Free Hometown Proposal by Merrillee Whren Page A

his life in the past year and a half to Elise.
    â€œJuliane couldn’t stay. She had to go meet Lukas.” Elise stepped closer to the bed, but she still appeared tense and wary, staring at him with those brandy-colored eyes. They made him remember the love that used to radiate from them. Could that ever happen again? “I’m glad you could stay.”
    Elise looked as if she wanted to bolt. “If you’re not up to visiting tonight, I can come another time. Your mom told me you were ready for visitors. She wanted me to talk to you.”
    â€œI’m fine.” Seth’s heart took a nosedive. Elise wasn’t here because she wanted to see him. She was here again because his mother had probably badgered her into coming.
    â€œYou’re sure?” As Elise gazed at him, the golden highlights in her brown hair shimmered in the overhead lights.
    Seth nodded, knowing no matter how he felt he had to take advantage of her presence now. So he’d better start talking, or Elise would probably decide to leave. “If you don’t mind, could you please bring the chair closer to the bed and sit down?”
    â€œSure.” She pushed the chair toward the head of the bed and placed it so she was facing him. Looking like a child who had been called into the principal’s office, she sat straight-backed with her hands folded in her lap.
    Seth wanted to tell her to relax, but that wouldn’t get them off to a very good start. The tension in her shoulders told him that she wasn’t eager to be here. He wished he could make her feel more at ease. How was he going to start this conversation?
    He needed to collect his thoughts, not an easy task considering the pain medication. He might as well get right to the point. “I suppose you’re wondering how I came to have Olivia. I guess I should start there.”
    Wide-eyed, she nodded. “That would be good.”
    Telling Elise about Olivia had been his idea, but now that he had a chance to explain, his mind was numb. The words wouldn’t form in his mouth. “I’ve changed.”
    â€œHow?” Her skeptical tone stabbed him in the heart.
    â€œI know I said I’d start with Olivia, but I have to tell you what came before in order for it all to make sense.”
    â€œGo ahead. I’m here to listen.” Nothing in Elise’s expression changed.
    Seth’s heart sank when she crossed her arms—a sure sign she didn’t want to be here. Convincing her that he was different wouldn’t be easy. “The day we saw Sophie with Olivia, I was very angry. She’d lied to me the last time we’d spoken.”
    â€œWhat lies?” Elise’s inflection and unchanging demeanor made her continued skepticism very evident.
    Pain that the medication couldn’t blunt surrounded his heartas he told Elise about Sophie’s deceptions. “She was stringing me and her current boyfriend both along so she could get twice as much money. Once I found that out, I cut all ties. I convinced myself that Olivia wasn’t mine at all and refused to even have a paternity test. Looking back now, I can see how wrong I was, how I punished an innocent baby for her mother’s mistake. But I was too angry to see that at the time. Then everything changed.”
    â€œHow?” This time genuine interest sounded in Elise’s question as she dropped her arms.
    Elise’s response filled Seth with hope that she would finally understand the reasons for what he’d done. “I told you about my dad’s sudden death the other night. His death caused me to examine my life. At the funeral, I saw the influence he had had on the people who knew him. I vowed then and there to be a man like my dad.”
    Nodding, Elise leaned forward. “I remember your dad from when your parents came on one of our cruises. He impressed me as the kind of man you describe.”
    Taking in Elise’s statement, Seth