cards.”
Maggie was the person who brought in the plants and cared for them. Like the jewelry sold in the Local Artist section of the store and handcrafted items throughout, the plants were sold on consignment. The practice allowed her various vendors to experiment with unusual offerings at a fairly low risk to both them and Jax.
“You have quite the empire,” Cheryl said with a smile. “I’m impressed.”
Jax laughed. “I’m just following in the footsteps of those who went before.”
They returned to the main bookstore and walked to the center where the tall brick wall stood.
“You heard this has to come down?” Jax asked. “I tried to talk Marcus into fixing it without removing it but he basically said that when I had my degree in architecture he’d listen to my opinion.”
