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He snorted with amusement, remembering her comment from months ago. “I promise you’ll have fun.”
She nodded. “Are these things fancy? Do I need to dress up?”
“Most do, but some just wear business casual. Everyone is pretty nice and normal.”
“Looks like it’s back to the stores for me.”
He leaned closer to the screen. “I’m really looking forward to seeing you, Princess.”
“You too.” She coughed.
“I hope you feel better soon.”
“Thanks. And I hope you’ll stay well. Talk tomorrow?”
“Can’t wait.”
She smiled and blew him a kiss, the call finished, and he stared, head in hands, at the blank screen, his emotions churning in a never-ending cycle of yearning, frustration, desire, and regret.
* * *
The glitzy hotelballroom held a myriad of men and women in evening dress chatting, eating, laughing. Sarah munched on the arancini ball the waiter had just scooped onto her plate and swallowed some more pride. Okay, so maybe her assumptions about rich people were misplaced after all. The players and business people she’d met tonight really did seem to care about Toronto’s needy, donating outrageous sums to provide for a women’s shelter downtown. Maybe she was more like Elizabeth Bennet than she liked to admit, happily judging individuals and a whole stratum of society before getting to know them.Judge people? Moi? Surely not.
“What’s with the smile?”
Dan hovered back into view, another mocktail for her in hand—delicious concoctions of juice with fruity decorations. She didn’t need any extra kick from alcohol. Life was kicking along just fine, thank you very much. Attending a cocktail charity function in freezing cold Toronto in November was not something she’d thought she’d ever do, but hello, here she was. These days there was a lot she was doing that she never would’ve anticipated a year ago.
Sarah studied Dan, etching his features in her mind for future reference: his tousled dark hair, his long-lashed dark eyes, and his strong, smooth jaw complete with scar. Her throat cinched. Only six weeks, then she’d be leaving the country. What would he say when she told him? Tonight still had not provided time to talk privately.
“Princess?”
She refocused with a start. “Oh! Sorry. I was just looking around at your friends here thinking, wow, Dan sure knows what he’s talking about. They actually do seem normal and nice. How’s it feel to be Mr. Right?”
Whoops. Hadn’t meant to say that. Like that. At all.
He drew closer, eyes alight with mischief, all shadows gone. “Mr. Right, eh? Well, I don’t know, Princess. You might need to fill me in on what you mean by that.”
Dan tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, smoothing it with a caress that made her shiver inside. “I, uh, just meant…”
He smiled. “No, don’t spoil the illusion.”
* * *
Illusion.That’s what it was all right. Dan kept the smile pasted on for the rest of the evening, but that night, after taking Sarah home, sleep was impossible as his mind tracked through the past few weeks.
She was so right, so good, just so nice, and he? Despite what she’d said tonight, he knew he really was Mr. Wrong. An illusion. A fake. Sure, she’d had her issues, said stuff, done stuff that had made him want to scream in frustration at times, but at least she was working through things.
She was changing, willing to admit to mistakes, willing to trust God with the future, whereas he? Dan groaned aloud as that now familiar ball of guilt made its presence felt again. How could he ever admit to her the massive mistake he’d once made?
* * *
Why wasit that going somewhere for the first time always seemed to take longer than the return journey? After John escaped the snow-snarled traffic and finally parked at Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Sarah almost slipped on her way in, so great was the excitement. How many other twenty-nine-year-olds would be this excited to see their parents? But then, she’d always scored high marks for enthusiasm. And after all that had happened over the past six months, there was so much to catch up on, so much to tell.
She waited at arrivals, jogging from one foot to the other. Finally, her mother’s dark red hair signaled their entrance.
“Lindy!” Ange raced to give her a huge hug. Maybe excitement did run in the family after all. Sarah hugged her dad before finally taking her turn with her mother.
Her mother’s arms wrapped around her, a cocoon of security and peace.
