Tears filled Lisa’s eyes and at that moment she wondered what she had done to deserve such a wonderful man as Myles. They had dated for almost three years and her family, refusing to accept him, had gone so far as to deliberately break them up. Yet he still wanted her.
She shook her head and inhaled deeply before saying, “Yes, I still want a future with you, but I can’t have one.”
She glanced around the room and saw the surprised looks on the faces of her parents and sisters before turning to meet Myles’s eyes. “And the reason I can’t have one is because I don’t deserve you, Myles.”
She paused to wipe the tears from her eyes before continuing, “For years everyone thought I was too good for you. But the truth of the matter is that I’m not good enough for you. You asked me why I didn’t pursue my dream of becoming a teacher. The reason is because once you left I couldn’t refocus on passing the test to get my teaching certificate. I felt like a failure to lose you and to lose out on my dream as well. Evidently, I wasn’t as smart as everyone thought.”
And without saying anything else she turned and walked out of the house.
* * *
LISA SAT IN Myles’s car waiting for him to come out of her parents’ home. To her way of thinking it was taking him more time than necessary to do so. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing else left to be said.
The front door opened and Myles emerged. She could see her father standing in the doorway looking at her, but she turned her head away.
Miles opened the car door, slid beneath the steering wheel and glanced over at her. “You okay?” he asked in a soft, yet husky voice.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just take me home please.” She wanted to be alone to sort out her parents’ betrayal.
“Talk to me, Lisa.”
She turned toward him as he pulled onto the road. “What do you want me to say?”
“That you love me.”
She smiled sadly. “I love you.”
He smiled. “Good, now we’re getting somewhere. Now tell me that you’re going to marry me.”
“I can’t.”
“Sure you can. I heard what you told your folks back there, but what you fail to realize is that our relationship doesn’t concern them anymore. It only concerns me and you and what we want. You are not a failure, and I think you’re one of the smartest women I know. And I want you, Lisa, and I love you, too.”
“Please, just let things be, Myles.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t do that. Once before I gave in where you’re concerned, but I won’t do it again. We were made for each other. You are mine and I am yours, and I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t figured that out yet.”
He chuckled. “But it seems that you’re the one who hasn’t figured it out yet. I’ll give you some time if you need it—but not much. I’m leaving the day after tomorrow and heading to Daytona. I was going to ask you to come with me, but I think you and your family need time together to mend a few broken fences. I also think you need time to think about us, Lisa.”
He brought the car to a stop in front of her apartment building. A few moments later he walked her up to her apartment. When she invited him inside he shook his head, knowing what would happen once they were behind closed doors. “No, sweetheart. There’s still some doubt in your mind about us. You say you love me, yet you say you won’t spend the rest of your life with me as my wife. I refuse to make love to you again until that happens, until you’re absolutely sure of your place in my heart and my life.”
He leaned over and kissed her lips and pulled her into his arms. “I want you, but not this way. Only as my wife. The only race I want to win right now is the one to the altar with you by my side.”
He then released her, took a step back and walked back to his car.
CHAPTER SIX
THE NEXT DAY Lisa was moping around the house still wearing her pjs at noon when the doorbell rang. She tossed down the magazine she was reading and raced to the door, hoping it was Myles.
She let out a disappointed sigh when she looked out the peephole and saw her parents and sisters. They had tried calling her last night and most of that morning, but she hadn’t bothered answering the phone.
Deciding she would at least find out what they wanted, she opened the door. “Yes?”
“May we come in?” her father asked.
Instead of answering, she stepped aside to let all five individuals pass. She closed the door and turned to face them. She studied her father’s features. He looked as if he hadn’t slept most of the night. The last time she had seen him this way was that year he had pulled an all-nighter at the weather station when Hurricane Charley’s fury had passed through town.
“We owe you an apology,” her father said in a tired yet sincere voice. “Your mom and I made a grave mistake in trying to dictate what man you should have in your life.”
He paused a moment then said, “She and I take full responsibility for our actions. Your sisters knew nothing about it, so hold them blameless. Our excuse for our actions is that you’re our baby girl and we were worried about you. Of the four, you’re the only one who had a steady boyfriend and we could see how close the two of you were. When we saw that pregnancy kit we jumped to the wrong conclusions and we apologize for that as well. Can you find it in your heart to forgive us?”
When she didn’t answer fast enough her father said, “Just so you’ll know, we apologized to Myles last night after you had walked out of the house. He accepted our apology and has forgiven us. He also knows that if the two of you want to marry, he has my and your mother’s blessings.”
Lisa’s gaze shifted from one family member to the other. She loved each one of them and she knew they loved her, but they had to realize that her business was hers and not theirs. “Will you all promise to let me live my life the way I want? And let any mistakes I make along the way be my mistakes?”
Her father smiled and nodded assuredly. “Yes, we promise.”
Lisa crossed the room and walked into her parents’ open arms, and then she proceeded to get hugs from each of her sisters.
* * *
SUNNIE SURVEYED THE hundreds of people in the stands and shook her head. “Honestly, Lisa, how on earth do you expect to find Myles among all these people?”
Lisa had arrived in Daytona earlier that day with her sisters and parents. Tonight was the night of the New Year’s Eve charity race, and although they knew Myles wasn’t racing, his team was. His boss, Bronson Scott, was expected to place in the top five.
She had left her parents in their seats in the stands while she and her sisters made their way over to the Scott Motorsports pit box. She and Myles had spoken several times over the course of the past twenty-four hours, but she hadn’t told him she planned to come to tonight’s race. She intended to surprise him. Just like she planned on telling him that she intended to marry him…if the offer was still out there.
To keep her arrival a secret from Myles, she had contacted the headquarters of the Scott Motorsports in Charlotte. After explaining her dilemma, they told her they would give her phone number to Bronson and to wait for his call. In less than twenty minutes, Bronson Scott had contacted her.