Baby, Oh Baby! (43 page)

He'd shown up on their doorstep at seven in the evening. The three of them had talked and hugged, and Susanna had cried. Then Tom and Jake had taken all the boxes up to the attic.

"The next day, I went to the cemetery where Rachel was buried, and I told her a last good-bye. And, Annie— a real feeling of peace came over me, a feeling of closure."

His fingers slid down her arms. He lifted both of her hands. "So here I am. My heart is free and clear and unencumbered, and I want to tell you what's in it."

He -gazed into her eyes, into her soft, luminous blue eyes, and gently squeezed her hands. "You are. I love you. I love you with my whole heart and soul. I love you just as much, just as completely as I ever loved Rachel." He paused, then swallowed. "Maybe even more. Maybe loving her stretched out my heart, making it bigger and roomier than it was before."

"Oh, Jake." Annie's eyes swam with tears.

Jake tipped up her chin with his hand. "I love you, Annie, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And if you'll agree to be my wife, I promise I'll love you with my whole heart, for my whole life."

Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Jake—Oh, Jake!"

Jake's heart felt as if it, too, were about to overflow. He swept the tears from her cheek with his thumb, then gently kissed her mouth. It was wet and salty with tears, but it tasted even sweeter than he remembered.

At length she pulled back and looked up at him, her expression quizzical. "If you want to stay marred, why did you have me come here?"

"Because I want to say our wedding vows again, with you knowing I mean every word. I want to marry you all over again." He tightened his hold on her. "So what . do you say, Annie? Will you marry me for real?"

Her eyes were bright as heaven, and just as blue. "Yes."

He reclaimed her lips, and it was several minutes be fore he came up for air. "Annie, sweetie—I know it's traditional for the groom to give the bride a ring, but since you already have one… well, in this case, I thought maybe we should switch things around."

"How?"

He reached in his pocket. "I went to the jeweler who made your ring and bought a matching one for myself. I'd like for you to put it on me during the ceremony."

Annie gazed at him, her heart bounding with joy. He loved her—he truly loved her! He loved her enough to wear her ring, to let the world know that he'd given her his heart. Annie's smile came from the depths of her soul. "This ceremony—it's going to happen right here, today?"

Jake nodded. "If that's all right with you. The judge has agreed to remarry us. Tom and Susanna and Ben and Helen—and Madeline, of course—are all here as witnesses."

"So they were all in on this?"

Jake nodded.

"You conspired with them behind my back?"

"Afraid so."

Annie shook her head reprovingly, but she couldn't keep from grinning. "Gee, Jake—I'm not sure I should marry a man who's so devious."

He ran his hand down her back, down to the curve of her bottom. "If you won't give in, I'll just have to find other devious means to convince you."

She smiled up at him, about to lean in for another kiss, when a fresh thought struck her. "Speaking of devious-were you behind those billboards on the highway?"

"What billboards?" The innocent tone of his voice convinced her he was anything but.

She gave him a playful push. "You know very well what billboards. The ones that said, `Listen to your heart' and `Just say yes.' "

Jake shrugged sheepishly. "I figured it couldn't hurt to have Grandpa on my side."

"Well, Grandpa didn't speak up, but that's all right." She stepped forward and cupped the back of Jake's head with both her hands. "I guess he knew it was your turn."

Jake's hands wound around her back. "I wasn't leaving anything to chance. In fact, I took out another billboard as a backup plan."

"Another one?"

"Yep. In case the others were too subtle." He strode across the room to the window and yanked the cord on the wooden blinds. They rose with a clatter to reveal a giant billboard across the street, facing the courthouse.

Annie's jaw dropped. She was staring at a photo of her grandfather—one of several family photos that usually sat on the entry hall table of her home. In large, black letters under her grandfather's face was printed the message:

FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, MARRY JAKE!

Annie convulsed in laughter.

"If that hadn't worked, I have a tea-leaf reader on standby," Jake informed her. "I wasn't about to take any chances."

Annie gazed up at him adoringly. "Oh, Jake—don't you know there are no chances when you're dealing with a sure thing?"

The kiss, that followed was long and tender. Then Jake's lips blazed a delicious path to her ear. "I've memorized a special love song for you," he murmured. "Want to hear it?"

"Sure."

He held her close, rocking her in a slow dance, and softly sang in her ear:

"Baby, oh, baby; Baby, oh, baby; Baby, oh, baby— oh! Baby, I love you; Baby, I love you; Baby, I love you so."

The first time through, he sang it alone. The second time, they sang it together.