LITMIR.BIZ

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force that came up. She’d developed a reputation as the consummate volunteer, the woman who couldn’t say no.

      Before the divorce, she had commitments and obligations that took her away from the house most days and every night of the week. It had started when Zach was so busy preparing tax returns. She was lonely and looking for a social outlet, a way to be part of the community. Her volunteering had grown into a time-consuming monster that had threatened to destroy her and her family.

      “I always wanted to be the perfect wife and mother,” she whispered, saddened by the memory of her failings.

      Zach kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

      “Then I got so caught up in everything, I wasn’t any kind of mother at all.”

      “Hey, I’m not going to listen to you beat yourself up,” Zach said. “Especially when I was doing plenty wrong myself.”

      His hold on her tightened slightly. “You didn’t wreck our marriage single-handedly, Rosie. I let my ego replace common sense. You were right about Janice Lamond, but I was too blind to see what she was doing.”

      “I was so jealous,” Rosie confessed.

      “So was I, especially when you started dating that widower.”

      She didn’t know Zach had been jealous. The warm glow it gave her was childish, but she basked in the feeling, anyway. “Like I told you, we only went out that once.”

      “I thought it was much more, and it confused the hell out of me.” He laughed softly and continued to stroke her back. “We were supposed to be divorced, and yet the thought of you going out with another man had me seeing red.”

      Rosie loved it. “Well, you can imagine how I felt when we were married and I thought you were involved with another woman. Jealous doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

      “It’s not going to happen again,” he promised her.

      “I won’t get caught up in volunteering again, either,” she said. “Maybe the occasional short-term thing, but that’s it. I know how to set boundaries now.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve also discovered that I like teaching—I’d forgotten how much. The hours are great with the kids’ schedules, and when I return at the end of the day, I appreciate my home and family.”

      “I’ll help around the house more,” he vowed.

      “Good.” That had been another of their problems. Because she was supposed to be a stay-at-home mother, Zach—and the children, too—had come to rely on her to do everything, to fulfill every need, to be the perfect housekeeper, cook, fixer, scheduler, chauffeur and hostess. To be responsible for everything on the domestic front, in other words.

      “I can make dinner two nights a week,” Zach told her. “I’ve learned a lot from the cooking channel.”

      “I can handle getting dinner ready another three,” she said. Now that Rosie had more time, she’d found out she actually enjoyed cooking.

      “Allison’s learned a thing or two about helping out in the kitchen,” Zach said. “I think she’d like being in charge of one dinner a week.”

      “That leaves us with only one night open,” she said, thinking that perhaps they could trade off on it.

      “One night a week for you and me to go on a date,” Zach said firmly.

      “A date?”

      “Time for us to be together, Rosie. Just you and me. Do you realize we lived in the same house and barely spoke? We talked, but we were both too busy and too distracted to really listen to each other. You’re my best friend, and I’ve missed you and missed having you in my life. I believe that not spending time with each other is what got us into trouble.”

      Perhaps he was right. Perhaps that was one of the reasons their marriage had fallen apart. With Zach spending long hours at the office and her filling every spare minute with charity projects and volunteer positions, they’d lost their focus. They’d forgotten about each other; everything else had come first.

      Raising herself onto one elbow, she kissed his jaw. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

      “You have,” Zach whispered. “Oh, Rosie, Rosie, it feels so good to have you in my arms again.”

      “The kids want us to remarry,” she said.

      Until then, neither Zach nor Rosie had said it aloud.

      “I know.” She heard the hesitation in his voice. “How do you feel about it?”

      Rosie nestled closer to him. “Excited…and a little afraid.”

      “Me, too,” he said quietly.

      They’d both said and done things that burdened the future. Could they maintain this new resolve, continue to nurture their relationship and each other?

      “We need to be very sure, Zach.”

      “I agree. When we do remarry, and I believe we will,” he said, kissing her again, “it has to be forever, with one hundred percent total commitment from each of us.” Zach met her eyes, a look of intensity in his. “We’ve opened that door marked Divorce and walked through it once.”

      She nodded.

      “It could easily become a swinging door. With every argument, every disagreement, we can decide we made an even bigger mistake by remarrying. We can turn what seems so right and good now into a living nightmare.”

      Rosie understood what he was saying. “In other words, if we decide to remarry, that’s it. There’s no going back again. Ever.”

      “It’s all or nothing,” he said fervently.

      Rosie didn’t hesitate. She knew what she wanted and that was this man, her husband and lover, back in her life forever. “All or nothing,” she repeated. “I want it all.”

      “Then, will you marry me, Rosie? In sickness and in health, till death do us part?”

      “I will,” she whispered. “What are we going to tell people?” she asked after a pause.

      Zach chuckled. “We’ll tell them the truth.”

      “Which is?”

      “The divorce just didn’t work out.”

      “You’re a beautiful bride.” Grace wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

      Olivia turned away from the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door. She wore a new peach-colored suit, tailored and elegant, and carried a bouquet of pink rosebuds.

      Grace sat on the bed studying her. James and Justine would arrive soon and together they’d escort her to the waterfront park where Jack, his family and Charlotte waited.

      “Will Jack think so?” Olivia asked, knowing how insecure she sounded. After all these years of living as a single woman, she’d never expected to fall in love again, in love to the point that she was willing to share her home and her life with another man. Until Jack Griffin had come along…

      “I think it’s so touching that Jack asked Pastor Flemming to perform the ceremony,” Grace said, digging for a tissue in the bottom of her purse. “I just know I’m going to ruin everything and cry through the entire thing.”

      “You won’t,” Olivia assured her, although she wasn’t nearly as confident about herself. Every time she thought of Jack and how much she loved him, she felt like weeping with joy.

      “Oh, Mom!” Justine said, dashing into the bedroom. She brought her hands together in a gesture of reverence. “You look absolutely gorgeous.”

      Olivia blushed, then kissed her daughter on the cheek. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

      “Are you ready?” Justine asked. “The limo’s arrived.”

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