Her Secret Valentine. Cathy Gillen Thacker
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for cocktail parties.
“I thought you were wearing slacks,” he said with a frown, wondering if he should go upstairs and change out of his jeans and corduroy shirt into something more formal, too.
“I was. Or I tried.”
He looked at her, not understanding.
“I guess I’ve gained a little weight over the holidays,” she said, her cheeks flushing bright pink. “I didn’t think I’d had that many Christmas cookies, but…suddenly none of the pants I brought with me want to zip. So it’s either this or another dress or the sweats I wore on the plane—and those need a run through the washer first.” Cheeks flushing all the more, she swept past him. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”
“I’m not. You look great.” The black knit fabric clung to her newly voluptuous curves, and the swirling skirt and high heels made the most of her sexy legs. She’d left her hair down, and it looked as wild and untamed as he knew her to be in her most unguarded moments.
Cal paused to remove her winter coat from the hall closet. “Would it make you feel less self-conscious if I went up and changed?” He knew everyone in his family would probably be wearing jeans, too, but he could put on a sport coat and tie.
“No. It’s fine, really.” Ashley waved off his concern. She slipped on the long black wool coat and looped a cashmere scarf around her neck. “I’m just going to have to get back to exercising on a regular basis again.”
Cal held the door for Ashley. “Well don’t lose any weight on my account,” he said. He let his eyes travel over her appreciatively. “I think you look amazing. I mean it, Ashley,” he continued when she scoffed. “Any extra ounces you have put on are definitely in all the right places.”
“And those would be…?” Ashley prodded dryly as he unlocked the passenger door on his SUV and helped her inside.
In answer, Cal grinned and let his gaze touch her breasts, waist and hips.
She blushed again.
“You’re perfect,” Cal repeated. Wishing—just once—she would believe it. “And I like the glow on your face, too,” he added softly. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand.
Ashley wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “I’m going to pretend I agree with you…just so we don’t have to talk about my embarrassing predicament anymore. It’s probably what I get for living in scrubs and lab coats, anyway. All those loose-fitting tops and elastic waistbands…I’ll be more careful in the future. Just do me a favor and don’t mention my wardrobe crisis to your sibs? I’m embarrassed enough already.”
“DON’T YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!” Helen Hart told Ashley when she and Cal walked in to her home behind the Wedding Inn, the palatial three-story white brick inn Cal’s mother had turned into the premiere wedding facility in North Carolina. As always, Ashley noted admiringly, Helen’s short red hair was perfectly coiffed, her amber eyes as warm as they were astute. Ashley’s mother-in-law favored clothes that were classic, not trendy. Tonight she was clad in a cream wool turtleneck sweater and gray slacks perfect for an evening with family.
“You think we look good now, wait until we get some more sleep!” Cal winked at his mom as he helped Ashley off with her coat and went to hang it up.
Ashley returned Helen’s hug warmly. Although her husband’s siblings could sometimes leave her feeling overwhelmed, she adored Cal’s mom. Maybe because the openly loving, family-oriented woman was everything her own mother wasn’t. Helen Hart loved and accepted her kids, no matter what. She did not demand they succeed at all cost. She simply wanted them to be good, kind, loving people. Which wasn’t to say Helen was a pushover. If the fifty-six-year-old Helen saw one of her brood making a mistake that could hurt someone else, she was always quick to intervene and make sure that the situation was corrected. But she also gave them plenty of room to live their own lives. And as a result of that, her six adult children were a very tight-knit group. The death of Cal’s father twenty years ago had made them even more so. They understood the value of family. And they loved each other dearly. So dearly that even after ten years of being Cal’s one and only, Ashley sometimes still felt like an outsider looking in.
Oblivious to Ashley’s anxiety over the evening ahead, Helen linked arms with Ashley and led her toward the Great Room at the rear of the house, where everyone gathered. “If we’d had more notice, I would’ve invited your parents to be with us this evening, too,” Helen noted cheerfully. “They must be very anxious to see you, too!”
Were they? Ashley wondered.
“When are you and Cal going to visit them?” Helen paused in the kitchen to check the big pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove.
“I’m not sure,” Ashley hedged, watching Helen put water on to boil.
“But they do know you’re back in Carolina?” Helen ascertained, concern lighting her eyes.
Ashley nodded. “I e-mailed them my plans before I left Honolulu.” And hadn’t yet checked to see if there had been a response, largely because she hadn’t felt ready to face the constant pressure to achieve that her parents were likely to exert on her when they did see her.
Aware this was a touchy subject with Ashley, Cal motioned them all to the family room, where the rest of Hart clan was gathered around the television, watching two NHL teams do battle on the ice in Montreal. Had the Carolina Storm professional hockey team been playing that evening, three of the men in the family would have been absent. Janey’s husband, Thad, because he was the coach. Dylan, because he was a game announcer, and Joe, because he was one of the hockey players. But since the team had the day off, and the next game was at home, they were all there. As was Janey’s twelve-year-old son Christopher—who was petting Lily and Fletcher’s recently adopted yellow Labrador retriever, Spartacus. Mac and the newest members of the Hart clan—Joe’s wife, Emma, Dylan’s wife, Hannah, and Fletcher’s wife, Lily—were gathered around, too.
A happier bunch couldn’t have been found, Ashley noted, accepting hugs and warm hellos from one and all. And it was then the trouble she’d been anticipating began.
“SOMETHING WRONG?” Janey asked two hours later as the two of them carried the containers holding leftovers out to the spare refrigerator in Helen’s garage.
Besides the fact that everyone there seemed to be keeping a careful eye on everything she and Cal did and said? Ashley wondered.
Ashley figured if anyone understood the five Hart brothers it was their only sister, Janey. “What do you know about the advice the guys have been giving Cal about me?” Ashley asked, opening the fridge. She was willing to bet whatever had prompted the phone message Cal had received in Hawaii was still going on among the men. Sly looks, approving nods, the occasional slap on the shoulder, one brother to another, had been going on all night.
Abruptly, Janey looked like a kid who’d been caught with knowledge she had no business having.
Ashley held up a palm. “I heard it all, Janey. I just want to know what prompted the onslaught of friendly guidance in the first place.” Cal was the most private of the Hart brothers. Definitely the least likely to seek advice regarding his marriage.
Janey slid her containers into the spare fridge, then knelt to make room for Ashley’s. “They were just worried about you two.” Janey kept her head down. “We all were.” Even more quietly she said, “Cal’s been so lonely while you were away.”
This was news. Ashley’s heartbeat picked up and anxiety ran through her anew. “Was he complaining to the rest of you?” If so, she wasn’t sure how that made her feel! Not good, certainly.
“No, of course not.” Finished, Janey straightened. “Cal never complains. You know that.” Janey paused to look at Ashley seriously. “But even though he shrugged it off, we all knew he was pretty miserable whenever he wasn’t busy working.”
Then why hadn’t Cal said something? Ashley wondered, hurt