Full Bloom

faithful. I'll take care of you. The unemployed status is temporary and you know it. I'm not marrying you for your family connections."
    "It's got nothing to do with any of that," she cried. "Please, Jacob…"
    "Why won't you marry me?"
    "Because my family would find a way to destroy the marriage and I couldn't bear it!" Emily yelled as the sea wind whipped her hair. Tears burned in her eyes. "Now do you understand? I just couldn't bear to watch them drive you away from me."
    Jacob stared at her in astonishment. "That's the reason? You're afraid your family will object?"
    "I'm not afraid of their objecting to the marriage, I'm afraid of them doing something about it." Emily wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and cursed the dampness. "I've tried to tell you. They've always been able to do something about situations they don't like. You should know. You've been the means they've used to fix those situations often enough. If we got married, they would find a way to convince you to leave me. I know they would."
    Jacob's astonishment was slowly metamorphosing into another expression altogether. His eyes were full of gray fire now and his face was set in rigid lines. He was coldly furious. "That's the real reason you won't marry me? You've still got it fixed in your head that your family will find a way to get rid of me?"
    Emily nodded in mute despair. "I know they would. They like you as an employee, Jacob. You've been very useful to them. But they don't want you as a son-in-law. And you wouldn't let me use the one defense I had against them. You refused to let me threaten them with the shares. There's nothing else that will stop them from interfering in our lives. You know that better than most people do. You should know what they're capable of doing."
    "I wonder if you have any idea of what I'm capable of doing to you at the moment," Jacob asked harshly.
    She blinked through her tears. His tone made her uneasy. "Jacob?"
    He stood looking down at her, his gaze shadowed and cold. "What it really comes down to is that you don't trust me."
    "That's not true." She was shocked at his interpretation.
    "It's true, all right. You don't trust me to be able to deal with a bunch of Ravenscrofts. You don't think I can protect both myself and you from them."
    She realized just how offended he really was and she was instantly contrite. "Oh, Jacob, I never meant to imply you couldn't take care of yourself, but you know what they're like. They've intimidated union leaders, corporate presidents and even a few politicians. They've handled everything from kidnapping to industrial espionage and come out on top. Furthermore, they've run off every serious boyfriend I've ever had."
    "And deep down you're scared to death of them."
    "I know how powerful they can be," she insisted. "I know how they can interfere in my life. They've done it often enough in the past. I don't want to run any more risks with our relationship than are absolutely necessary. I only had one bargaining tool and that was my stake in Ravenscroft International. The one time I tried to use that option to protect us, you were furious. When they find out I'm not really going to use the shares to keep them in line after all we'll be on borrowed time. Sooner or later everything will come crashing down around our ears." Her eyes brightened hopefully. "Maybe if you changed your mind and let me really use the threat…"
    Jacob shook his head, disgusted as well as angry. "Forget it. I'm not going to let you threaten your family on my behalf. You're out of the blackmail business. It's not exactly a suitable sideline for a professional florist. I've come to a conclusion about those damned shares."
    "What conclusion?"
    "I suggest you sell them back to your family. Take the money and use it to open your second florist shop."
    Emily's eyes widened. "I can't do that."
    "Why not? You're not getting any income from them this way, and you don't like being tied to RI. Why are you hanging on to those shares?"
    "I made a promise to Grandmother. Someday I'll tell you about it."
    "All right, forget the shares, then. I don't care what you do with them so long as you don't use them as blackmail ammunition. That brings us back to us." Jacob started striding down the beach again, using his grip on Emily's arm to pull her along behind him. "Now let's deal with the main issue here. I assume we now have all the facts on the table? Your only reason for not accepting my proposal is that you think