Everything within her wanted to tell him yes, that she would love nothing more than to be his wife and build a wonderful life with him and their children. But although Zach had asked her if she loved him, he hadn’t admitted how he felt about her.
“Do you love me?” she asked, finally getting her vocal cords to work.
His gaze held hers for what seemed like forever before he replied. “You have to know that I care deeply for you, Arielle.”
Her heart felt as if it dropped to her feet. “That’s not what I asked you, Zach. I want to know if you love me.”
“We’re good together,” he responded, placing the ring on the table. He cupped her face with his hands. “We can have a good life.”
“Really?” Tears filled her eyes as an ache like she’d never known filled her heart. But she blinked the moisture away. “You think so?”
“I know so, darlin’.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “I like doing things for you and getting things I know you’ll like.”
“I-Is that what you think…I want?” she prodded, her chest tightening with so much emotional pain, she wasn’t sure she could draw her next breath. “Material things?”
His expression became guarded. “I promise you’ll never want for anything, Arielle.”
“Y-You’re wrong, Zach.” She shook her head. “There’s only one thing I want from you. And you can’t or won’t give that to me.”
“What’s that?” he asked. They both knew what she wanted and they both knew she wasn’t going to get it from him.
“All that I’ve ever wanted,” she professed, standing up. “Your love.”
Rising to his feet, he stammered, “You have to understand that—”
“P-Please…don’t,” she begged, backing away from him. She couldn’t bear to hear him tell her that he could never love her.
“Everything will work out, Arielle. And I give you my word that I’ll never do anything that would hurt you or isn’t in your and our twins’ best interest.”
“It’s too late for that, Zach,” she concluded as her heart shattered into a million pieces. “You just did.”
Chapter Nine
“What’s going on, Zach?” Lana asked Friday morning as she slowly walked into his den. “And don’t tell me nothing because I know better.”
“Hey, sis.” Seated in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, Zach motioned for her to join him. “You look like physical therapy is working wonders. You’re walking a lot better than you were last week.”
“Don’t do that,” she insisted, shaking her head as she eased down in the chair beside him. “You’re not going to distract me after I skipped therapy to drive over here. I want to know why you haven’t been in the office all week and why you look like you’ve lost your last friend.” She frowned. “How long has it been since you shaved?”
“A couple of days.” He reached up to scratch the growth of stubble covering his cheeks as he stared at the empty coffee cup in his hand. “I just felt like taking a few days off from everything, that’s all.”
Lana gave an unladylike snort. “I wasn’t born yesterday, so don’t feed me that line of hooey. You haven’t missed a day shaving since you scraped three or four hairs off your chin when you were thirteen. And you never take time off unless you’re visiting one of the resorts, which we both know are working vacations. So what’s wrong?”
He’d known he wouldn’t be able to avoid telling his sister the truth. Even before their father had died, he and Lana had been close. She knew him better than anyone else and was just as protective of him as he was of her. There was no way she was going to leave without answers.
“In about five and a half months, I’m going to be the father of twins,” he said without preamble.
His sister’s silence proved his news was not expected. “Are you serious?” she finally asked, her voice reflecting her stunned shock.
He nodded. “You know I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”
“Dear God, Zach, I know I was out of the loop there for a while, but how did I miss this?” Lana gave him a pointed look. “I lived here with you for several months after my release from the hospital and you weren’t seeing anyone.”
Explaining the events in Aspen and his recent reunion with Arielle, Zach finished by telling her what happened when he proposed. “After I took her to her apartment, I came here. End of story.”
“Not by a long shot, brother.” Lana slowly shook her head back and forth. “I don’t blame her for telling you to hit the bricks. I would have, too. If you want her back, you have some serious groveling to do.”
“I don’t grovel,” he retorted, suddenly irritated with his sister. They usually agreed on just about everything and it irked him no end that she wasn’t taking his side.
“Well, I’d say if you want a future with this woman and your twins, you’d better start.” Lana placed her hand on his arm and her voice took on a gentle quality. “I know what happened five years ago has a lot to do with the way you handled this, Zach. But Arielle isn’t Gretchen. From everything you’ve told me, she loves you and is thrilled to be having these babies. And unlike Gretchen, she obviously adores children or she wouldn’t have made preschoolers her career.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Then stop holding Arielle accountable for something she hasn’t done and wouldn’t think of doing.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.”
“Aren’t you?” Lana gave him a meaningful look. “I know you blame yourself for not seeing what Gretchen was doing, but that’s in the past and you need to let it go. And if you’ll admit it, your pride took the biggest hit back then.”
“How do you figure that?” he demanded, more irritated with each passing second.
“You thought Gretchen loved you and wanted the same things you did. But that wasn’t the case and you can’t accept that you were wrong about her.” Lana sighed. “Don’t you see, Zach? It’s just a matter of semantics. You say you care deeply for Arielle, but you can’t bring yourself to use the word love because you might be wrong about her, too. And that scares you to death.”
His sister’s insight was hitting a little closer to home than he was comfortable with. But he wasn’t about to concede. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Lana.”