“Saving all my dances for Addie,” he said, not bothering to play nice. He was getting tired of this woman’s games.
Betsi grinned, completely unfazed by the rejection. “Oh. I figured since she just left with Keith, you’d be looking for a new partner.”
Adele had done what?
Suddenly, Porter understood why Macie was hovering by the door. He quickly excused himself to his cousin and Coop.
“Macie,” Porter said when he reached her. “What’s going on? Where’s Addie?”
Macie pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. “She’s outside. Keith asked to talk to her in private.”
“Why?”
Macie shrugged. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. But they walked too far away so I couldn’t hear a word they’re saying. Then somebody yelled at me to shut the door, so now I’m trying to read lips.”
Macie was tenacious when she wanted to know something.
“How’s that going for you?”
She grimaced. “Shitty. I figure they won’t be out there long because she doesn’t have her coat and it’s fucking freezing.”
Porter peered through the door’s window and spotted Adele and Keith.
“You going to go out there?” Macie asked, clearly expecting him to start a fight. And damn if he wasn’t tempted to.
But something held him back. He recalled Adele’s jealousy of Betsi and the way she’d stormed over to stake her claim. Porter hadn’t minded that a bit, but then, like a jackass, he’d spanked her and told her he wanted her trust.
Trust was a two-way street, so if he went out there right now, wouldn’t he be showing her he didn’t trust her?
Problem was that wasn’t what had him itching to go out and stake his own claim. He did trust Adele. It was Keith he was having the issue with. Because he didn’t trust that guy as far as he could throw him. It was obvious the man still had a thing for Adele. Not that Porter could blame him.
“Does Adele still have feelings for Keith?” Porter forced himself to ask.
Macie glanced over her shoulder, through the window. “No. I don’t think she does. She was pretty upset for a few months after he moved to St. Louis. And the two of them sort of relapsed last Christmas, kissing under the mistletoe. But she turned a corner in the spring, and since then…I really think she’s been moving on.”
She turned a corner in spring. Porter smiled to himself. He’d turned that same corner at the same time.
“Who is the woman at the table?” Macie asked.
“My cousin Virginia.”
“Ah, I thought she looked familiar. She hasn’t been in Maris in years, has she?”
Porter shook her head. “Got married and moved to Australia, if you can believe it.” He felt a slight niggling that had him concerned. “Did Adele see me with her?”
Macie gave him a crooked grin. “Yep.”
He sighed. “Is she ever going to trust me around other women?”
Macie laughed. “Yep. She already does.”
“Wait, what? She didn’t get jealous when she saw me with Virginia?”
“Nope. Said something to the effect that she was yours. Sounded like she believed it too.”
Adele had been trying to get his Grinch heart to grow three sizes, and damn if it didn’t just happen. She trusted him, believed him when he said she was the only one for him. Christmas had come early this year because he’d just gotten the greatest gift he ever could have asked for.
“So, I’ll ask again. You going out there?” Macie repeated.
“No. I trust her too.”
Macie grinned. “You love her, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I do. More than I can say. But I haven’t told her yet, so do you mind keeping that to yourself for now?”
“Never give a Sparks a scoop like that and then tell them to keep it a secret.”
He narrowed his eyes.
Macie pretended to lock her lips with an invisible key. “I won’t say a word.” Macie gave him a hug, then rubbed her pregnant belly. “You’re gonna make a great uncle.”
Porter chuckled. “Coop’s been a bad influence on you. Always putting the cart before the horse.”
“Deny all you want, but you and I both know…” Macie glanced over her shoulder, out the window, and gasped.
Her reaction drew Porter’s attention to the tableau outside. And he saw what Macie did.
Keith was down on one knee, offering a ring to Adele.
Porter growled. “Shit.”
So much for staying inside.
Adele gasped as she looked down at Keith’s outstretched hand, at the ring.
“Keith,” she whispered.
“I tried to get over you, Adele, but I couldn’t. This past year has sucked. Every bit of it. So I requested a transfer and it was approved. I’m moving back to Texas in January, working in the Houston office. I know that’s still a couple hours away from Maris, but that’s not that far. And while I know you’re not fond of big cities, I bet you’d get used to it. And you could come home as much as you wanted to.”
Keith was rambling. He had been ever since he’d pulled her out into this frigid freaking air. She’d tried several times to tell him about Porter, but every time she started to speak, he cut her off, telling her how much he’d missed her, how he still loved her.
“Please,” she implored. “Stand up, Keith. We need to talk. You can’t just—”
“My mom said things with Nick didn’t work out. Can’t you see why, Adele? It’s us. It’s always been us.”
She shook her head, hating how badly she was going to have to hurt him. It had been an entire year. How could his feelings still be this strong? And were they? Or was he just homesick? After all, he’d moved to a big city where he knew no one. Maybe he didn’t want her as much as he just didn’t want to be alone anymore.
“Stand up,” she repeated, her tone more forceful, less pleading. It captured his attention and he slowly stood.
Keith held the ring between them, but his expression was less hopeful, more suspicious. “Adele?”
She reached out and placed her hands on his, closing the lid on the ring box. “I can’t marry you.”
“Houston isn’t that far,” he started again, still convinced her refusal was based on her unwillingness to move away from Maris.
“That’s not why.”
He tilted his head. “You don’t love me anymore.”
She swallowed heavily. “There’s someone else.”
Keith frowned. “Nick? I thought—”
“No. Not Nick. Porter.”
“Cormack?” Keith asked aghast. “Jesus, Adele. How could you fall for a guy like that? He’ll never love you back, never marry you.”
“You’re wrong.”
Keith shook his head. “Please don’t throw away what we have. Not for something that will never happen. Porter only wants one thing from women, and once he gets it, he moves on.”
“You’re wrong,” Adele said again, her temper piquing. “You don’t know a damn thing about Porter.”
“Fuck,” Keith muttered. “You’re seriously in love with the guy. Adele, how could you be so stupid?”