Whatever it was, it took everything Lila had not to let it get the better of her. She knew where that sort of thing led her. To heaven and then, eventually, to hell as a consequence.
That wasn’t going to happen again, she silently swore.
Clearing her throat, Lila ignored the last part of what he’d said and crisply answered, “Yes, it’s fine with me.”
Lucie smiled. “Then let the introductions begin,” she announced, taking charge.
Lucie led off with her husband, Chase. The latter was a genial man who struck Everett as being very down-to-earth, considering the fact that he was an extremely wealthy man.
It was while Everett was talking to Chase that he was introduced to Graham Fortune Robinson. Graham, Everett was told, was one of Jerome Fortune/Gerald Robinson’s eight legitimate offspring. Again, rather than behaving as if he was spoiled or indifferent, or extremely entitled—all traits that Everett had seen displayed by many of the wealthy people he’d grown up with—Graham Fortune came across as only interested in the amount of good he could do with the money he had.
The man, like so many of the other Fortunes who were there that evening, had a keen interest in philanthropy, Everett concluded.
While he was being introduced to and talking with various members of the Fortune clan, Everett found himself exploring the subject that was so near and dear to Schuyler’s heart: that perhaps there was some sort of a family connection between the Fortune family and his own. Was “Fortunado” just a poor attempt by someone in the previous generation to either connect to the Fortunes, or to clumsily try to hide that connection?
Everett’s radar went up even higher when, after Lucie said that her connection to Graham went beyond just bloodlines, Graham joked that it seemed like everyone was related to him these days.
Everett forced himself to bite his tongue in order to refrain from asking Graham if, by that comment, he was referring to the Fortunados.
The next moment, Graham cleared up the possible confusion by saying that he was referring to the fact that numerous illegitimate Fortune offspring had been located over the past couple of years. Apparently, many years ago the prodigious patriarch Jerome Fortune had deliberately disappeared. When he had resurfaced, he had changed his name, calling himself Gerald Robinson. And, in addition to going on to amass a wealthy portfolio of his own, Gerald/Jerome had amassed a sizeable number of offspring, both legitimately with his wife, Charlotte, and illegitimately with a whole host of women whose paths the man had crossed.
“How did he manage to keep track of all those kids?” Everett marveled, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that one man had wound up fathering a legion of children.
“Quite simply, he didn’t,” Graham answered. “But according to one story I’ve heard, his wife—and my mother—did. She got it into her head to look up every one of her husband’s progeny. Some of my siblings think she wanted to be prepared for any eventuality,” Graham explained. “Supposedly, she has everything she found written down in a big binder or something along those lines.”
Graham smiled. “My personal theory is that when she collected enough data to make that binder really heavy, she was going to use it to hit my father upside the head and teach him a lesson for tomcatting around like that.”
Lila nodded, saying in all seriousness, “If you ask me, the man certainly had it coming, spreading his seed around like that without any thought of how this was affecting anyone else in his family—especially those children.”
“Yes, but then on the other hand, if he hadn’t done it, there would be a lot less Fortunes in the world and so far, all the ones I’ve met have been really decent people whose hearts are in the right place,” Everett pointed out.
Graham smiled his approval at Everett’s comment. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. I’ve come to like every one of my siblings.” He shrugged and held up his wineglass as if in a silent toast to them. “It’s not everyone who has a family big enough to populate a medium-size town.”
Everett touched his glass to Graham’s. He felt as if he could go on talking about the various members of the Fortune family all night. But suddenly, everyone in the ballroom was being asked to stop what they were doing.
“Can I have everyone’s attention for a moment?” a tall, imposing man with a booming voice said into a microphone. He was standing before a podium at the front of the ballroom. “This is the time in our evening where we all temporarily suspend the festivities and are asked to dig deep into our hearts—and our pockets,” the MC added with a laugh. “In other words, it’s time for us to donate to the Fortune Foundation so it can go on doing all those good works and helping all those people who are not nearly as fortunate—no pun intended—as we all are.”
The man’s piercing blue eyes seemed to sweep around the entire ballroom. No easy feat, Lila thought, watching from the sidelines.
“Now don’t be shy,” the MC continued. “Give as much as you’re able. No donation is too small, although bigger is always better. But even a little is better than nothing. So, like I said, open your hearts and get those checkbooks out. Remember, it feels good to give. And when you do, you’ll find that you’ll get back in ways you never even suspected were possible.”
Listening, Lila opened up her purse and took out her checkbook. She was about to start writing out what she viewed to be a modest amount—although it was all she could afford—when Everett put his hand on hers, stopping her.
She looked at him, puzzled. Why wasn’t he letting her write the check?
“I’ll take care of it for both of us,” he told her. The next moment, as she watched, she saw Everett write out a check for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars.
At the last second, she remembered to keep her mouth from dropping open.
Chapter Fifteen
The MC, David Davenport, looked at the check that had just been passed to him by one of the aides collecting donations from the guests. Holding the check aloft, Davenport scanned the crowd until he made eye contact with Everett.
“Is this right?” the MC asked Everett, astonished. “Your pen didn’t slip?”
Everett’s mouth curved slightly as he smiled at the man in front of the room. “My pen didn’t slip,” he assured the MC.
Davenport, a distinguished-looking, gray-haired man in his fifties, instantly brightened. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to announce that we have a new record,” he told the gathering. “Dr. Everett Fortunado has generously donated the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to the Fortune Foundation.”
A hush fell over the entire ballroom. It lasted for almost a full minute and then people began clapping. The sound swelled until the entire ballroom was engulfed in appreciative applause.
Everett wasn’t really sure just how to react to the applause. He hadn’t made the donation because he wanted to garner any sort of attention. He’d written the check because he felt it was his obligation to share the good fortune he had always felt so privileged to grow up experiencing.
When the applause finally died down, Davenport proceeded to try to utilize the moment to the Foundation’s advantage.
“All right, people, let’s see if Dr. Fortunado’s generosity can motivate some of you to do your fair share as well.” The MC looked around. It seemed as if he was making eye contact with everyone there. “Remember, this is for those deserving mothers and fathers and children who so badly need our help in order to make it through the hard times.”
Everett stood back and watched as more of the fund-raiser’s attendees began writing out checks. There seemed to be chatter going on all around him.
Except at his side.
From the moment he had written out the check, Everett noticed that Lila had fallen completely silent. She hadn’t said a single word to him during the entire time that the checks were being written and collected on all sides of them.
&n
bsp; Nor, he observed, did Lila say anything during the buffet dinner that followed, despite the fact that he had intentionally stayed close to her during the whole time. He had broached a number of topics in an effort to engage her in conversation and had only received single-word replies.
Finally, unable to take the silence any longer, he drew Lila aside to a little alcove, away from the rest of the ballroom, and asked her point-blank: “Is something wrong?”
Lila had been trying to reconcile the mixed feelings she’d been having ever since she’d watched Everett writing out a check for such an exorbitant amount. Because she didn’t want to cause a scene or start an uproar, she’d been doing her best just to squelch the suspicions that had been growing in her head. That involved keeping her mouth shut and not saying anything, although it wasn’t easy.
But her doubts weren’t going away, and rather than taking a hint and keeping quiet, Everett was pressuring her for an explanation.
Finally blowing out a frustrated breath, Lila asked him bluntly, “Are you trying to buy me?”
Dumbfounded and more than a little confused, Everett could only stare at her. He wasn’t even sure if he had actually heard Lila correctly.
“What?”
Lila pressed her lips together, then ground out, “Are you trying to buy my love by giving that huge sum of money to the Foundation?”
Stunned, he told her, “I made that donation because the Foundation is a worthy cause that does a great deal of good work. I thought you’d be happy about my contribution.” He looked at her, not knowing where this had come from. Not for the first time, he felt as if he was walking on eggshells around her.
“Why do you have to dissect every single move I make and search for an ulterior motive?” he wanted to know. “Can’t I just be generous because I want to be? Because it makes me feel good to do something decent for people who weren’t born as lucky as I was?” He saw tears suddenly shimmering in her eyes and immediately felt a pang of guilt because he knew he was responsible for those tears. “Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry—”
Lila shook her head, halting his apology. Taking a deep breath to center herself, she said, “You didn’t. You’re right. You did something selfless and I just took it apart, looking for hidden reasons behind your donation when you were just being a decent guy.” She blew out a shaky breath. “I guess I’ve just gotten to be really mistrustful.”
And that was on him, Everett thought. He’d done this to her—taken a sweet, optimistic young woman and crushed something inside of her all those years ago. He had to find a way to fix this, he told himself.
But how?
How did he convince Lila that his feelings for her were genuine? That all he wanted was to be able to show her that he loved her and that he was willing to make things up to her for the rest of his life?
Desperation had him making the next move in his desire to reach her, to communicate to her just how sincere he was.
Since he had taken her away from the rest of the guests in the ballroom by drawing her into a recessed alcove to talk to her, he knew they’d be safe from any prying eyes.
Framing Lila’s face with his hands, Everett bent his head and did what he had been longing to do since he had first seen her in that sandwich shop in Austin.
He kissed her.
The moment his lips touched Lila’s, Everett realized just how much he had missed her.
How much he really wanted Lila.
A little voice in his head told him he should stop kissing her, but he couldn’t. Instead, Everett deepened the kiss.
And just like that, the captor became the captive.
At that moment, he knew that he would have walked through fire just to have Lila back in his life the way she had been all those years ago: loving and untainted by uncertainties and doubts.
Lila’s breath caught in her throat. A split second before Everett had kissed her, she suddenly knew that he would. Knew too that with all her heart she wanted him to kiss her.
And then he did.
Just like that, all those years they’d spent apart melted away. She was instantly responding to Everett just as she had back then.
Except that now Lila was responding as a woman, not as a starry-eyed young girl.
Lila could feel every inch of her body heating as she fell deeper into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around Everett, savoring the taste of his lips urgently pressed against hers.
Longings, locked away for so long, came charging out, demanding attention as they carelessly trampled reason into the dust.
Her heart was pounding wildly when he drew his lips away. She found herself struggling in order to pull air into her lungs.
She looked up at Everett in wonder, desire mounting within her.
He hadn’t meant to get this carried away, to let the moment get out of hand like this. He’d only wanted to kiss Lila again, to silently communicate to her that his feelings for her were as strong as ever.
Stronger.
“I’m sorry, Lila,” Everett began. “I didn’t mean to get—”
But Lila quickly cut short his apology. She didn’t want Everett to be sorry for kissing her. Didn’t want to have him withdrawing from her. Not when she was suddenly having all these unresolved feelings ricocheting throughout every inch of her being.
She wanted more.
Needed more.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lila breathed.
She didn’t mean that, Everett thought, even as he asked, “Now?”
“Now,” she echoed adamantly.
Everett stood there for a moment arguing with himself, trying very hard to convince himself to do the right thing.
Another man would have talked her out of it, pointing out what it might look like if someone saw them leaving before the fund-raiser was over. Another man would have taken her by the hand and led her back into the ballroom proper.
But another man hadn’t spent every day of the last thirteen years missing Lila so much that there were times he literally ached.
Now that there was a glimmer of hope that they could get back together, that he could win her back, he could admit that to himself. Admit that the reason that every possible relationship that had loomed before him over the years had fallen through was because all the women in those would-be relationships hadn’t been able to hold a candle to Lila.
So instead of doing the noble thing and trying to talk Lila out of what she’d just suggested, Everett took her hand in his. And together they made their way out of the ballroom. And then out of the hotel.
Once outside, as the cooler evening air slipped over them, Everett looked at Lila for some sign that she’d had a change of heart about leaving. He didn’t detect any, but because he absolutely wanted her to have no regrets, he asked, “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” Lila answered breathlessly. All she wanted was to be alone with him. To be with him in every way possible.
“We both drove here separately,” Everett reminded her.
While he feared that if she drove herself she might change her mind, he knew that if Lila left her car here at the hotel, someone from the fund-raiser would take note of that.
Questions would be asked and gossip would spread. He didn’t want Lila subjected to any sort of talk or speculation as to why her car was still in the parking structure while she herself was nowhere to be found. He wanted to protect her from that sort of thing at all costs.
Although she didn’t want to be more than a foot away from him right now, Lila didn’t see any actual problem. “So? We can both drive our cars to my house. My driveway can accommodate two vehicles,” she told him.
Lila could feel her heart hammering with every word she uttered as a tiny voice in her head, barely audible above the beating of her heart, was telling her to take her car and make good her escape.
But sh
e didn’t want to escape. One taste of Everett’s lips and it was all she could do not to beg for more right here, right now.
When the valet came up to them, they both handed him their tickets.
“Bring the lady her car first,” Everett told him.
The valet nodded. “Be right back,” he promised, heading into the parking structure quickly.
“Think anyone noticed you left?” Everett asked her as they waited.
“If they notice anyone’s gone, it would most likely be you,” Lila told him. “After all, you’re the man of the hour after that huge donation.”
When the valet brought her car up and held the door open for her, she handed him a tip and then slid into the driver’s seat.
She looked up at Everett, said, “I’ll see you,” and then drove off.
I’ll see you.
Her words echoed in his brain. She hadn’t said “I’ll see you later.” Just “I’ll see you.” Did that mean she’d had a change of heart and decided that she’d almost made a terrible mistake?
Now who’s overthinking everything? Everett admonished himself.
He put the original question on hold when the valet brought up his car.
“You car handles like a dream,” the valet told him enthusiastically and a bit enviously as he got out of the vehicle. Backing away, he left the driver’s door open for him.
Everett inclined his head, a grin curving his mouth. “She likes to be babied,” he told the valet as he handed him a ten-dollar bill and got in.
The valet’s eyes widened as he looked at the bill. “Thanks!”
Everett pulled away, eager to catch up to Lila’s car. But it felt like he was catching every single red light between the hotel and her house.
He really hoped that by the time he got there Lila hadn’t reflected on her impulsive decision and changed her mind about the night ahead.
If she did, he would have no choice but to go along with her decision. He would never force himself on her, but he decided that he was going to do everything in his power to convince her that they were meant to be together.
Summer of Love Page 13
